Classic's national spotlight shines on local economy, too
■Tracktown is ready to strut
its stuff this weekend, and
local entrepreneurs are set
to entertain fans as well
By Jack Clifford
Oregon Daily Emerald
Around the beginning of this
year, the city of Eugene somehow
gained the label “anarchist capital
of the United States.” With Satur
day’s 26th annual Prefontaine
Classic Grand Prix, however, the
spirit of a fellow who was a resi
dent here back in the early 1970s
— a guy many people considered
to be the rebellious type as well —
is going to help reclaim the right
ful tag for the city: Track and field
capital of the world.
“It’s fun to see people getting
excited about an event that at
tracts the best athletes in the
world,” Prefontaine meet director
Tom Jordan said. “We have the
most knowledgeable fans in the
country, maybe even the world,
when it comes to track and field.”
For last year’s silver anniver
sary of the meet, named in honor
of legendary Oregon runner Steve
Prefontaine, 12,247 off-the-field
experts crowded into Hayward
Field and exhorted the runners,
sprinters, throwers, jumpers and
vaulters to excel. Before and after
the event though, some of those
fans wandered the city, looking to
boost the local economy.
Jordan said exit interviews
have been carried out during past
Pre Classics and they found that
about 50 percent of the attendees
were from out of town. Granted,
they didn’t come from too far
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away — approximately 25 per
cent called the Portland area
home and another 15 percent
trekked in from smaller towns
around the state. The remaining
10 percent were a hodgepodge of
Northwest residents.
While all those numbers mean
that the financial impact to busi
nesses such as motels is pretty low,
Jordan said, other establishments
revel in the mass influx of people.
“We certainly get a lot of fami
lies in here, and some new busi
ness,” said Matt Paul, kitchen
manager for Studio One Cafe,
which is located one block from
Hayward Field. “Our place is a
little smaller and harder to notice,
but sometimes it does get a bit
hectic in here.”
Being as speedy in the morning
as Maurice Greene is on an oval,
however, might help avoid the
usual breakfast crush, Paul said.
He said his grill is steadily crank
ing after about 9:30 in the morn
ing, and he sounds like an athlete
when commenting on those dish
r
es that fall just short of perfection.
“The one out of every 10 [meals]
that don’t turn out exactly right —
yeah, sometimes people complain,
but for the most part people are pa
tient,” Paul said.
One might think that certain
businesses would definitely see a
bump in traffic on Saturday. But
at least one owner of a running
shoe supply store in Eugene said
his shop finishes second to the ac
tual event.
“Actually we have a decrease in
business because most people at
tend the meet,” said Gene
Solomon, co-owner of Run Pro.
“Sometimes we’ll get some out-of
town fans in on the Friday before.”
Beyond the dollars and cents that
end up in cash registers around
town, Jordan said the exposure the
city receives thanks to an hour of
CBS coverage is immeasurable.
“We are the only event live
from Eugene on national televi
sion year in and year out,” he
said. “We reach more people na
tionally than any other sporting
event in Eugene.”
The Oregon Track Club owns
and manages the Prefontaine
Classic, and the organization
hires Jordan as an independent
contractor. Jordan, who works
with a $400,000 budget to put on
the Classic, readily admits that
this heavily-showcased event is
not a money-maker for those in
volved in producing it.
OTC is a non-profit organiza
tion, he said, designed to promote
track and field in the area. People
around the country may not
know much about Eugene’s true
claim to fame — its runner-friend
ly environment, not its recent,
more raucous image — but Jordan
said the track and field partici
pants know Hayward Field is the
best place to create a commotion.
“Athletes love coming here be
cause they know that their per
formances will be appreciated by
the crowds,” he said.
And local business people
don’t mind that appreciation
spilling over to them.
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