At the end of the week I have the opportunity to travel with Matt to the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon. The Pre Classic is the longest running outdoor track meet held on American soil, and consistently produces some of the fastest times each year. It is a part of the pro circuit Diamond League meets held weekly across the world during the professional track season. While going to this prestigious meet is an honor in itself, Matt and I are going with media credentials which allow us into areas not accessible to the average fan. Our job is to provide coverage of the whole meet and to learn everything we can from it. My job is an interviewer and partially a photographer. This meet gives me the opportunity to test my knowledge of the sport on a prep and professional level. I plan on interviewing athletes of the highest caliber and asking them about their training programs in hopes of bettering my own philosophy. Already I have contacted and set up a time to meet with Austin Tamagno of Brea Olinda CA. Tamagno is a 4:03 miler and 1:50 800m runner who qualified for the mens national mile at the Pre Classic. There he will run against some of Team USA's fastest in an attempt to break the four minute barrier. The races i'm most looking forward to are the Bowerman mile (different than the national mile) and the 5,000 and 10,000m races for both genders. All of these races are considered to be the best yet with many world championship medalists battling to defend their crowns, or win it for the first time. Also I am looking forward to the entire experience of witnessing history in the making. In the Bowerman mile there are five athletes with sub 3:50 PRs, one of which (Asbel Kiprop) holds a 1500 best of 3:26.69, only .69 seconds off of the world record. In the best conditions he could be in the position to run closer to the world record than anyone has in years. Then there is Drew Hunter, a high school senior who holds the indoor high school mile national record for America in 3:57.81. With the outstanding field of runners he is competing against he could be in shape to challenge Alan Webb's outdoor record of 3:53. The Prefontaine Classic offers me the chance to broadcast widely with my media outlets. While readers can look at my articles after the meet, I will also be posting in real time on my snapchat (@the808runner). Snapchat is a valuable resource to a reporter because it connects runners across the country and world giving fans ways of seeing the meet despite not being there. I plan on learning everything I can from the amazingly fast runners entered into this meet. Every runner follows and believes in different training principles that work for them. When I have the chance to interview these athletes I plan to find out what these principles are to an Olympic athlete and share them with you so I can spread the knowledge. This is going to be a unique opportunity and I am going to seize every chance to make the best of it.
