One day I will make a pilgrimage to Tracktown, USA. I will run Pre’s Trail (and no doubt get dusted)… I will go to Hayward Field; I will attend the Olympic Trials (or maybe the Prefontaine Classic)… I will buy a Ducks tee-shirt (this, from a woman who has a 10-minute schpiel on why non-uniform, team-branded clothing is just plain wrong)… and of course, I will stalk Kara, Adam, Alberto, Amy, Andrew, Christian, Galan, Nick, Dan and Dathan… Dathan has been having an incredible season, setting a new American Record in the 5,000 in Berlin (12:56.27), and nabbed the bronze at the Half-Marathon World Championships in Birmingham, England (in one hour flat, just 17 seconds off Ryan’s AR)… Check out DR’s blog post in which he shares his thoughts about what sets him apart as a competitor (Matty: your comment is adorable)…..who’s heard of the band Stars of Track and Field? Since they hail from Portland, OR, I thought their name was just a clever way to get the locals to turn up to their shows, but actually it is a hat-tip to the Belle and Sebastian song “Stars of Track and Field” (oops B&S are Scottish not Oregonian)…Once, a dreamer of a man told me he wanted to take me to the USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Hayward Field because he knew how happy it would make me…
I’d like you all to meet regular-reader and occassional-commenter leftcoaster (aka BT). She lives in Portland, and ran the Portland Marathon a few weeks ago–it was her first, and she BQ’ed! BT shared with me, via email, “I was just so psyched about how the race turned out and wanted to mark the event in a unique way. The Garmin map idea popped into my head while running… oxygen-deprivation-to-the-brain probably had something to do with it.” Qualifying for Boston was BT’s secondary goal, after her “primary goal of just finishing the race without totally ponking, walking, passing out or puking.” (A worthy A-Goal, no?) Finishing in 4:01:10 at the age of 54, she qualified with four minutes to spare and coming in 19 out of 347 in her age group. I get tingles thinking about all of these age-group aces I have met through this blog, Twitter and actual, real-life. I am inspired by you all, because while I’ll never win an entire race, I can dream of placing in my age group. leftcoaster, congratulations on a tremendous first effort–I’ll be there in Boston this April to cheer you on. Here is the Garmin report of her celebration run.
Pigtails Flying 
Just recently listented to a podcast segment about GPS Drawings, love the BQ one… http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2009/05/gps_graffiti_san_francisco_man.php
This is a hilarious link! Scott thanks for sharing…
Making the map was interesting… The hardest part – other than passing by approximately 37 Starbucks without going in – was making the squiggly part of the “Q”, which required running diagonally across about 6 lanes of traffic, down a steep muddy ivy-covered embankment, across more traffic toward the waterfront, then retracing my steps back up to rejoin the main part of the “Q”. I got more than a few strange glances. Left field, maybe… but not as nutty as what 8,000 people were doing downtown here the previous Sunday at 7 AM!
I always thought that “I can’t run farther than 10k, my body can’t handle it”… but then it occurred to me that maybe the only reason I was not able to run a full marathon in my 30’s or 40’s is that I NEVER TRIED. So here’s to knocking down those self-imposed barriers, and throwing out that “I’m too old to do this” bs. Thanks TK for the highlight, and all the pigtails inspiration!
BT
BT,
Congrats on the awesome marathon…my friend ran the portland marathon and she said it was challanging to say the least. I love your celebration idea as well, but dont fret, I get strange glances all the time.
TK,
I dont remember your rant about non-uniform sports shirts. You may have to fill me soon.
I want to go to Portland Oregon. Donut.
VANILLA FUCKIN’ CREME DONUT!!!
I want a donut too! BOSTON CREME!
wild! i just got back from Portland this morning. Its amazing and I see the difficulty- its very hilly. (very beautiful too) ‘leftcoaster’ nice work on the BQ! Im going for mine in January at the Disneyworld Marathon.
That’s a nice flat course — but it can be hot & humid. Good luck — and check out the archives from January 2008 to read my race report of the DWM.