The Hamilton Complex buzzes with excitement Saturday during the lunch hour of the 2012 Olympic Trials. Fans sporting all kinds of track and field memorabilia gather around small tables and cozy booths to chat about their favorite event and Ashton Eaton’s record-breaking times from day one. It’s an unusual combo of middle-aged couples and families that traveled from all over the world to stay in the University’s residence halls.
Todd Peterson and his wife liked staying in the residence halls so much during the ’08 Olympic Trials in Eugene that they had to come back for more. Peterson was not interested in staying at a hotel or subletting someone’s house because neither could compare to life in the residence halls.
“It is really convenient; it’s kinda fun being former college students going back to living the dorm life,” Peterson says. “It’s just the dorm room after everything is cleared out.”
He enjoys his situation because “the package is cheap, the food is great, and it is accessible.” All things that would be hard to piece together if he and his wife were to stay in a hotel room across town.
In a year when more than 700 people are staying in Hamilton, people are pleased with the setup and are able to focus on the events that they invested their time, money and vacation time in.
In fact, Peterson’s only complaint is that “as soon as you go in there it smells like a dorm, even in the hall.”
Despite the smell, Peterson and his wife enjoyed the residence halls enough to pack up their stuff in Alaska, and make the trip again for this year’s Olympic Trials. Having coached track in South Dakota, Peterson is a self-proclaimed track fanatic and wouldn’t miss a big event for anything.
What he likes the most is the exciting atmosphere that surrounds their room throughout the week.
“You get to feel the atmosphere 24/7 of the trials. You might see Alberto Salazar walking by. We saw Galen Rupp running around yesterday,”  Peterson says. “It is all just really exciting,”
And it is true; one of the really exciting things about Hayward Field is that it is located right in the middle of campus, which means it is surrounded by food, events and an already existing energetic environment that the Olympic Trials’ athletes and fans can feed off.
Peterson smiles while putting on his rain jacket and getting out his umbrella.
“It’s perfect, even in the rain,” he says.