Thousands of visitors are learning what millions of Oregonians already know – Oregon is a nice place to be. With mountains and beaches and forests and rivers, there’s something for everyone.
Just like people have discovered Oregon’s natural beauty, runners are rediscovering Eugene as a training site. While the city has always had its share of casual runners, the past few years have seen a resurgence in elite athletes on the trails in and around Eugene.

The arrival of legendary coach Frank Gagliano in late 2006 was the catalyst for the creation of the Oregon Track Club Elite, a club for top-level post-collegiate athletes.
Since then, a combination of recruiting and athletes coming to Gagliano have bolstered the ranks of Eugene’s elite runners.
Nick Symmonds, a seven-time NCAA Division III champion at 800m and 1,500m at Willamette University in Salem, and Nicole Teter, a 2004 Olympian at 800m, are among the athletes training with Gagliano.
The explosion is not limited to Gagliano’s OTC Elite. Athletes from all over the country have been streaming in.
Dathan Ritzenhein, a 2004 Olympian in the 10,000m who grew up in Michigan and went to the University of Colorado, and Stephanie Rothstein, a Trials qualifier in the 10,000m who is originally from Phoenix, moved here from Boulder, Colo., with coach Brad Hudson, a former Oregon Duck.
Former Stanford runners Lauren Fleshman, a native Californian, and Gabe Jennings, who graduated high school in Wisconsin, have also recently moved to town to train with their respective coaches.
Jesse Williams, a two-time NCAA high jump champion at USC who’s from North Carolina, moved in 2007.
Gagliano said that for OTC Elite, at least, “A lot of ’em wanted to come out and be part of Eugene, part of Hayward.”
OTC Elite’s Will Lear, who like Symmonds was a Division III All-American, said the appeal of Eugene is simple: the support of the community and the Hayward fans.
“It’s immeasurable,” he said. “When you’re guttin’ down in the race and starting to go really hard, when you know that people are out there cheering for you, it makes it a lot easier to push yourself to that next level.”
While it took Lear, who went to school at Pomona College in Southern California, some time to get used to the weather not being “70 and sunny every day … the winter’s not so bad that you can’t go out and run everyday,” he said.
He credits Eugene’s numerous running trails with helping him through the initial adjustment.
“I was training a lot on concrete and asphalt in L.A., and here we have Pre’s Trail, we have McKenzie River trails, we have Ridgeline, Hendricks (Park), it’s just incredible running surfaces,” he said.
Bolota Asmerom, another OTC Elite runner who moved to Eugene from California to train with Coach Gagliano, talked about the running trails as one of the best parts of living and training in Eugene.
“The trails are great,” he said. “I just kinda stay on Pre’s Trail, but with that and Amazon and here, I think it’s all I need really.”
The community has really embraced the runners too, Gagliano said.
“It’s fantastic,” he said. “Doctors, dentists, everybody. Everyone has done a tremendous job. We’re really excited about the enthusiasm they have and the athletes really appreciate it.”
Gagliano and the runners hope to repay the community for all its support over the next week and a half.
“The biggest thing is that you’re in a city that really loves the sport,” he said. “It means a lot to me and the athletes that people recognize – you know, when you live in certain cities, track and field is not that important as much as professional baseball, basketball, football. Here, it’s track and field, it’s a great college town, but this sport is so big and it inspires us all to do the best we can for the next 10 days.”
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