In the coming weeks, expect to see the Eugene 08 promotional machine take over the streets of Eugene and Springfield, the airwaves and the entire Interstate 5 corridor.
Vin Lananna said Wednesday that shortly after the May 20th primary election is over, the “rollout program” for this summer’s Olympic Trials will hit high gear.
Banners displaying the Eugene 08 logo will adorn much of downtown Eugene and Springfield. These banners will also appear up and down I-5. If you are fond of the Hayward Field billboard that went up on Franklin Boulevard recently, there’s more where that came from too.
And Nike? Well, our friends up at Uncle Phil’s house are launching a global television ad campaign centered around the Olympic Trials. Based on the notion that the U.S. Olympic Team is “the hardest team to make,” these ads will feature shots of Eugene and Hayward Field.
All this is to say, get ready Eugene and get ready Oregon, this event will be bigger than I think many people realize.
But that’s why Lananna was brought in. Maybe you thought he came here to restore the Oregon track program to collegiate dominance. That was part of it, Lananna admits, but not the whole picture.
Because Lananna was a successful track coach already. He did the unimaginable at Stanford when his Cardinal squad upset John McDonnell’s Arkansas Razorbacks two years in a row in the cross country nationals.
So when Lananna talks about his plans for Oregon track, he paints a much bigger picture than just a successful collegiate program. He talks about creating the track mecca that Eugene was meant to be. It’s almost as if his rebuilding of the track program was inevitable, a foregone conclusion. According to Lananna, a successful track program was just phase one. On the heels of the Ducks’ cross country championship this year, he seems to have that ship righted. So what’s next? The trials. After that? To establish Hayward Field, the city of Eugene, and the state of Oregon as the epicenter of American track and field.
“The plan?” Lananna said. “To polish this gem. That’s what I came here to do.”
And this city is a gem. As is Hayward Field. What better place to be the future home of American track and field than the place that spawned the American running revolution of the 1970s?
And from Bill, to Bill, to Bill, to Bill, (that’s Hayward, Bowerman, Dellinger and McChesney) character, drama and ultimate success permeate their stories and the story of track in Oregon. Who can forget the story of Jon Anderson, the prodigal son, returned from the marble halls of Cornell to capture third in the 1972 Trials 10,000 meter race amid the crazed delight of Eugene track fans.
The list goes on, and each story is as rich and rooted in the locale. Of course, there’s no need to remind everyone of Pre because who could forget?
But does all this qualify Eugene as the delivery room for the rebirth of track to prominence in America? According to Lananna, it’s the only place that qualifies.
“This is the Carnegie Hall of the sport of track and field,” Lananna said. “No place else has that.”
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