Eugene is called many things, but crowded and busy almost never makes the list — unless the Olympic Trials are in town. Streets are closed off, bright orange signs force drivers into detours, and local stores are packed.
Yet, while the excitement of broken world records may spill over the perimeter of the Trials, life still goes on for local residents who aren’t spending their week within the tall, opaque fences that surround Hayward Field.
The 2012 Olympic Trials simply takes over east Eugene, inspiring fans and athletes, but leaving some local residents looking for the calm city they know and love.
Carolyn Noon,@@http://familylaw.uoregon.edu/child/noongraphics/@@ a graduate of the University who is currently studying for the bar examination, said walking around campus has been difficult for her, and trying to find a quiet place to study has become nearly impossible.
“It’s most difficult to have limited space,” Noon said.
Noon, who studies 10 hours a day, isn’t particularly fond of the Olympic Trials that are taking place right outside of the Knight Law Center where she spends most of her days.
“I have to study in windowless rooms now,” Noon said.
The amount of room the Olympic Trials takes over is fairly small in comparison to the rest of the city, but Hayward Field’s location causes most of the problems for local residents. With a large section of 18th Avenue and Agate Street shut down, navigating Eugene becomes much trickier and can be extremely inconvenient.
Yet instead of focusing on the negatives, Noon quickly brought up all of the positives hosting the Olympic Trials has.
“I think it’s a really great thing for the community and I think it’s really awesome and it really highlights the athleticism of Eugene,” Noon said.
Noon believes that having the Olympic Trials in Eugene helps the community and local stores because it draws in so many people from all over the world.
“There’s not a lot of economy that comes this way or tourism. Hayward Field is beautiful and historic and our track tradition is incredible and it’s nice to have that highlighted,” Noon said.
The benefits of hosting such an event in Eugene are easily spotted. Just a short walk away from the event, the local grocery store Market of Choice accommodates the larger crowds by opening up more cashier lanes. Yet busy stores are not the only thing boosting Eugene’s economy or capturing people’s attention.
People in Eugene are proud of Hayward Field and it is evident by how quickly people in the city come together to celebrate the strong tradition Hayward has.
Noon was pleased that Eugene wasn’t completely focused on football despite the University’s recent success.
“You have universities that focus on their football programs, which we do for sure, but I think it is so unique that Hayward Field is the monument to track,” Noon said. “It’s so strange, it’s so unique to the UO, which I think resonates with people who aren’t from here.”