Wow, what a trip! Eleven of our distance crew members just got back from the "Running Pilgrimage," a 3 day adventure that took us all the way to Eugene, Oregon and back down the Pacific Coast. Our itinerary looked a little something like this:
Thursday: We started the day with a killer workout at MJC in the freezing rain, and left Turlock at about noon. We hammered up I-5 into the night, stopping for dinner at the Purple Plum Restaurant in Yreka, CA (home of CSUS basketball star Dan Orloff) and reaching Track Town, USA at about 1 am. We checked into the Broadway Inn, (2 single rooms, 11 people!) and hit the hay to rest up for a big day Friday.
Friday: We were up with the birds on Friday, heading out at 7:30 to run Pre's Trail, a historic 4.5 mile loop in Eugene's Alton Baker Park. We crossed the Willamete River, saw U of O's Autzen Stadium, a plethora of geese and water foul, and a funny looking science center for kids. The run was perfect! 55 degrees, misty, and on some of the softest trail I've ever ran!
After heading back to the hotel and grabbing some continental breakfast, we embarked for Pre's Rock. This marble slab is a memorial to the g.o.a.t. Steve Prefontaine, who died tragically in a car accident up in Eugene's hilly backroads. We paid our respects and had a moment of silence for the man that transformed distance running.
After this, we drove to Hayward Field, the most famous track in perhaps the world, to see if we could get on and run a lap. Fortunately, the gate was open and we got to walk around the track and take a ton of pictures! It was incredible! An entire track stadium, with the softest surface ever, it just made you want to go fast!
We stopped for lunch at Track Town Pizza, a great little place full of memorabilia and pics of famous athletes and races, as well as a cheap all you can eat pizza bar! We drove around Eugene for a little while, visiting the Nike Store and the U of O Bookstore, where Joey bought his iPod (hooray for no tax in OR!) and then headed back for home. We were planning on driving the 9 hours through the night and getting back to Turlock at around 2 am, but decided to make a few phone calls, and we ended up in Arcata, CA, home of Humboldt State. Martin and the Thieles have friends at Humboldt, so we stayed there for the night, crashing with the HSU XC team, a really fun group of guys.
Saturday: We woke up early again and had breakfast the the HSU guys at the Big Blue Diner, a great little hole in the wall place in downtown Arcata. We were all a little too sore to run, after 15+ hours of driving and sleeping on the floor, so we took off from Humboldt and made our way down the Pacific Coast Highway. What a drive, through the giant redwoods, right along the beaches, into Napa Valley, and through SF, a really great view of the North Coast of CA. Getting back, we were all exhausted, but ecstatic about how much fun we had together. Can't wait until next year, where will we go?
