The TrackTown Summer Series makes its 2017 stop in the Portland metropolitan area tomorrow afternoon at Mount Hood Community College in Gresham.
I'll be interested to see what kind of reception the meet gets here on a holiday weekend.
TrackTown USA organizers estimate 2,000 people showed up Thursday night at Stanford for the first meet of the series.
A number of local athletes will be competing Sunday for one of the four designated teams, the Philadelphia Force, the Portland Pulse, the San Francisco Surge or the New York Empire.
Ex-Oregon Duck athletes expected at Mount Hood are Kyree King (Portland/100 meters), Elexis Guster (Portland/400), Phyllis Francis (Philadelpha/400), Claudia Francis (Philadelphia/400), Colby Alexander (San Francisco/1,500) and Johnny Gregorek (New York/1,500).
Pros who live and train in Oregon expected to be there include OTC Elite's Harun Abda (Portland/800), OTC Elite's Ben Blankenship (Philadelphia/1,500), the Nike Oregon Project's Craig Engels (Philadelphia/1,500), High Performance West's Edward Kemboi (New York/800) and OTC Elite's Pat Casey (New York/1,500).
I wrote a piece for The O about Blankenship, the 2016 U.S. Olympian whose go-for-broke style makes him one of the most entertaining U.S. mid-distance runners.
With Blankenship, Robby Andrews, Engels and Gregorek all entered in the 1,500, it should be a fun event.
Andrews won the USA Track & Field Outdoor 1,500 title, but still needs a qualifier to represent Team USA at the World Championships in London. So, you know the race will be fast.
Gregorek already has a berth on the 2017 U.S. world team. Engels, who became well known in collegiate running at Ole Miss for his talent and a unique haircut, just missed making the world team last week in Sacramento
Engels, mullet and all, joined the Nike Oregon Project this week.
Engels is one of the country's most promising young mid-distance runners.
Here is where to go for more information about the meet, including schedule and entries.
OK, more links:
Cooper Teare talks about continuing his running career as an Oregon Duck in this FloTrack video.
Steve Ritchie writes about the first TrackTown meet, Thursday at Stanford, for RunBlogRun.
Teare and Steven Solomon share the spotlight at Thursday's TrackTown meet.
USATF names Ryan Crouser and Dalilah Muhammad as athletes of the month.
Paul Chelimo talks about what it will take to win the gold medal this summer at the World Outdoor Championships in the 5,000. (FloTrack video)
Boulder running community sustains Jenny Simpson.
With Sydney McLaughlin slated to run the 100 hurdles next year, one of the toughest events in the U.S. just got tougher.
Impressive series at the USATF Outdoor Championships primes Jarrion Lawson for London.
Track & Field News editor E. Garry Hill likes Texas A&M's idea of putting a sprint straight in the infield of an outdoor stadium.
Writing for Outside Online, Adam Elder has some ideas to save track and field from itself. I disagree with one of his points. I find track athletes very engaging interviews. I believe the one-question, fresh-from-competition, TV blurbs rarely do athletes justice in any sport.
Usain Bolt flies to Germany to see a controversial doctor.
Renaud Lavillenie looks back fondly on 2009, when he won his first major title.
The links package from Track & Field News.
The front page for LetsRun.com.
The links from Duck Sports Now.
The links from Beaver Sports Now.
-- Ken Goe