Hayward Field's Main Grandstand and Jack the Bear in Lane 8

We Boomers are always thinking about our health and wellness. You know, what we’re gonna do someday. So 12 years ago jeff noel stopped with the shoulda, woulda, coulda’s for good and began running 100 meters (to his neighbor’s mailbox) a day for a week. How does he sustain momentum years later? One secret is to associate with excellence. Hayward Field is just one of the iconic images noel uses to stay motivated.

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jeff noel’s shirt look familiar? 2010…

Nike has immortalized only one athlete in a bronze statue. Guess?

It’s the same athlete that said, “To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift”.

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Read carefully under Pre’s name, “America’s Most Famous Distance Runner”

Setting the bar too low and reaching it is worse than setting it too high and failing.

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Tip: Find fun ways to use iconic images, stories, legends, customs, traditions. Think of these as logs to add to your fire.

Jack the Bear has travelled the world with jeff noel. More USA National Championships and Olympic trials have been held at Hayward Field than anywhere else. Plus Steve Prefontaine ran here. Pre, a rebel, who just happened to be a runner.

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I sometimes think that running has given me a glimpse of the greatest freedom a man can ever know, because it results in the simultaneous liberation of both the mind and body….. The runner does not know how or why he runs. He only knows that he must run….. We run, not because it is doing us good, but because we enjoy it and cannot help ourselves. – Roger Bannister, 1956

Fact: More USA Track & Field National Championships and Olympic Trails have been held at Oregon’s Hayward Field than anywhere else. Period.

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Hayward Field, University of Oregon

Steve Prefontaine, was America’s distance running prodigy in the late 1960′s and early 1970′s, until his tragic and untimely death in 1974.

Pre held every American running record from 2,000 meters to 10,000 meters.

Pre ignited the “jogging craze” of the 1970′s.

Pre challenged authority.

He challenged his coach, Bill Bowerman (who was starting a little shoe company later called Nike).

Steve Prefontaine wasn’t a runner, he was a rebel.

A rebel who just so happened to also be a runner.

Do you have guts, courage?

Where does your strength come from? Here’s a decent source of mine.

Pre's Passion Is Legendary

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Steve Prefontaine's Legacy

Here’s my personal favorite tip to stay motivated:

• Find a million ways.

Who’s going to be more passionate and concerned for your motivation than you?

Seriously.  Who?

Studying others who’ve overcome obstacles is just one way. It’s one of my favorite ways. Steve Prefontaine, a rebel, also happened to be a runner.

And in the process, with his relentless courage and determination, he changed the way Americans thought, and continue to think, about running. He held every American running record from 2,000 – 10,000 meters.

In his greatest race at the 1972 Munich Olympics, he finished fourth. No medal. No glory. No hero’s welcome.

But yet, he’s the only athlete Nike has ever immortalized in a bronze statue. Ever. Any sport.  Period.

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Hayward Field, Oregon 2009

World Championships, Finland 2009

What is Lane 8?

Lane 8 is the worst lane in Track & Field.  Fast runners are put in the middle lanes and slower runners are assigned the outer lanes.  The slowest competitor is always assigned Lane 8.

And in the 400 meters, which I compete in, you stay in your lane the entire race.  The way the starting lines are staggered, makes it look like Lane 8 is way out in front, when in fact, it’s the exact same distance as the others.

So many consider lane 8 the worst lane because you cannot see any of the other competitors, until they pass you.

My goal is to be in Lane 8, the worst lane.  And I also don’t care if I come in last.  Seriously.

Our son (9) says, “Dad, you want the worst lane and you don’t care if you come in last?”

(Pause for effect, and read each of the next three sentences with decent pauses in between)

“That’s right, son, Lane 8.  In the finals.  At the World Championships.”

I continued the answer for our son, “You can come in last and still be the eighth best in the entire world.”

I then shared the moral of the story with our son:

“You can go through life and set the bar low, reach it, but then live with the regret of wondering what you could have done if you tried harder.  Or, you can set the bar ridiculously high, fail, and yet live with peace because you know in your heart you did your very best.”

Ya with me?

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If you are not a Track fan, that’s ok. This blog isn’t about Track anyway, it’s about excellence, our physical well-being and our approach to what we do with it.

But you already knew that, right?

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Worst lane and come in last. I’m good with that. Seriously.

In the finals.  At the World Championships.  Ya with me?

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