Memories of Hayward Field

I don't expect very many people reading here to care about this, but I'm posting this for myself as well as my readers.

The 2008 Olympic track and field trials are being held in Eugene this week, at the University of Oregon's famous T&F facility: Hayward Field.



I don't have a ticket to the trials, but I do have a small history with Hayward Field. Today, I'm going to post my fading recollections of the times I have spent in that old place watching people run and throw and jump.

My first experience with Hayward Field came during a campus tour I took just after my junior year of high school. We had made our way to the athletic side of campus, and before I knew it we were standing before an oval track, framed by old covered bleachers. There were a few people jogging on the track, as usual. "So this is Hayward Field," I said to myself. It was almost a religious moment. I'm not a huge fan of track and field myself, but to be at a place I had heard so much about was very touching.

Next, I came to Hayward for the 1999 Oregon high school track and field championships. There were a few people from my school competing, so I wanted to go watch them perform. I really enjoyed myself, fully taking in the festive atmosphere. I sat in the old bleachers, the East Grandstands:



It's the same feeling you get sitting in the upper balcony of McArthur court, without the vertigo. They're wood bleachers, not quite comfortable, but the history and atmosphere completely make up for that. It was very exciting to sit where thousands people sat while watching Steve Prefontaine.

My first impressions of Hayward as a track facility were great. I think it's a wonderful place to watch a track meet. You can see every event but the hammer right from your very seat. When the crowd gets going, the noise reverberating around the grandstand covers, there's nothing like it.

Of course, I ended up attending the University of Oregon, and I took in a few meets while I was there. One thing I liked about the meets was the liberal seating policy. At least when I was a student, you were allowed to sit wherever you fancied. I'd switch between the East and West grandstands. One has history, and the other is closer to the finish line. If I recall correctly, I attended the Pepsi Invitational. I can't recall if I went to the Twilight meet. In my sophomore year, I actually lived right across from Hayward Field. That was nice! I'm pretty sure that we didn't even need a ticket to get in, just a student I.D. My years there were not the glory years for Duck track and field. The crowds weren't very large.

I did experience one large crowd at Hayward, though: the crowd at the 2002 Prefontaine Classic. In non-championship meet years, the Pre Classic is the most prestigious meet of the year. I wanted to attend one, so I paid for a ticket (I think it was around $18 or something like that, I can't really remember). As luck would have it, I picked a great year to go. Alan Webb, a high schooler at the time, was entered in the mile. There was a buzz surrounding his appearance, and it was well justified. Webb broke the high school record in the mile that day, and his performance in the mile is said to be one of the all-time memorable Hayward performances. There were other great events to watch, but that was the one I remember best.

The Pre Classic was my first encounter with ticketed seating for Hayward, and I ended up sitting somewhere in the first twenty rows of the West Grandstands:



Not a bad place to sit! It was a packed house that day. That makes the seating even more uncomfortable, but who cares when there are so many great events to watch?

I can't recall attending any other meets after the 2002 Pre Classic. Even though I'm not a track nut, I think I should look into buying a ticket for next year's event. Maybe I'll even attend the NCAA championships or something like that. At the very least, I'll attend a Duck meet.

I hope you enjoyed my memories of track meets and sunny days. By the way, I took all of the above photos of the facility. If you'd like more information about Hayward Field, you can find it here.