I had so much fun in Oregon. Thank you Nike and
Eastbay! If I never entered the contest, who knows if I would have ever traveled to Oregon.
The weather was nice. It was in the high 40s and low 50s. The day of the Nike Cross Nationals, it was very breezy. The wind made it a bit chilly. The course was very muddy. As soon as my shoes and socks got wet, I was instantly cold. I'm sure the runners felt worse then I did. They had to run through a mud pit.
My husband and I arrived in Portland on Thursday. Nike employees met us and we were bused to our hotel, along with the runners. Once getting to the hotel, we needed to get credentials. Everyone involved with Nike Cross Nationals received credentials. They were to worn at all times at Nike World Headquarters, so they knew we who everyone was. Once we received our credentials, we finally got to go to our rooms, drop off our luggage and head to Nike World Headquarters in Beaverton.
The buses dropped everyone off at Nike. Once inside, we met with Nike employee Abby Samuelson. I found out Friday that Abby's mom is
Joan Benoit Samuelson. How awesome is that? Abby was the leader of the
Eastbay winners. Abby took us for a tour around the Nike World Headquarters. My favorite building was the Steve
Prefontaine building. The building had a huge statue of Steve and many items of his from his running days. I didn't bring along my camera the first day on campus. At least I will always have the memory of the building.
All of the runners and the Eastbay winners had dinner in the Mia Hamm cafe and attended the Opening Ceremonies for the Nike Cross Nationals. At the Opening Ceremonies, it was announced that the teams would be captained by elite runners. I was so excited to see them in person. The elite athlete captains were: Galen Rupp, Amy Begley, Chris Solinski, Dathan Ritzenhein, Simon Bairu, Alan Webb, Andrew Wheating, Anna (Willard) Pierce, Evan Jager Matt Tegenkamp, Lisa Koll, Lauren Fleshman and Shalane Flanagan.
On Friday, my husband and I went to Portland. We walked around downtown, went shopping and had lunch. Everyone that we passed was wearing either an Oregon or Oregon State shirt. So much football pride in the state of Oregon. Later I went back to Nike to attend the elite runners autograph session. I was so excited to actually talk to the runners. I'm sure they don't remember me, but I will always remember that. I took all of the runners photos, I'll be posting them throughout the week.
Abby picked up two other Eastbay winners and myself and drove us to Portland Meadows. Portland Meadows was the host for the Nike Cross Nationals. I took photos of the runners the entire day. I tried to focus on the feature photos. Usually when I shoot cross country, I just shoot the race. On Saturday, I shot pre-race and post-race photos also. We the course being all muddy and wet, it was hard to get around. I could only hit a couple of spots before the runners finished. I didn't want to run and get myself muddy. The level of competition was awesome. I will have to find the video online to race the entire boys and girls national championship races.
Later that night, Abby set up something really nice for us. Abby got us in to shop at the Nike Employee Store. That was the best experience ever! So many Nike products at discounted rates. I will always be so grateful to Abby for getting us in the store. I bought a new pair of shoes, wind pants, shorts and running tops. My husband and I spent over an hour in the store. I could have shopped there all night. So many items to choose from. While we were paying for our items, Shalane Flanagan was in the next lane over. I said to my husband that Shalane, who finished second at the New York City Marathon, was in the next lane. He told me to go over and say hello. I told him I didn't want to be a stalker, so I stayed where I was. I was hoping we would make eye contact so I could wave and say Hi, but it never happened.
I had a wonderful time at the Nike Cross Nationals. I hope I can attend them again in the future. If I can't, I know I will be watching the races online.
A couple of months ago, I added The Vampire Diaries to my Netflix queue. I had no idea what the show was about. I figured since I liked the Twilight series and True Blood, I would give The Vampire Diaries a whirl. 
