By Chris McDonald
BRR’s Chris McDonald and Todd Straka were selected by USA Track & Field to race on Day 3 of the recent Olympic Trials in a Masters Exhibition 800 meters. The event was contested immediately before semi-finals of the men’s 100 meters and women’s 800 meters, a prominent spot in the line up to showcase master’s racing.
Pre-Race
Friday night watching the Women’s 800 meter preliminary round, Hayward was in my head. A wave of anxiety came over me. “You don’t come to Hayward to run slow” I thought. Forty-eight hours away from my own race – the Masters Exhibition 800 meters – and I’m seriously wondering how I will function.
From our perch against the back wall of section 116, above the staggered start for lane 8, the first curve looks 150 meters long. The 10-story Hayward Field Tower, behind the Northeast corner, looks so far away, the track appears 500+ meters.
Gene Hackman’s iconic portrayal of High School Coach Norman Dale comes to mind. Like Coach Dale, who measured the height of the rim at 10 feet in the cavernous Indianapolis venue (that hosted) the 1954 State Championship game, the same height of the rim in their much smaller home gym back in Hickory, Indiana, maybe we should measure the Hayward oval.
Though phenomenal, Drew Hunter’s gritty 4th place performance Friday night, in just his second ever 10,000 meters, heightened my own anxiety. A Miler by most accounts, Drew found the best version of himself and left it all out there. It was the perfect Hayward race. It was how I wanted to leave the track on Sunday, winning or losing doesn’t matter as much as presenting your best self in the House where that’s what you do.
Steve Prefontaine’s classic line summarized well my mindset for a once-in-a-lifetime race at Hayward Field – I don’t want to win unless I know I’ve done my best, and the only way I know how to do that is to run out front, flat out until I have nothing left.
Saturday, my teammate, Todd Straka, and I decided to spend the day away from the Stadium – stay calm. Uber Eats delivered dinner to our door while we streamed Track & Field on Peacock, and dove into my list of “inspiring races” on YouTube that includes Matt Centrowitz’s wire-to-wire win in the 2016 Rio Olympic 1,500 meter final. “Centro” split 800 meters in a pedestrian 2:16. Tactical is an option I thought, but this is Hayward – channel Pre.
Race Day
The Master’s USA Track & Field Exhibition 800m on day three of the Olympic Trials at the historic Hayward Field.
Sunday afternoon, even streaming the Olympic Swimming trials was too much. We opted for the 1971 film “Doc” with Stacy Keach and Faye Dunaway, remastered for the Digital age. Perfect.
Ninety-plus minutes before race time most of our Masters 800 meter field gathers in the Athlete tent west of the Stadium. Todd and I chat with Christian Cushing-Murray (aka: “Cush”), Alejandro Hueck, Gary O’Hara, and others. The camaraderie is calming – we’re in this together.
Randomly encountering “MacDonald” carved in giant block letters into a gravestone while warming up in the cemetery across the street from Hayward Field, hardened my resolve to run out front, flat out until I have nothing left.
“That could be convenient,” I thought, staring at the tombstone. “They can just carry me across the street when we’re done.
At 5:15, we’re due at the Call Room for final check in, 23 minutes to race time. As we enter the call room, the Master’s women line up and march single file down the ramp into subterranean Hayward. They look every bit like how I imagine Gladiators must have marched into the Roman coliseum two millennia ago as they disappear under the stadium.
Time speeds up in Subterranean Hayward. One at a time, our eight person field receives a timing chip and two hip numbers. Lemmings, we follow the officials to rows of white folding chairs with baskets in front of them ready to receive our gear. We quickly tie on our spikes and do a few nervous accels down the warm up lanes before we hear the call: “two minutes!”
We must have lined up in single file for the march from Subterranean Hayward onto the big stage. All I remember is the Heptathletes wishing us luck before we burst onto the Hayward Track like Russell Crow’s Maximus character in Gladiator – this mob is Eugene. And, it’s loud. But, you feel it before you hear it. Again, it came over me like a wave – this time, the wave is energy, positivity, euphoria.
We’re going to do this!
Not just the eight athletes. All 12,000 people in the stadium are going to do this with us. At that moment, I knew how Drew Hunter went to the deepest depths within him on Friday night. He was not alone. Hayward Field had him, and now they have us.
We’re doing this together!
Elise Cranny graciously tipped me off about the Cemetery as a great place to warm up. It was there, I visualized myself running this race like I was on my home track back in Niwot, Colorado. Keep it small. Just do what I do. Get out hard for the first 200. Settle in and cruise the 2nd 200. Accelerate through the Bell to maintain. Cruise the back stretch. Fight for it in the final 200 – all the way to the line.
In track, you are exposed for all to see. Standing behind the lane 7 start line, there’s no place to hide. But in that moment, armed with Pre’s resolve, and visualizing just another session at Niwot, I was calm. Until, I suddenly realized, I didn’t know which line was our starting line!
“Cush,” I called out and walked back to the start for lane 6. “Which line is our start? The green and white line, or the black?” Cush wasn’t sure either but after some discussion, we concluded it must be the green and white line.
With that bobble, the track was again 500+ meters. Fortunately, there was no time to think.
Show Time
“Runner’s to your marks.”
Twelve thousand people (and our field of eight) go completely silent. Then, it’s mayhem. A wall of sound washes over you. The first curve is run in a blink before you cut for the rail inside of lane 1. It’s so loud, and it’s following us. How can that be? It’s not until we are half-way down the home stretch, and nearing the bell that I realize, it’s the wave!
Like stadiums full of football fans rising and cheering as we approach, Hayward has us on the crest of this incredible sound wave, propelling us around the track. It’s no longer possible to be back on the home track in Niwot.
Then you hear the bell. Holy cow, “accelerate to maintain.” I do. And, it’s awesome.
Being in contention when the bell rings is the greatest feeling in Track. We all just want a chance to matter when it counts. Friday, we watched Grant Fisher take the bell in the Men’s 10,000 final. The reality I just did the same thing, isn’t lost on me. I want it. Push!
Chris McDonald (M55) runs from the front, with Todd Straka (M55) in fourth during the second lap of the 800m.
From five hundred to six hundred meters is the calm before the storm in a two lap race. In Hayward, simply look up to see the storm. The North video board is enormous. Cush is closing fast. So fast, I’m in awe of his speed. When he draws even, and I see him to my right, it’s a shock. Maybe I should have gone instead of marveled?!
I GO, and run the final curve a few meters ahead. Cush swings wide and pulls even again entering the homestretch. We again feel the crowd noise. Both of us knew for days we would be even off the curve. It was inevitable. It’s what everyone dreams about – dead even after 700 meters at Hayward with worthy competitors.
You pour everything left into the last 50 meters. It all gets blurry as arms and legs begin to fail. Dip for the line and it’s done. A glance at the scoreboard confirms it’s real. THIS just happened.
A chorus of euphoric Bro Hugs follow as the mob showers us with approval for a Hayward worthy contest. One more wave washes over us – love.
Give it your all, and Haywards got you.
Video: Chris McDonald pulls away in masters men’s 800
Epilogue
Todd Straka and Chris McDonald celebrate after McDonald wins the Master’s 800m in 2:14.25.
On the big stage that is Hayward field, it’s a celebration of our love for the sport. You dig deep to honor the place, the 12,000 people compelling you forward, and the 8 people on the line with you. It’s taken several weeks to absorb and process the experience. Little details that went unnoticed in the moment have been returning to be seen and considered.
The number of people reaching out via text, on Instagram and Facebook, and comments on the race posted to YouTube have been a moving reminder of how many friendships have been built over the past 5+ years since I took up master’s racing. I’m more proud of what ‘we’ have accomplished together in the masters running community than the results of any one race.
Article: Master’s 800s covered in Times of San Diego
Three years ago, a skeptic told me masters running was akin to ‘a lawn dart competition nobody cared about.’ This August, 8,000 masters athletes from 100 nations will gather in Gothenburg, Sweden for the World Masters Athletics Championships. People are as excited about connecting with their “people” as the actual racing. In a world desperately needing to celebrate what we have in common, I’m all the more proud of our many Boulder Road Runners members who have represented our Club around the US and the World – the Long Distance Running Grand Prix, Ironman events, Major Marathons, Trail Running Championships, Track Meets, etc.
As the dust settles on my own experience in Eugene, I was most proud simply to see Todd and I proudly standing at attention on our staggered start lines, lanes 1 and 7, with Boulder Road Runners emblazoned on our chest.