5 Things we are looking forward to at Foot Locker Nationals

by DrBob - DyeStat Florida

plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose

Translated from the romantic language, "the more things change, the more they stay the same"

 

 

1. This is the third iteration of the 5 Things we're looking forward to at Foot Locker Nationals.  After numerous trips, we've come to understand a tad. 

 

Our 2013 Version of what we are really looking forward to caused some flack after we openly opted for the warm Southern California weather instead of the frozen tundra and muck at NXN's Portland Meadows.  Two years later, the conditions have improved at Glendoveer Golf Course but the Northwest continues to get pounded with its typical rain.   The forecast for Saturday's races in San Diego? - read on.

plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose

The forecast for Saturday is a high of 65 degrees and zero, nada, zilch, chance of precipitation.  Perfect !

 

While we may have to prep the rain gear and batten down the hatches due to the expected wind for the course walk-through on Friday, Saturday's forecast should feel just like home for our two Foot Locker Finalists from Florida, Steven Cross and Joshua Jacques.  

 

 

RELATED - Read the Florida History at Foot Locker Nationals by Herb Wills

 

The course walk-through is really one of our favorite events at Foot Locker Nationals.  It's our first opportunity to really see the runners we've been reading about all year.  It's also great to see all the team captains, alumni, fans and papparazzi turn out as well.   

 

We like to think those of us from the Sunshine State are actually bringing the Sunshine for Saturday's races. 

 

 

Need a little reminder of why California beckons us during December- The Beach Boys fit the bill.

 

 

2.  We love the history of Foot Locker's 36 previous years.  We also love good rivalries and great competiton.  Foot Locker Nationals fits the bill. 

 

At Foot Locker South we saw Andrew Hunter from Virginia make a mockery of the rest of the field and we still think he was only churning about 90 percent. Andrew set the meet record and the new course record at McAlpine (it's been lengthened by 70 meters) going 14:26.  That tells us one thing.  The boys course record at Foot Locker Nationals, 14:36, set by Reuben Reina in 1985, could very well go down this year. 

 

How fitting would it be to see the course record at Balboa Park set by Texan Reuben Reina in 1985 go by the wayside? It's been 30 years since any runner from the South region won it.  

 

We've seen great runners not get the course record at Balboa over the years for one reason or another.  Could this be the year?

 

Andrew, the Oregon Ducks signee is ranked No. 1 in the country and with good reason.

 

Ranked No. 2 in the country is Arcadia's Phillip Rocha. 

 

This is a race fan's ultimate goal. 

 

Head-to-head match-ups are the best we can ever hope for, but sometimes, they derail fast times at the national finals.

 

We are looking forward to seeing how the boys race unfolds more so than any other match-up this weekend.

 

Tactical or fast, we'll take it either way.

 

The other rivalry on our mind once again this year is the on-going battle between Foot Locker and NXN.  We long for the days when we knew we were seeing the absolute best duke it out head-to-head so we could satisfy the lingering questions about who is the absolute best.

 

Crowning a true national champion just seems like the right thing to long for.  Call us nostalgic but we miss the old days before the events became competitors and started diluting the fields.  We get the team aspect and both events are really top notch.

 

Now we'll never "really" know how Casey Clinger, Katie Rainsberger or the multitude of other national caliber runners would have stacked up against the likes of a Hunter, Rocha, Kelati, Mareno or Werner.

 

Until a business incentive compromise and ego check becomes reality, we'll be stuck with diluted fields and have to live with "best on this given day".

 

3.  The introductions and pageantry of Foot Locker Nationals ranks 3rd on our list.  It always give us chills when runners we've followed, who have worked so hard to realize their dreams, pop out from behind the Foot Locker stanchion and into the national spotlight, quite possbily for the first time ever in their careers. 

 

 

They say everyone in their lifetime gets their 15 minutes of fame.  Can it ever be more so true than at Foot Locker Nationals?  When Tim O'Rourke starts reeling off your accomplishments in his deep baritone and the internet masses are solely focused on you, there is nothing more bone-chilling than realizing the "Foot Locker Experience" is alive and well and "Dreams" do come true.

 

 

4.  The characters.  Yes, those individuals that stay with us long after the races are over.  We've seen them in the results, the headlines, the video interviews and news articles but then you get to know them in person and it makes the event just so much more enjoyable. 

 

Case in point. Jakub Zivec, 2008 Foot Locker Nationals.

 

2014 was also a year we'll never forget.  Imprinted squarely in our memory banks are the great champions from 2014 and Paige Smith's memoir, "Running in the Footsteps of Champions".

 

Give it a read to really get a feel for the "Foot Locker Experience" and what's it meant over the years to be a Foot Locker Finalist.

 

5.  A trip to Foot Locker Nationals is special because it's headquartered at the charmingly beautiful Hotel Del Coronado.  Built in 1888, this historic and some say spooky, if not haunted hotel on the Beach, is a real gem whose exterior and interior beckons us each and every December.

 

 

It reminds us of the holidays probably more so than anything else and that's probably because we're here just about every Foot Locker Nationals smack dab in the middle of December.  If you're lucky, you arrive at night for that's when the Del revels in nostalgia.  As you round the corner and spy the holiday lights, you can't help but be in a holiday mood and realize why this event returns year after year.

 

 

 

Built with this is mind,

"It would be built around a court...a garden of tropical trees, shrubs and flowers,.... From the south end, the foyer should open to Glorietta Bay with verandas for rest and promenade. On the ocean corner, there should be a pavilion tower, and northward along the ocean, a colonnade, terraced in grass to the beach. The dining wing should project at an angle from the southeast corner of the court and be almost detached, to give full value to the view of the ocean, bay and city."

 

 

 

With a slow creaky elevator, a huge welcoming christmas tree in the foyer and the sweet melody of old-time carolers greeting us through her doors in the early evening, the Hotel Del beckons once again.

 

The Hotel Del Coronado has found its' purpose as the home away from home to many a Foot Locker finalist over the years.  From the ice-cream sundaes to the skating rink to the beach football, the Hotel Del makes us realize that like all things, you need a vision of where it is you want to go in life and being a Foot Locker finalist or fan alike is a step in the right direction.

 

RELATED - See the LIVE Webcam from the Hotel Del Coronado