How Eugene became the running capital of the world

It's been called many things. The running capitol of the world, Tracktown USA, "...a bunch of hype!" So, what's the real scoop on Eugene, Oregon and its unique running culture?

The Heart of Tracktown documentary explores how a community built a legacy of shoes, trails, world records, and a healthy obsession with running. From Nike to jogging, Olympic Trials to road races, sports product innovation to personal fitness revolution—for more than a century, one place has served as the epicenter of a growing sport and competitive spirit. All roads lead back to Hayward Field.

Runners in the community provide personal insight and expert commentary including a brief history of the running program at the University of Oregon, the rise of a running community in the Eugene area, the Pac 12 Championship at Hayward Field, the Eugene Marathon, the UO collegiate Track and Field team, the Butte to Butte road race, and the World Athletics Championship at Hayward Field.

Produced by University Communications at the University of Oregon in partnership with UO Libraries and UO Athletics.

Cast:
Tom Heinonen
Kayla Krueger
Emma McEvoy
Rachel Robinson
Lauren Goss
Vince Buford
Ellen Schmidt-Devlin
Lonn Robertson
Jim Hill
Shalane Flanagan
Jerry Schumacher
Maddy Elmore
Elliott Cook
Cathie Twomey Bellamy
Matthew Centrowitz Jr.
Sam Prakel
Vanessa Fraser
Gilbert Grundy
Ben Blankenship
Bill Dellinger
Andrew Kirchharr

Director: Dustin Whitaker
Producer: Charlie Litchfield
Camera: Dustin Whitaker, Charlie Litchfield, Nic Walcott, Chris Larsen
Drone: Chris Larsen
Color: Nic Walcott
Animation/Graphics: Chris Larsen
Additional Camera: Matt Parker, Travis Worrell
UO Track and Field Photographer: Matt Parker
UO Libraries Archivist: Lauren Goss

Historical content courtesy of Special Collections and University Archives and Gary Lineburg.

Special Thanks:
Matt Parker
Johnny Truax
Jenn Lewis
Erin Whitaker
Rick Putnam
Amanda Hvass
Trisha Kluge
Josh Gordon
Pac 12 Network
Nate Mallue
Craig Ashford
Doug Park
Brad Hutchins
Carlyn Schreck
Jesse Abdenour
Mike Hahn
Ian Dobson
Caleb Rexius

#running #trackandfield #marathon #runningcommentary #runningcommunity #nike #documentary #oregonducks #runningmotivation

[aleardomanacerojunior]

I lived in Eugene in 2010/2011 and ran in most of the places shown in the video, bringing me a lot of nice memories. I loved the city and the people so much and, if I can, I would move back to Eugene after retiring. As stated early in the video, the city breathes running, and if you are competitive, there are races almost every weekend, even with just a bunch of people running.

[stanogrady]

As a college distance runner from the 70’s this brought back a lot of good memories. Thank you.

[Diana-ydwq]

Awesome video! The foundation was the building of community. I volunteered for years for Prefontaine. When picking up athletes from all around the world, they would talk about how special it was to compete in Eugene. The crowd was educated, they knew excellence and would cheer for athletes, regardless of the country or state they were from. We cheered for excellence, for effort, for dedication, for the spirit of the athlete. They ran on the trails and people recognized and acknowledged them. I'm proud to be a part of this community.

[timjohnson]

Thanks for preparing this video. I was a runner in the 1970s. Hayward Field and the culture in Eugene make both very special.

[iguillo]

Really enjoyed this. I STILL am hoping to be able to visit Eugene one day!

[kevstreet]

This is so great!

Although it would’ve been nice to have included Phil Knight, Cooper Teare, Galen Rupp, Pre, et al, there’s just so much history in Oregon that you can’t have it all.

Nicely done, this is a wonderful video.

[nkelly]

Ran my first half marathon in Auckland, New Zealand and got absolutely hooked. About to take part in my first full marathon in February. Can’t wait! Greetings from NZ!

[jaden_bales]

Feels surreal this is the school I go to

[marcosmerritt]

I ran my first ever half marathon this past May in Eugene and it was an incredible experience to say the least.

[MrVirly]

This is a really cool watch. I'm just a casual runner, but any story about something super important to a specific place is always really interesting to me.

[MattCookOregon]

Great doc about Eugene culture and history. Was a smooth watch.

[chrisarrr]

What a beautiful reminder of school! I was there from’82–‘89. Such great memories of running all over the area. I miss it!

[devonchambers]

Thank you for the reminders of why I came to Eugene and to the University of Oregon many years ago...I would have loved to have been able to stay longer, but things just didn't work out there.

[Averagebum]

+University of Oregon Many thanks for the video. This brought back so many memories of exhilarating runs and races.

[ryankeith]

Loved seeing Tom Heinonen featured in this documentary. Makes me miss Eugene! Now I need to sign up for that Butte to Butte Run.

[andreasbecher]

Great video friends! Thank you for making😊

[carolinebray]

I love this so much, I started running this year for my first 5k in 5 years. with the past times being really slow I'd aim to beat my own time from walking an over an hour at my first 5k to last 5k at 34mins and 14 seconds BRING IT!! I'm usually walking and biking, but this gets me going as much as the "project iceman" if you haven't seen it or heard about it, they are YouTubers from all over and are going for an Oscar, I suggest anyone look them up.. This guy Anders trained for a triathlon in Antarctic!! 🏃🏼‍♀💜😎Hello from Colorado👋🏼

[GGmanlife]

I’m a high school runner in track town, and I don’t think there’s another town in the entire world I’d rather run in

[kevincassman]

Love Tom! He makes the world a better place.

[carolinebray]

Love this I’m going share it with friends who want start running 🥰 I also feel so deeply inclined to watch this again! Brings tears to my eyes how far I’ve come in 1.5yr of sorta running hahah I love what running can do for a community🥰🏃‍♀️👏🏻