AM - about 4.75 miles with Finn before work. Colder it seemed than the temperature indicated. Felt a bit "off" having not run yesterday for the first time in a while.
So my experience as a spectator at the Olympic Trials was interesting - we positioned ourselves at a point in the circuit where we were able to see the leaders go by 6 times - both men and women. That combined with the NBC coverage I was watching on my phone gave me a bit of insight to the race I would not have had if I was only watching it on TV or if I was only spectating in-person without having the TV coverage.
What you could not appreciate on TV were the wind gusts which were probably close to 20 mph and though the temperature may have shown 48 degrees, everyone was really bundled up on the roads.
Crowds were 4-5 deep in the areas we could see and the fan support was very good. Everyone who had phones with TV coverage was keeping their immediate area informed of the progress of things in between the gaps of when the runners would go by.
The gentlemann in front of me was there to see his son "Willie" race. He had a qualifying time of 2:14 at Chicago and his dad had a huge image of his son's face on his T-Shirt. They were from Portland. We chatted for a while and cheered for Willie when he ran by. He maintained contact with the lead group until the halfway mark. He unfortunately DNF'd after having some difficulty (as did many) later in the race.
We made our way to the finish area after we saw the men pass by the last time - but the crowds at the finish were too deep to really get a clear view of them in the home stretch. (But I had my phone). The women's finishers were easier to view as the crowd thinned out a bit after the men's race concluded.
Things of note: The road surfaces on the streets of Atlanta are not very smooth. Lots of cracks and uneven surfaces. We saw two runners fall probably due to the uneven surfaces.
There were way more women than men in the race. And at least 2 women who were quite pregnant in the race. And many more women who perhaps decided to participate even though they were struggling with an injury - who were clearly not really "competing" as much as just wanting to be part of the event. Very few "stragglers" in the men's race.
The hilly course combined with the cooler temps and high winds plus the 180 degree u-turns - no doubt made for a very difficult day for most runners.
I thought the TV coverage was mediocre. It was not evident to me - (even when I re-watched it at home where I recorded it) that the coverage really captured the moves when they happened. Like at one point we all though that Schrader had a 55 second lead, and then less than a mile later Rupp was in a small pack and Schrader had been caught. TV kind of missed that.
From what we could tell, the race was all about 2nd place after mile 20 or 21 because Rupp looked so relaxed and in control - but the commentators seemed to be a bit slow on the story line. There were multiple changes in the final 10k for the final 2 places and it seemed that the coverage and commentary sort of missed things in terms of the drama that played out.
Similarly - it seems we missed the break in the women's race during the president's press conference - and then the majority of the commentary seemed initially to focus on Molly instead of Ali - but maybe that was just my perception.
The post race interviews were good. Galen's statements in his interview in particular were well done. Post race photos/videos of Jake Riley's embrace with his coach Troop and Galen consoling Jordan Hasay - really seemed to capture the day.
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