Early Morning Run: Spectating the Millrose Games with Team Oiselle

Last night at The Armory in Upper Manhattan, FastK8, otherwise known as Kate Grace, ran an incredible race in her Millrose Games debut and quite a few records were made, like the American Record for the men’s two-mile when Bernard Lagat finished in a fleeting 8:09.49 and the American Record for the women’s 600 meter tumbled when Alysia Montano took first just 1:23.59 after the gun.

Now, as many of you know, I started running in my 20’s and I have never run track nor will I claim to know much about it or many of the runners. I did however, become a fan during the Olympic Trials and London Olympics last summer though. Well, last night was the first time I ever attended a track meet. Thankfully I wasn’t the only one in the group I attended with who was a newbie to track & field meets so I didn’t feel too out of place!

A good number of the NYC Oiselle Team made it out and met at a café on the Upper West Side for dinner before going even further uptown for the meet. It was so great to meet more fellow birds and it was hard to miss us in all our Oiselle gear!

In the stands

A few observations from my first track meet:

High school runners look so tiny compared to most of the pros
But that doesn’t mean they can’t run fast (case in point, Mary Cain)
At the end of the 60 meter dash, the runners slam into a blue mat at the end of the runway – I was not expecting that!
The 60 meter dash and hurdles are over in a blink of an eye – years of training for less than two seconds of competition?
The men must spend a lot of their time training in the weight room because they are ripped
There’s quite a lot of buildup in the crowd before a high jump and an audible gasp if the jumper stumbles
Bernard Lagat is one fast man
Kate Grace has the best looking race kit on the track…
And Oiselle birds know how to cheer!