The Dempsey indoor track at the University of Washington is regarded as one of the fastest indoor facilities in the nation and as a result was on my bucket list for track and field events to witness. Thanks to the good folks at Flotrack, I had the opportunity to make my first trip to Seattle last weekend to cover the UW Invitational.
I arrived in Seattle around midday and was picked up at Sea-Tac Airport by Flotrack Seattle bureau chief James Roach. My first impression of the Emerald City was its green-ness. From driving on I-5 to walking around the UW campus, trees are everywhere – a natural characteristic of the rainy Pacific Northwest.
The chilly weather was also quite a shock. I was sitting by a pool in balmy 80 degree San Diego the day before and was suddenly immersed in 45 degree Seattle. I bundled up in a running sense with arm warmers and knee-high socks on my three runs in Seattle and even enjoyed the cool air that you can only get in the early mornings in Southern California. My first run on the Burke-Gilman Bike Path right next to our hotel. The highlight of the run was a middle-aged dude who tried racing me for half a mile before pulling off the trail and dramatically slowing down. Another victim down.
James and I headed to the Dempsey on Friday around 4:30 pm in preparation for the first running events at 5:00.
As a Californian, I had never been to an indoor track before so I don’t have much to compare the Dempsey to. Regardless, it’s pretty clear why it is home to some big meets. The Dempsey is an absolutely fantastic facility that doubles as not only a blazing fast track but also a football indoor practice field. The lighting wasn’t overly bright and the temperature was relatively cool to keep things from getting too hot for the runners. Plus the purple Mondo track was resurfaced this past summer and is nice and firm to facilitate fast times.
The Dempsey
The two highlights of the first night of action were the 5000 meter races. Lisa Uhl ushered off a brief challenge from Renee Metivier Baillie to run a solo 15:29.85. The collegiate 10k record holder was pleased with a rust buster-type effort and looked forward to racing more this indoor season after missing much of 2011 with an injury. Southern Utah stud Cam Levins followed up that performance with another great solo 5k, finishing in a NCAA auto mark of 13:42.90.
Kevin Selby and I had excellent morning runs the next two days at the Arboretum and Green Lake where we filmed another edition of the hit series Running Hot Spots. The lake had a paved inner loop as well as a soft gravel outer loop. Much like Canadian cities Edmonton and Vancouver that I visited over the summer, Seattle has done a wonderful job creating green space in urban areas, an example that other cities could do well to emulate.
View of Union Bay from the Dempsey
Day two of the UW Invitational was a pleasantly short – events ran from 10 am to 5 pm – considering some of the 14 hour days I’ve put in covering track meets. The top performances of the night in my mind were from the 3k’s. On a weekend in which most collegiates chose to run at other locales, Levins and Washington’s Katie Flood lit things up against the pros. Levins doubled back in 7:48.25 to not only achieve another NCAA auto standard but also take down big names like Miles Batty and Sam Chelanga. Flood destroyed the UW school record, running 8:55.31 to finish second to World silver medalist Sally Kipyego.
I’d like to thank the great staff at UW – notably head coach Greg Metcalf and assistants Jason Drake and Lauren Denfeld – for making our experience as smooth as possible. I’m definitely looking forward to going back to Seattle for the MPSF Championships in four weeks.
A few random pictures from UW are below. Find more on our Flickr page that we share with photo contributor Tom Liu. While you’re there, check out some of his absolutely fantastic work including this photo he took from his recent trip to New York City.
Another shot of the Dempsey
Husky Stadium under-construction
Kevin Liao is your typical running nerd, following the sport for years before starting Spiked Up, Psyched Up. Kevin was previously the cross country and track & field correspondent for Capital One Cup. When not writing, watching Flotrack videos and reading Letsrun.com, Kevin also finds time to run fairly competitively with PR's of 4:12 (1500) and 15:23 (5k) and more famously winner of the 2009 Marshall Clark 4 Mile road race. He is a senior at UC San Diego (explaining the site color scheme) majoring in political science and aspires to be a top operative in American politics. Among his other sporting interests are rooting for his hometown teams, the San Francisco Giants, San Francisco 49ers and Golden State Warriors.
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