With this past weekend's Nite Moves Kickoff meet, we're back in the swing of things. Granted, it's a small swing for Colorado's indoor season, but at least there is real track and field going on.
Things get a little busier this week. There are at least three meets that Colorado folks will want to pay attention to this weekend.
Deep down in Texas, deeper even than the heart of Texas, is the Carl Lewis Invitational in Houston. I don't fully comprehend why you would bother with indoor track and field in Houston, but they do. And, it's a very well attended meet.
So far, among Colorado club programs, at least MackTrack Elite is sending a delegation down. There could end up being more Colorado entries as well.
Out in Reno, Nevada, by reputation the biggest little city in the world, this weekend is the National Pole Vault Summit. It's an opportunity for pole vault types to totally geek out on their slice of track and field. And they do. And, of course, they wedge in a massive pole vault competition as part of the weekend's festivities.
I have no idea how many pits are set up to accommodate the competition, but you can safely assume that you couldn't afford to purchase all of those pits, nor do you have room to store them in your basement.
The only barn in town big enough to handle all the festivities is the Reno-Sparks Livestock Events Center. Cattle are cleared from the runways prior to competition. Yipppee-ti-yi-yo!
Colorado always sends a good-sized delegation to Reno for this one. Results, however, can be a little tricky to handle, so please be patient with your resident poster of results.
And, right here in Colorado, there's another indoor meet this weekend. A big one.
It's the Martin Luther King Mile High Classic on Sunday. It figures to be a substantially bigger meet than the Nite Moves Kickoff (a good sized meet in its own right) was this weekend. In fact, the Martin Luther King Mile High is probably the second most competitive of all indoor meets around the state in most winters.
Figure another assault on the national rankings begins at about 12:30 PM on Sunday. Don Sinclair has your play-by-play on the field house mic.
It's a solid draw, even if the name is a bit on the side of misleading. 7000 feet of elevation is a fair piece higher than a "Mile High." But, at least they're exceeding expectations. There are probably a few distance runners, though, who would prefer they didn't. On the other hand, nobody need concern themselves about events longer than one mile, because there aren't any.
Evidently, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was a fast twitch muscle type.
Look for Sunday's events--with the possible exception of the pole vault--to be loaded with top-tier talent. Look for planes arriving at DIA out of Reno to be loaded with top-tier pole vault talent. Pray that the baggage handlers don't snap any poles.*
Colorado Track XC will be on-hand for coverage at the Martin Luther King Mile High. This time, I might even grab the right camera body as I leave the house (which would, in turn, mean better pictures). I should be able to stay close to the end this time around, though the indoor 4x440 doesn't typically exert a strong gravitational pull on my presence.
After 30 or 40 rounds of 200 meter heats, I'm generally pretty much ready to head directly home.
* - If you imagine this is a matter of little concern, you've not seen the same photographs that I have.