I have been in attendance at other high level track meets in Belgium, most notably the Van Damme Meet in 2000 and 2001, but this was the first European track meet were I was an actual competitor.
Belgium is a small but nice country, with friendly, tolerant, easy-going people who lack any arrogance at all. This is my 5th visit to this nice country. This is my 2nd race in Belgium, my first being a 10 miler in 2002 in Leopoldsburg, which was the first race in which I won prize money.....25 Euros!!!!!!
The Heusden Meet is held at a small stadium that looks like a high school football stadium. There is just one grandstand along the home straight, with a forested area past the back straight and a small grass covered hill that surrounds the track, allowing people to rest on the grasss and have a good view of the running. I would say that there were about 2500 spectators at the meet during the peak events.
When I arrived at the Brussels airport on Friday with some of the other runners, we were herded into a waiting charter bus to Hasselt, going to the Holiday Inn. The only major fault of the organizers was that there were only 3 meet officials at the Holiday Inn at the Athlete registration desk, all of whom did not know what the hell to do.
After waiting for about 40 minutes, just to apparently register for the race, I found out that I was not supposed to even be there, as I was staying in a different hotel paid for by myself. Fortunately the scene improved dramatically.
I found a new hotel with the help of a local friend, Rik Ceulemans, and I went to eat out at a great pasta restaurant that serves up HUGE portions of delicious homemade pasta.
The next morning I just went for a 2 mile jog and then took a hot bath and a nap. I started to feel quite nervous.
I went to the track at 5pm to watch some of the races. My race was scheduled for 10:40pm.
Watching ElGuerruoj is always a treat....Even more so when you can watch it at the outer edge of the track. He is in great form but I still think that Webb will challenge him bravely.
The mens 5000 A section was great with "The Athlete Formerly Known As Leonard Mucheru" winning in 13:03 and Dan Browne running a very smart and courageous race to run a huge personal best in 13:16. I think that Dan will run well below 13:10 next year at this meet. In fact, I think that Dan can break the American record in the 10km next year.
If there is any event that I love to watch it is the steeple. Steve Slattery ran a very courageous race, looking pained throughout. I think that he must be at the end of the season.....looks like he is due for a much deserved rest.
After the 5000, I went back to Rik's car and downed two chocolate bars and a can of Red Bull and cranked up some tunes on the CD walkman to put me in the mood.....KILL SWITCH ENGAGE is my favorite of the new metal bands right now.
The warm-up, check-in and call-room procedures for the athletes were extremely well organized. I got on the track and did some strides just as Galen Rupp was going into his last km. He is a very talented runner who could do some great running in the future.
I wore my old Nike Marathon shoes since I am not accustomed to running in spikes. I dont feel efficient in spikes shoes since I do all my hard training in flats.
When I got on the track in the cool air of a perfect, windless European summer night, I felt very light and loose despite my 70kg of low-grade 35-year-old meat. The track itself is one of the smooth mondo surfaces. My Belgian friends say that it is the fastest track in Europe, and I cant disagree with them.
The race started with me in last place, through 400 in exactly 68. I went through the mile in 4:30 and 3000 in 8:30. After about 4000 meters, I realized that sub 14 wasnt going to happen, so I just continued on for a good time. In hindsight I should have run far more agressively from the beginning.
The track felt very fast throughout....the laps clicked by as if they were seconds on a clock.
All that I can say is if you want to run a fast 5000, save your money and head to Belgium next year. There are 5 sections of the 5km, so you have a very good chance of being welcomed into the meet.
Jason