2004 Olympic Trials | Day 4 

Monday - 12 July 2004 - Sacramento, California: Another scorcher in Central California. We drove out to one of our favorite stores today, Camping World, and sat in traffic on the freeway most of the "drive". Very frustrating! We had lost a pin to our hitch and had been substituting a nut and bolt, but the pin needed to be properly replaced. The Sacramento Camping World is the worst Camping World we have ever visited. Teeny and poorly-stocked. I just hate that in a Camping World! They did have the hitch pin though, so it was worth the 2-hour field trip.

We arrived back to Our Intrigue to find Captain Smith sitting outside on one of our patio chairs. He had finished his run and was waiting for his brother to arrive momentarily with their coach. In a few minutes, Brian and Lynn arrived. We now have Captain Smith as our neighbor! The rest of the meet is sure to be exciting! There are a group of us here now attending the Trials. Everyone has an opinion and no one is shy about sharing. I love talking about track and field, but DT thrives on it. He is in his element.

It was nearly 100 degrees today, and luckily the events didn't start until after 5 p.m., so our seats were in the shade by the time we arrived at Sac State. We watched the hammer - always fun - while the stadium filled-up. Brother Steve was with us again tonight. As I have written above, USA track & field is honoring the Tennessee State Tigerbelles at this meet and many of the women were introduced tonight. The Tigerbelles have won 26 medals - 13 are gold! One of the Tigerbelles sang the National Anthem! Bob Mathias and Billy Mills were also on hand for the festivities.

Comments about stuff: Marion has turned into a Complete Princess. After her three long-jump attempts (and ending at 7th place for the final later this week), Marion walked off the field. Unless you are in urgent need of medical attention (or a toilet) this is just not acceptable. An athlete is supposed to remain on the field until the event has concluded. Not Marion. She left the field, surrounded by (the required) Officials and the ever-present "sports photographers", i.e. sports paparazzi.

Meb and Abdi were no-shows in the 5000m semi's. Meb, we expected would not show - I mean he might be able to run the ten and the marathon, but there is no way he can run the ten, the five AND the marathon! The ten and five are really too close together for any one to run them both, realistically - even if you are Abdi. The women's 5000m run was a walk. Literally.

The Culpepper Family -
He is on the marathon team, she is on the 5000m team

RV Park: Cal-Expo RV Park