Des Moines : Track Central USA?

Apr 26, 2011 by FloTrack Staff

by Ryan Craven

This past week, the city of Des Moines, Iowa put in a bid to be known as Track Central USA. The city has been home to storied events including a slew of national championships and the perennial Drake Relays, but now is looking to expand its presence in the track and field community with a catchy new moniker. While I’m excited by the prospect of Des Moines becoming a more prominent venue, I am fearful that this announcement is nothing more than words on page.

I remember reading the headlines when Eugene donned itself Track Town USA. I cringed a bit as I became certain that the name would stick throughout the years as Nike tightened its supportive yet overwhelming stranglehold on the sport. As much as I wanted to hate the flashy new nickname, Eugene truly earned its right to the title. Hayward Field has been a fantastic host to countless events and consistently accomplishes something no other stadium on this continent can seem to : They pack the stands for a track meet, and further ... they do it several times a year.

Meanwhile, Eugene has yet again become a training Mecca for the country’s best and brightest professionals, while the college kids down the road are nipping at their heels. Factor in miles and miles of soft surface trails, top notch facilities, plus some great weather ... and you’ve got yourself a track town.

I was fortunate enough to attend the 2010 NCAA championships at Hayward Field and witness what a track meet should look like. The running events were as stellar as I would have expected, but I was surprised to find myself enjoying the field events just as much if not more. Amazing what happens when you’re actually able to see all of the events of the meet from the stands. Two weeks later, I was off to Des Moines to watch the US Championships and saw quite a different level of championship meet. Fans filtered in and out of the stadium over the course of four days as they tried to navigate an overflowing schedule of events as illogical and frustrating as the mid-day heat.

I penned a piece shortly after trying to defend the ghost town that was Drake Stadium that weekend, but even now as I want to root for Des Moines, I wonder if the task ahead is simply too tall. However, that is not to say that Des Moines doesn’t have the potential to truly do some great things for our sport.

After all, what is Des Moines if not the Eugene of the Midwest? Riddled with Meth heads but not without its small town charms either, both cities have played an important role in the history of the sport in our country. Eugene had the luxury of building its legacy first with the name being nothing more than an afterthought. Des Moines has gone about it the other way, putting the title first and now looking to build on their long standing traditions. If the sleepy Midwestern town truly wants to step up to the plate though, it has a lot to accomplish before the name stands for anything more than a marketing gimmick.

First and foremost, Des Moines needs to find out how to attract fans to its stadium. Drake Stadium is a top notch facility but when you have trouble filling a home stretch at one of the country’s oldest track meets, you’re doing something wrong. What that something is I don’t necessarily know, suffice it to say that a change has been a long time coming.

Secondly, Des Moines needs more training facilities and trails. The river paths provide some good running and the town has tough hills to spare, but unlike Eugene, there is no martyr to name a woodchip trail system after. While plans are being made to construct an indoor warm up facility, one building isn’t going to define an entire city.

The third and most challenging step of the equation will be to have a great local college team. This could take years, but the tradition is there to build upon. Those who doubted the sincerity of Cross Country Town USA were silenced some when Terre Haute’s own Sycamores made it to their own big dance for the 2009 NCAA cross country championships; but if you’re going to sport a name so bold for your town, its athletes must have bigger aspirations than simply making it to the game. If the Bulldogs can begin to emerge as a title-contending team at events, Track Central USA will mean that much more when fans show up to cheer on the home town team.

Finally, as all this progress is being made others need to hear about it. Can Des Moines find its own Ken Goe to truly give a voice to the sport or will it just be a tree falling in the woods? Forget all the amazing things Eugene has going for it ... they said “Track Town USA” so many times that it came true.

Time will tell if Track Central USA can live up to the hype or if it is just another attempt to spark some interest in a sport in constant search of it. Des Moines is taking an audacious step…here’s hoping they can back it up.

If not here’s a list of other available names for towns looking to capitalize on their track and field traditions:

Track Mountain, USA

Race Walker City, USA

Marathon Metropolis, USA

Cross Country Country, USA

Hundred Meter Homestead, USA

Salazar City, USA (this should really be reserved only for a town with the capabilities to completely convert their residences into high altitude living chambers)