Last Monday, two-time Olympian Nick Symmonds posted his “Running Bucket List”. It’s something he first formulated in 2005. Since then, others have offered up their own list of things to do before they die.

Just two days before Symmonds’ post, a friend of mine skated off the ice after his adult-league hockey game was over, sat down on the bench, and passed out. Two hours later he was pronounced dead. He was 47 and fit, and about the last person we expected to leave before his time.

So in the last week I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about what I want to do before my earthly race is over. A “track fan bucket list” is a blog post I’ve often thought about but never started. I’m going to do it now.

The thing about a “bucket list” is that it’s written with the presumption that the writer will have time to complete the tasks. The passing of my friend Jeff is startling, because it proves that you just don’t know. I’ve always assumed that I’ll be around for a very long time, due to my relatively good health habits plus the unusual longevity of my relatives. I now believe in the uncertainty of it all.

Well, enough with the downers. Let’s talk about the fun stuff!

This is a personal list, but it’s also directed at the general fan. I’ll prioritize, so that you know what you need to do first because you might not get to all of them.

Already checked off

I actually haven’t been to that many different things. I only began traveling far and wide to track events about ten years ago, and only seriously got into it about five years ago. So this is a shorter list than I’s like it to be.

1. Your state high school championships

I don’t typically write about high school track in this blog, but I actually enjoy high school track the best. I believe high school sports are best enjoyed on a local level, which makes the state championship meet its pinnacle.

The Ohio high school championships are where I first fell in love with track. It was my end-of-the-school-year trip every June, after following the best in the state all season via the “Ohio Track and Field News” publication. In high school, I was already a track nerd.

Besides the authenticity of the participants and their fans, who are competing for nothing more than pure love of what they do, plus a devotion to team and community that’s rarely if ever reproduced at the sport’s higher levels, the fan experience is usually pretty good.

Here in Ohio, we fill up the 10,000-seat Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. (Way back when, we used to put 20,000 or more into Ohio Stadium.) The three divisions are held as three separate meets, each of which runs 22 races in a tightly-scheduled two and a half hours. Besides that, it’s an annual gathering of the clan. There are old friends I can always count on seeing when I go to Columbus for the state meet.

2. The Penn Relays

Of all the high-level meets I’ve ever been to, I think Penn is my favorite. There’s the history–it’s Philadelphia, it’s in the nation’s oldest college football stadium, and the traditions are long. The crowds are amazing, often the world’s biggest turnout for the year, and they’re really into it. Most of all, this is simply a track party.

In 2011 I wrote about my trip to Penn. Check it out.

3. U.S. Olympic Trials

4. Any meet at Hayward Field

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