Who Is Eric Jensen
My name is Eric Jensen and I grew up in the small town of Helix in rural NE Oregon. While I enjoyed all sports in school, my favorite was track & field. After high school, I competed in cross country and track at Eastern Oregon University, while I majored in computer science.
Starting in 1989, I've coached for several schools in NE Oregon - Helix, Stanfield, Echo, Pilot Rock, and again in Stanfield. After five successful seasons in Stanfield, I stepped down from that position to be able to spend more time with my daughters. I couldn't stop coaching though, and now I am currently the cross country coach at Weston Middle School.
When I was at EOU, I really fell in love with running. I still compete in an average or 15 races a year, not including marathons. In 2005, I joined a club called the Marathon Maniacs. Since then, I've averaged 9 marathons a year and have currently have completed 88 marathons, on my way to my goal of 100. My most recent marathon was the Tacoma City Marathon in Tacoma, Washington on May 6th, 2012, where I was a pacer for the 3:35 group. Next up will be the Newport Marathon on June 2nd. The Maniacs created another club called the Half Fanatics where, you guessed it, specializes in half marathons. I'm now up to 76 after running the River Loop Ranch Half Marathon in Prairie City, OR on March 3, 2012. My next scheduled half marathon will be the Eastern Oregon half in Spray, Oregon on May 26th.
My love of running has also recently spread into cycling and multi-sports. I like to ride between 6-10 centuries every year.
I have also competed in several duathlons. Some day I would love to do an Ironman triathlon.
I also competed in the 2010 & 2012 Boston Marathon. This is a race that I have kept putting off for years until this year, when I finally decided I was going to do it. Here are some pictures from my 2010 Boston experience.
Frog, Tree Farm, and Boston
The Tour de Frog was a success on Saturday, May 5. Several riders from all over the NW hopped into Milton-Freewater to ride 25 miles, 50 miles, 75 miles, or 100 miles. The weather was rather brisk in the morning, especially up at Harris Park, but it warmed up nicely and, even though there was some headwinds, the ride turned out great for everyone.
The Boardman Tree Farm's "A Very Poplar Run" has confirmed its 2012 date for November 17. Be sure to get over to the tree farm this November and run amongst the trees. It was extremely successful for it's first run last year.
The 2012 Boston Marathon was a 26.2 mile sauna. With temps hovering around 86-88 degrees with a fair amount of humidity, it was brutal right from the start all the way to the finish. I drank 1-2 cups of liquid at every mile and ran through every garden hose or fire hydrant that was turned on in attempts to cool down. I'll have some pictures up soon.
Cougar Fun Run 2012
The 2012 Cougar Fun Run was another success. Though a cool east wind picked up during the race, the day was awesome. Eighty-one runners and walkers participated in the event, which saw proceeds going to the Echo High School track team. Fourteen-year-old Hayden Scott of Weston won the mens 5K and Michele Zabransky of Hermiston won the womens 5K. In the 10K, the top finishers were Barry Dew of Baker City and Diane Cooper-Knutz of Hermiston. Congratulations to all the winners and we want to thank all of the participants. Full and age group results can be found here.
Two new races coming up
There are two brand new races that are coming up in the next 4 months. The first is in Pendleton on April 21 and is called "Walk Your PAWS Off". It is, you guessed it, a pet-friendly event. In fact, the more pets the better. It is a 1 mile and 5K event at Stillman Park. If you sign up to run or walk with your pet, you get a discount on the entry fee. This event is supporting the Pendleton Animal Welfare Shelter. Having a pet is finally paying off!
The next event, the "TRCI Wellness Run", is a twilight 5K in Umatilla on Friday, June 8. It will take place along the trail system near McNary Dam. This event is a fund-raiser for the TRCI Wellness program.
New Updates for 2012
There are some new things to look for in 2012. First of all, there are going to be a few new events in Eastern Oregon. One new event is the High Valley Half, a half-marathon only in Union. As you know, Union already hosts a tremendous, but still relatively unknown event called the Catherine Creek Classic. The HVH takes place in the SE corner of the Grande Ronde valley between Cove and Union on June 9th. The Grande Ronde is beautiful anytime of year, but June should be particularly so.
I'm also working on a couple of other new events. One involves doing a "twilight" 5K in the Umatilla/Hermiston area, and another event that will involve pets. Once I get the particulars ironed out, the information will go out to you.
In late January, I spent three days in Las Vegas to study up on my Jaguar chip timing system. I know, it's Vegas, but this time, what goes on in Vegas is coming home with me. Not only did I learn more of the ins and outs of my system, I got a preview of new software to run it, which is very nice! I'm also looking to expand the system. I'm looking at getting a pair of hand-held devices that will allow me to time not only finish lines, but also split points or transition areas (say in triathlons). A couple of cool things that I'm looking to get is the ability to run finish line results to a secondary laptop with a monitor so that you can view results as soon as you finish. Speaking of results, the new software will allow me to update a website with instant results and also allow text messaging of your results to your mobile phone. Another thing will be high-speed camera that will take your picture as soon as you chip registers. How would you like that finish-line shot of you! I hope to be getting these things over the spring and summer and field-testing them during races. Keep and eye out for these things.
A Very Poplar Run Highly Popular
The 1st Annual "A Very Poplar Run" was very "poplar" and "popular"! A huge success for a first time event, we had 170 finishers. It was a fundraiser for the Hermiston Agape House. Even though the weather was cool, the skies held throughout and even had some sun peek out at times. Parker Munck and Marquelle Barfuss won the 1 mile event, Rian Beach and Angie Treadwell won the 5K, and Jim Schmeits and Sara McDonald won the 10K. Complete overall and age group results can be found here or from the race page. Photos from the race can be found at the GreenWood Resources Facebook page or at the Tri-City Herald website. Hope to see you out there in 2012 among the poplars.
Events for 2012
| February 19 -- Birch Bay Marathon ** | Blaine, WA |
| March 24 -- Cougar Fun Run | Echo, OR |
| March 30-31 -- Badger Mountain Challenge ** | Kennewick, WA |
| April 21 -- Walk Your PAWS Off | Pendleton, OR |
| May 5 -- Tour de Frog | Milton-Freewater, OR |
| May 12 -- East Oregonian Butte Challenge * | Hermiston, OR |
| June 8 -- TRCI Wellness Run | Umatilla, OR |
| June 9 -- High Valley Half | Union, OR |
| June 16 -- East Oregonian River Run | Pendleton, OR |
| July 4 -- Camp Patriot ** | Pasco, Wa |
| July 7 -- Lostine River Run | Lostine, OR |
| July 14 -- Caledonian Games | Athena, OR |
| Date rescheduled TBD -- Let'er Tri & Let'er Du | Pendleton, OR |
| August 4 -- Catherine Creek Classic | Union, OR |
| August 25 -- Highway to Well | Pendleton, OR |
| September 8 -- XC Fest * | Hermiston, OR |
| September 15 -- Wallowa Lake State Park Triathlon | Joseph, OR |
| October 27 -- Columbia River Power Marathon | Umatilla, OR |
| November 17 -- A Very Poplar Run | Boardman, OR |
| * A Columbia Corridor Corredores event, providing timing services | |
| ** providing timing services |
Philosophy
Eastern Oregon Sports Training LLC was formed to provide personalized coaching to runners, cyclists, duathletes, and triathletes of all ages and all abilities. Running, cycling, and multi-sports have always been a love of mine, and coaching allows me to spend even more time with those sports, sharing and teaching what I know.
Eastern Oregon Sports Training LLC was also formed to provide race management for local area races and events, and to create a fuller calendar of events in the local area for runners, cyclists, and multi-sport athletes to participate in.
Contact Me
Feel free to contact me anytime at ericj@eosportstraining.com
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