How is life in Oregon? A question that is often asked on our return to the UK. I thought it appropriate to give the readers of Athletics Weekly an insight into life across the pond in Oregon, USA.

Back in 2008 after the Olympics, my coach Mark Rowland – known here as “Coach Row” or simply “Coach” (I tend to stick to Mark as I always have done) – applied for a job as head coach of Oregon Track Club. This is a non-profit organisation funded by Phil Knight, owner of Nike, to help and support elite athletes such as Chris and me.

The opportunity for Mark was fantastic as it gave him the chance to work with a large group of young, very talented individuals across all distances from 800m up to 10km (with Chris and I covering both ends of the spectrum!). Mark’s dream as a coach is to guide someone (hopefully me!) to an Olympic medal. Given the crop of athletes he has over here, his chances are greatly improved.

So, as you can see, Mark getting the job, Chris and I taking our opportunity, one thing led to another and here we are, training in what is known as “Track Town USA”.

There are two sides to Eugene. One side I can only liken to a place close to where I spent five years of my life – Millfield School near Glastonbury in Somerset. At school we knew Glastonbury as the hippy capital of the UK. It was very chilled out, lots of peace and love, starworshipping and all kinds of stuff that you don’t see every day. Eugene is very similar and I might be wrong, but I would say it is the hippy capital of the USA. It is even legal to grow weed for medical reasons in the state of Oregon (with a licence of course)!

The other side to Eugene is the college town. College is very much integrated with the local community. The college has a 60,000-seat football stadium that is only used three or four times a year, but when the Oregon college team are playing, the football stadium is absolutely packed with local supporters.

The players are treated like gods. Just the other week we participated in a parade through the streets of Eugene that was put on to celebrate sporting heroes in Oregon. The main emphasis was on the college football team who made it to the national final for the first time. The parade drew hundreds of Oregon fans supporting their sports stars.

I have never known a place to attract as many runners as Eugene does. There are runners of all abilities, all ages running all over the place! Even the University of Oregon gym is jam-packed full of students, sometimes queueing up to get on the running machines or the cross-trainer. People here are running mad and it really does bring a great vibe to the place.

Maybe it stems from the great legacy Steve Prefontaine left behind or maybe it’s down to the fact that Phil Knight pumps millions of pounds into this small college town, providing state college town, providing state of the art facilities. It is difficult to say, but something drives all those people to participate in sport. With so many runners, is it any wonder that a huge crop of talent arises out of this place?

People find it difficult to comprehend why so many people seem to come here and start to run well, but if you have a place with a great vibe, great positive attitudes, a lovely running environment and plenty of people to train with, you’ve got most of the main ingredients for running success.

We could do with less rain, but hey, you can’t have everything!