In one year, magic starts at Hayward.

Byline: Ron Bellamy The Register-Guard

Ayear from today - sometime between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. on Friday, June 27 - eight women will step into the blocks for the first flight of the heptathlon 100-meter hurdles in the 2008 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials at Hayward Field.

And so it will begin.

By the end of the first day, the fates willing, former University of Oregon star Tommy Skipper will have sprinted down a new runway in qualifying for the pole vault, and Nick Symmonds of Oregon Track Club Elite and Rebekah Noble of Oregon will have run the quarterfinals of the 800 meters.

And, by the end of that first day, a crowd of 15,000, in a venue upgraded to the tune of $7.4 million, will have witnessed three runners achieve the dream of becoming Olympians, in the women's 10,000 meters.

"We're at the point now where the Trials become real, and it becomes tangible," noted Greg Erwin, the co-chair of the Local Organizing Committee. "If there is any tangible evidence better than what you're seeing out the window, I'm not sure what it is."

The window, on the second floor of the Bowerman Building on the north end of Hayward Field, overlooked an infield skinned bare by construction, part of the renovation that will, Erwin said, create a venue that is "possibly one of the best facilities in the world."

The construction project makes the Trials seem real enough, but so does Tuesday's release of the schedule of events - not refined yet to the minute but intriguing nonetheless - that will feature eight days of competition over 10 days, with off days July 1 and July 2.

Look at the schedule, and you picture Symmonds and Noble as they run semis on June 28 and finals on Monday, June 30. You can picture Skipper in the pole vault final on Sunday, June 29. You can picture some of the biggest names in the sport, Sanya Richards and Jeremy Wariner, in 400-meter finals on Thursday, July 3.

You can imagine the symbolic fireworks if Galen Rupp, the Oregon kid from Portland and the University of Oregon, runs his way onto the U.S. Olympic team in the 10,000 meters on the Fourth of July.

And will there be a better venue anywhere that day for the finals of the men's hammer, when the current ring will be moved diagonally southeast across the hammer field, and the athletes will throw back toward Hayward Field, fans watching from the east and south?

So it will go, until the final event, the men's 1,500 meters on Sunday, July 6, with perhaps a special connection then between the Eugene crowd and the runner who broke Jim Ryun's high school record in the mile at Hayward Field in a memorable Pre Classic, reigning U.S. champion Alan Webb.

Tuesday, organizers talked about the "fan fest" outside of Hayward Field that they hope will attract several thousand people each day, beyond those inside the venue, to be entertained before and after the competition, and to watch the competition on video monitors, and to eat and drink in restaurant and beer-garden settings, and to investigate displays and retail booths set up by sponsors.

Vin Lananna, UO director of track and field, talked of "community ownership" of the Trials. "Quite honestly, you deserve it," he said. "You've carried the sport for decades. ... This is track town, and we have big things ahead of us, and this is just the beginning."

With the 2010 NCAA championships secured, Lananna said bids have been submitted to host the USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in 2009 and 2011.

There is much to do, still, for the Trials. To coordinate the 16 committees, as chief of staff, the LOC has secured Dave Taylor, the 52-year-old former UO runner who worked for Nike for 23 years, retiring as a corporate vice president.

"This is just such a great opportunity for Eugene and the state," said Taylor, who will work gratis. "I need to spend the time to help make it as successful as possible."

A year to go, and then reality comes to life.