Bringing Track & Field to the People — Sport Oregon Voices

Sport Oregon Voices: Portland Track’s Michael Bergmann lends experience to help grow the sport for all in Oregon, including new world-class facility in Maupin

Located roughly two hours east of Portland by car, a little bit less from Bend to the north, Maupin is a humble small town wrapped by the Lower Deschutes River in Central Oregon. It features some of the best whitewater rafting and fishing around, with the city’s economy and 400-plus residents being largely reliant on all that the Deschutes offers to outdoor enthusiasts and adventure-seekers that flock to its banks each year.

But soon, Maupin will be home to a new world-class athletic facility – the Maupin Deschutes River Athletic Complex. The new venue will serve as a modernized destination for track and field events in a most unlikely, yet incredibly scenic, location. Plans also call for it serving as multipurpose venue that those leading the efforts to build the facility believe will have appeal well beyond that of a typical community athletic field.

One of those closely tied to the dreaming, planning and implementation of the project is Michael Bergmann, a former Nike executive of 30 years, president of Portland Track, founder of IncubatorU, and just generally a guy with vision who gets stuff done, especially in the realm of running, facilities and events. Bergmann, who also is a Sport Oregon board member, has been a leading advocate for the project, and sees, clearly, the many benefits it will bring to track athletes of all skill levels, and to the community at large.

And, not unlike the many projects he’s been involved with over the years, Bergmann says the Maupin complex, specifically, will bring residual benefits to the area by virtue of its scope. What started as a modest need to replace the city’s deteriorating cinder track turned into a grander vision to substantially grow interest in the sport while realizing increased economic vitality at the same time. The goal is to not only serve as the home venue for local athletes, but to bring world-class track and field events for the overall betterment of the area.

“All of a sudden, there’s this outdoor recreation aspect, in the offseason, that helps drive economic impact,” Bergmann said.

Work on the project has been conducted in stages over the last year, but there’s now a laser focus on completing the facility for an anticipated spring 2022 opening. The project, however, is still in need for additional funding to cross the proverbial finish line. To help address their fundraising goals, Bergmann helped facilitate a cycling event that allows community members and cycling enthusiasts alike the ability to have a direct impact on the city’s enhanced facilities. The event, the Maupin Ride the Rapids, will take place on Saturday, Oct. 9. Registration is $200, with $150 of each entry going directly to the Maupin Area Chamber Endowment to build the state-of-the-art complex.

Bergmann’s efforts with the Deschutes River Athletic Complex are a natural extension of his work with Portland Track and with the company he founded, IncubatorU, an innovation consultancy dedicated to impacting organizations of all sizes. As the board president of Portland Track since 2016, he has helped shape the organization through an ever-guiding theme of bringing the sport of track and field to the people, similar to his contributions to the original planning of Sport Oregon’s TrackTown Youth League. Anchored by a group of four signature races, including the Portland Track Festival and Stumptown Twilight Meet, Portland Track has grown in recent times to produce a series of popular pop-up races.

Earlier this year, Bergmann and Portland Track were contacted to put on a meet for world-class, international runners who were in the area prior to the Olympics. These athletes were either continuing their quest to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics, or were seeking a tune-up race in their buildup for the games.

Out of this, the McKenzie International was born.

“So, we put on this world-class meet, on the rest day of the Olympic Trials in Eugene,” Bergmann said. “People trekked up the McKenzie River canyon, showed up at this field of dreams, and watched Charlie Hunter and others make their qualifying mark for the Olympics and Oregon22.”

It was the first meet to take place at the McKenzie Community Track since the Holiday Farm Fire that devastated the area last fall. While wildfires ravaged the region, the track survived. By staging the meet under these unique circumstances, organizers also created a way to help those affected by the fires, raising roughly $4,500 that went directly to the community’s recovery efforts. And last year during the pandemic, Portland Track filled a void by putting on five pop-up meets at various locations within the state, becoming the “Big Friendlies” series.

“We’re creating these opportunities for people in these rural communities to be able to see these world-class races, and then also livestream them so the whole world can see it,” Bergmann said.

To further the appeal of these meets – and of the group’s signature Portland Track Festival and Stumptown Twilight – Portland Track began livestreaming each event and recently introduced a pay-per-view model. The results have been resoundingly positive, really providing something that wasn’t being done – showing meets in their entirety to track fans hungry for this type of content. Related, the organization’s Tracklandia YouTube channel is must-see TV for track and field enthusiasts, providing a wide array of unique content.

Ultimately, Bergmann views each of these elements as important building blocks in the goal of making the sport of track and field accessible and appealing to all, providing a way for people to connect with the sport, whether that’s through direct participation in satellite meets, or as an engaged spectator.

“I see running and track and field and these events as a way to really provide access and social change through sports,” he said. “The more you break down the barriers of elite clubs and facilities, and you bring track out to the people, that’s going to grow the sport.”

To Participate in the Maupin Ride the Rapids
Click here to register for the Maupin Ride the Rapids cycling event, which will take place on Saturday, Oct. 9, at 9 a.m. The registration fee is $200, with $150 going directly to the Maupin Area Chamber Endowment to help complete the Maupin Deschutes River Athletic Complex.

Further Resources
For further details on the Maupin Deschutes River Athletic Complex, click here. For more information on Portland Track, click here. To check out Tracklandia content on YouTube, click here.