Among the who's-who of American running, jumping, throwing and vaulting that has descended on America's one true track Mecca -- Eugene, Ore. -- for the Olympic Track and Field Trials, one athlete who has been entirely absent from the new polyurethane at Hayward Field has nonetheless been much on the minds of many competing for Beijing berths.

Midway through last month, right around her 26th birthday, Alicia Shay, widow of Ryan Shay, who died 5 ½ miles into the Olympic Marathon Trials in November, decided to let go, temporarily, of a dream that was unraveling with each passing interval session. Her coach, Jack Daniels, announced that Shay would scratch from the 10,000-meters at the trials, partly due to a freak stomach injury she suffered in May while chasing her new pug, Cody, to keep her out of the street.