You said you went to Oregon? Thats pretty cool, thats where my coach went to school, but that was back in the day when Steve Prefontaine still was in his prime.
actually no. i went to University of Texas and then moved to Portland Oregon. but there is still some "influence" from the UofO running scene/history on the climate in Portland. i assume you've seen the movie about Prefontaine? it's really good.
unfortunately i didn't run in high school or college (soccer in HS, volleyball and road cycling in college). as a youngster i played soccer where punishment was always given in "running laps" so i hated running even though i did a lot in my soccer training... in Oregon i started training with some cyclists who were runners and triathletes (a lot from Nike) and got into multi-sport and adventure racing and some triathlon(i'm a crappy swimmer).
i wish i had had an interest in running in HS/college and had run track - actually what i would have like to have done is decathlon - i'm a short-to-middle-distance runner/sprinter with great jumping ability (36" vertical when i was training for volleyball). i have never competed in track/short-distance competitively but i think i could have at at least the HS level...
i have to limit my running now b/c of lower back and knee problems.
i've done a bunch of 10ks and other distance events (triathlons, adventure racing), but anything over about 1 mile is not really my strength... the last 5 years most of my training in both cycling and running has been distance/endurance so i have really improved. on the positive side, i have speed and don't have to do much for it, although i believe i am probably slower now as i haven't trained for speed at all in at least 2 years (haven't been on the track with the bicycle either since i left Oregon in 2000!)