EUGENE, Oregon — Greg Cleary ran track in college at San Jose State. Wife Karmela is happy to accompany Greg to meets. They both think it’s great stuff.

Sons Anthony, 16, and Marco, 14? Not so much. There were 272 NFL games in the 2021 season. Marco watched 230. How many track meets did Marco watch? Zero.

For their summer vacation, Greg and Karmela decided it would be a great idea to bring the boys, and their 3-year-old dog, Justice, a black-and-white Mi-Ki, to Eugene, for the full run of the 2022 world track and field championships. As the meet wraps up Sunday, this one family’s story underscores the many challenges inherent in the key goal of these championships: trying to grow the sport — with an eye toward the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics — in and around the 50 states.