Steve Prefontaine

Prefontaine was primarily a long distance runner, and at one point held the American record in every running event from the 2000 meters to the 10,000 meters. He was considered one of the greatest American runners of all time. He is known for his extremely aggressive racing style, disliking the tactic of sitting and kicking, and always believing in giving a full effort. Prefontaine was killed on May 30, 1975 at the age of 24 in a car accident.

Marshfield High School (1966-1969)

As a freshman at Marshfield High School, Prefontaine initially found limited success in his attempts at sports, although he found some success in cross country running, placing 53rd in the state meet. Determined to improve, Prefontaine undertook a high-mileage training plan during the summer. The plan was ultimately successful, and the following year he placed 6th in the year-end state meet. Prefontaine only ran a personal best time of 5:01 in the mile his freshman year.

He continued rigorous training at the end of the cross country season in preparation for the track. His training was too strenuous and the overworked Prefontaine failed to qualify for the state meet. However, his junior and senior years proved highly successful, with Prefontaine winning every meet, including state, and setting a national high school record his senior year in the two-mile race with a time of 8:41.5.

University of Oregon (1970-1973)

Following high school, Prefontaine enrolled at the University of Oregon in order to continue his running under coach Bill Bowerman, who would later co-found the Nike shoe company. Following his freshman year, he went undefeated, winning three Division I NCAA Cross Country championships and four straight three-mile titles in Track and Field. Pre was now the best known athlete in Eugene, becoming a hero to all who watched his races. He was known for going out hard and not relinquishing the lead, a tactic that his fans and fellow competitors admired. The loud chants of "Pre! Pre! Pre!" became a staple at Hayward Field, a mecca for track and field in the USA. Many fans wore shirts proclaiming "Go Pre", which became a sort-of war cry for him. Other fans of his began wearing shirts proclaiming to "Stop Pre" at his meets as a humorous joke. Prefontaine gained national attention, and appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

He set the American record in the 5000 meter race, the event that took him to the 1972 Summer Olympic Games in Munich. Prefontaine narrowly missed a medal there, giving the race all of his guts - so much so that he had nothing left at the end. He was passed with 150m to go and landed a 4th place finish despite leading nearly the entire last mile in a toe-to-toe battle with Lasse Viren. It is said that no man has ever run with more guts than Prefontaine had. Returning for his senior year at the University of Oregon, Prefontaine ended his collegiate career undefeated by American runners. It was during his collegiate career that he began to fight the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) which demanded that athletes who wished to remain "amateur" for the Olympics not be paid for appearances in track meets, even though they drew large crowds that generated millions of dollars. Bowerman, who also fought the AAU's restrictions, began calling Prefontaine "Rube" because of his naivety and stubbornness.

Post-Collegiate (1974-1975)

Following the University of Oregon he set his sights on the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, setting American records in every race from 2,000 to 10,000 meters.

On May 30, 1975, on the return from a party down a familiar road, Prefontaine's car, a gold 1973 MGB, swerved left and hit a rock wall along the side of the street. At age 24, Prefontaine died while trapped under his overturned car. There are speculations as to how he actually managed to lose control of the vehicle. Some say he was trying to change the radio station, while others say he was intoxicated at the time as he had been drinking alcohol earlier that night, a practice that was not uncommon to him. There is strong evidence that a second car may have been involved in the accident. The first witness on the scene, who lived nearby, heard two cars, and then a crash. When he ran outside he was almost run over by the second car. Police later found the driver of the second car; 24-year-old Luke Williams. No charges were made against Williams because he passed a lie detector test (Eugene Register-Guard, May 26, 1985, p.5B).

Coincidentally one of the torch bearers in the 1976 Montreal Olympics opening ceremonies was named Stephen Prefontaine.

Aftermath

The death of Prefontaine, who was affectionately called "Pre", proved shocking to many. The Eugene Register-Guard called his death "the end of an era." Whether his death was an alcohol-related fatality remains controversial. Although his blood alcohol content was 0.16, six-hundredths higher than Oregon's legal limit at the time, it was a mortician who tested his blood rather than a medical examiner.

By the time of his death, Prefontaine was a very popular runner, and along with Frank Shorter and Bill Bowerman is attributed with sparking the running boom of the 1970s. His life story has been recorded in movies: 1997's Prefontaine; 1998's Without Limits; and the documentary "Fire on the Track". An annual track event, the Pre Classic, has been held in his honor since 1974. Prefontaine remains an icon, an idol and an obsession in American running.

A memorial remains at the rock wall (called Pre's Rock) where the crash occurred, on Skyline Boulevard near Hendrick's Park. Since then, fans have left hundreds of items, including jerseys, medals and shoes. On his memorial stands a plaque that displays all his personal records:

2,000 meters - 5:01.4
3,000 meters - 7:42.6
5,000 meters - 13:22.4
10,000 meters - 27:43.6
2 miles - 8:18.4
3 miles - 12:51.4
6 miles - 26:51.8

Quotes

"To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the Gift."
"Some people create with words or music or with a brush and paints. I like to make something beautiful when I run. I like to make people stop and say, 'I've never seen anyone run like that before.' It's more than just a race, it's a style. It's just doing something better than anyone else. It's being creative."
"The best pace is a suicide pace, and today is a good day to die."
"A lot of people run a race to see who's the fastest. I run to see who has the most guts."
"Pre inspired a whole generation of American distance runners to excel. He made running cool. He created the whole idea of training really hard and going for it. Runners setting goals for themselves, wanting to go all out and be really tough. That was his example." - Alberto Salazar
"I don't just go out there and run. I like to give people watching something exciting."
"What I want is to be number one."
"How does a kid from Coos Bay, with one leg longer than the other win races? All my life people have been telling me, 'You're too small Pre', 'You're not fast enough Pre', 'Give up your foolish dream Steve'. But they forgot something, I HAVE TO WIN."

References

External links

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