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| GO PRE!!! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| "Some people create with words, or with 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 doing something better than anyone else. It's being creative." -- Steve Prefontaine | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Steve Roland Prefontaine | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born: January 25, 1951 in Coos Bay, Oregon Died: May 30, 1975 in Eugene, Oregon Height: 5'9" Weight: 152 pounds |
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| Steve Prefontaine was, in my mind, the greatest American long-distance runner of all times and he could have been even greater had he not died at the age of 24. He owned every (8) American record between 2,000 and 10,000 meters and between two miles and six miles. He also held eight collegiate records while at the University of Oregon, with his three-mile (12:53.4) and six-mile (27:09.4) still standing. During his career, he broke his own or other American records 14 different times, broke the four-minute barrier nine times, ran 25 two-mile races under 8:40 and 10 5K races faster than 13:30. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| "Most people run a race to see who is fastest. I run a race to see who has the most guts." -- Steve Prefontaine | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| When Steve ran a race you knew several things as an athlete and a spectator. The race was going to be fast. It was going to be a guts race, even if he was running alone or unopposed. A race with prefontaine in it was an exciting race from start to finish whatever the distance was. He never settled for second best, not in practice, not in school, and not with work. If he couldn't go for the gold then it wasn't worth his time and energy. He put more into life in one day than most put into a week or even a month. |
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| "To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift." -- Steve Prefontaine | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "I don't just go out there and run. I like to give the people watching something exciting." -- Steve Prefontaine | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| For five years, no American runner could beat Pre at any distance over one mile. Then in May 1975 "PRE" finally lost. Driving home from a party of which he had drunk four to five beers in a several hour period, Steve Prefontaine died in a one car rollover accident. PRE's death was just not just another drinking and driving accident, it was the night, the American distance runner died... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "The magic was gone forever." -- Rick Riley | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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