Steve Prefontaine

Steve Roland Prefontaine
Born	Steve Roland Prefontaine January 25, 1951(1951-01-25) Coos Bay, Oregon, United States
Died	May 30, 1975(1975-05-30) (aged 24) Eugene, Oregon
Cause of death	Car accident
Residence	Eugene, Oregon
Other names	"Pre",
Known for	long-distance runner, Track and Field runner
Website
www.prefontainerun.com

Medal record
Men's athletics
Pan American Games
Gold	1971 Cali	5000 m

Steve Roland "Pre" Prefontaine (January 25, 1951 – May 30, 1975) was an American middle and long-distance runner. Prefontaine once held the American record in the seven distance track events from the 2,000 meters to the 10,000 meters. Prefontaine died at the age of 24 in a car accident.

Prefontaine, Frank Shorter, and Bill Rodgers generated considerable media coverage which helped inspire the 1970s "running boom". Prefontaine was often known for his mustache and his long locks of hair that parted as he ran.

Early life

Steve Prefontaine was born on January 25, 1951, in the coastal logging town of Coos Bay, Oregon. His father, Raymond Prefontaine, was a carpenter and a welder after his time serving in the U.S. Army in World War II. Steve's mother, Elfriede, worked as a seamstress. The two returned to Coos Bay after Ray had met Elfriede in Germany while serving with the U.S. Army occupation forces. He had two sisters, Neta and Linda, and they all grew up in a house built by their father.

Prefontaine's personality was described as rambunctious, even during his formative years. He was always moving around, partaking in different activities. In junior high, Prefontaine played football and basketball but rarely played in games due to his size. In the eighth grade, he noticed several high school cross country team members jog to practice past the football field, an activity he then viewed as mundane. Later that year, he began to realize he was able to compete well in longer distance races in his physical education class during a three week conditioning period. By the second week of the daily mile runs, Prefontaine was able to finish second in the group. With this new-found success, he fell in love with the sport.

High school (1965–1969)

When Prefontaine arrived at Marshfield High School in 1965, he joined the cross country team, coached by Walt McClure, Jr. McClure ran under coach Bill Bowerman at the University of Oregon and his father, Walt McClure, Sr. ran under Bill Hayward, also at Oregon.

Prefontaine's freshman and sophomore years were described as unspectacular, managing a 5:01 mile personal best in his first year. Though starting out as the seventh man he progressed to be the second by year's end and placed 53rd in the state championship. In his sophomore year, he failed to qualify for the state meet in his event, the two-mile. However, his coach recalls that it was his sophomore year where his potential in the sport really began to surface.

With the advice of McClure, Prefontaine took it upon himself to train hard over the summer. He went through his junior cross country season undefeated and won the state title.

Prefontaine set lofty goals for himself for his senior season. He set a national record at the Corvallis Invitational with a time of 8:41.5, only one and a half seconds slower than his goal and 6.9 seconds better than the previous record. He won two more state titles that year after another undefeated season, one in the mile and the other in the two mile.

Prefontaine was recruited by 35 to 40 colleges across the nation. He received numerous phone calls, letters, and drop-in visits from coaches. Prefontaine referred many of his calls to McClure, who wanted Prefontaine to attend University of Oregon. McClure turned away those universities that began recruiting him late. McClure maintained that he did not sway Prefontaine's collegiate choice except to ask Steve where all the distance runners went to college.

Prefontaine wanted to stay in-state for college and especially the University of Oregon, but had not heard much from the University of Oregon head coach, Bill Bowerman. He only received letters from Oregon once a month whereas other universities such as Villanova stayed in constant contact. As a result, Prefontaine did not know how much Bowerman wanted him to attend Oregon. Bowerman stated that he did not recruit Prefontaine any different than how he recruited anybody else. It was a matter of principle for him to advise recruits where to attend college, wherever it may be, and to not flood recruits with correspondences. Bowerman had followed Prefontaine's career since he was a sophomore and agreed with McClure in his assessment of Steve being a good runner.

It wasn't until Prefontaine read a letter from Bill Bowerman that he made up his mind to attend University of Oregon. Bowerman wrote that he was certain Prefontaine would become the world's greatest distance runner if he decided to run at Oregon. Sometime after Prefontaine announced that he signed a letter of intent with the University of Oregon on the first of May in 1969, Bowerman wrote a letter addressed to the community of Coos Bay describing his appreciation for their role in helping Steve become a great runner.

College (1970–1973)

Prefontaine was recruited by several top track programs across the United States, but decided to enroll at the University of Oregon to train under coach Bill Bowerman (who in 1964 founded Blue Ribbon Sports, later known as Nike). He won the NCAA Men's Cross Country Championship three of his four years at Oregon, because he sat out in 1972 to train for the Olympics in Munich. He suffered only two more defeats in college (both in the mile), winning three Division I NCAA Cross Country Championships and four straight three-mile/5000-meter titles in track. He was a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity.

Prefontaine was an aggressive runner, insisting on going out hard and not relinquishing leads. He was quoted as saying, "No one will ever win a 5,000 meter by running an easy two miles. Not against me." He would later state, "I am going to work so that it's a pure guts race. In the end, if it is, I'm the only one that can win it". A local celebrity, chants of "Pre! Pre! Pre!" became a frequent feature at Hayward Field, a mecca for track and field in the USA. Fans wore t-shirts that read "LEGEND", while those who supported other teams wore shirts with the phrase "STOP PRE" printed on a stop sign. Prefontaine gained national attention and appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated at age 19.

Prefontaine set the American record in the 5000 meters race, the event that took him to the 1972 Summer Olympic Games in Munich. In the finals, Prefontaine took the lead in the last mile and ended the slow pace of the first two miles. He held the lead until the last 150 meters before battling for first against Lasse Virén and silver medalist Mohammed Gammoudi. Britain's hard-charging Ian Stewart moved into third place within ten meters of the finish line, depriving Prefontaine of an Olympic medal.

Returning for his senior year at the University of Oregon, Prefontaine ended his collegiate career with only three defeats in Eugene, all in the mile. It was during this year that Prefontaine began a protracted fight with the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), which demanded that athletes who wanted to remain "amateur" for the Olympics not be paid for appearances in track meets. Some viewed this arrangement as unfair, because the participants drew large crowds that generated millions of dollars in revenue, with the athletes being forced to shoulder the burden of all their own expenses without assistance. At the time, the AAU was rescinding athletes' amateur status if they were endorsed in any way. Because Prefontaine was accepting free clothes and footwear from Adidas, he was subject to the AAU's ruling.

After college (1974–1975)

Following his collegiate career at Oregon, Prefontaine prepared for the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. While running for the Oregon Track Club, Pre was setting American records in every race from 2000 to 10000 meters.

Death

On May 30, 1975, returning from a party, after dropping off friend and distance champion Frank Shorter, Prefontaine was driving down Skyline Boulevard, east of the University of Oregon campus near Hendricks Park when, for unknown reasons, his orange 1973 MGB convertible swerved into a rock wall and flipped. The overturned car trapped Prefontaine underneath it. The first witness on the scene, a nearby resident, ran outside and found Prefontaine flat on his back, still alive but pinned beneath the wreck. After trying and failing to lift the vehicle, the bystander ran to get help. By the time he returned with others, the weight of the car had crushed Prefontaine's chest, killing him.

Prefontaine is buried at Sunset Memorial Park in his hometown, Coos Bay.

Aftermath

The Eugene Register-Guard called his death "the end of an era". By the time of his death, Prefontaine was probably the most popular athlete in Oregon, who, along with Frank Shorter and Bill Bowerman, was credited with sparking the running boom of the 1970s.^{[citation needed]} An annual track event, the Pre Classic, has been held in his honor since 1975.

Over his career, he won 120 of the 153 races he ran (78 percent), and never lost a collegiate (NCAA) race at the University of Oregon. Prefontaine liked to say, "To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift."

Memorials

Pre's Rock

Pre's Rock is a memorial at the site of the roadside boulder where Prefontaine died. Many runners inspired by Prefontaine leave behind memorabilia to honor his memory and continued influence, such as race numbers, medals, and running shoes. Pre's Rock was dedicated in December 1997 and is maintained by Eugene Parks and Recreation as Prefontaine Memorial Park. The rock is just across the Willamette River from the east end of Pre's Trail. The memorial features a plaque with a picture of Prefontaine that reads:

“

For your dedication and loyalty To your principles and beliefs... For your love, warmth, and friendship For your family and friends... You are missed by so many And you will never be forgotten...

”

The Prefontaine Memorial, featuring a relief of his face, records, and date of birth, is located at the Coos Bay Visitor Center in Coos Bay. In 2008, ten memorial plaques were laid along the Prefontaine Memorial Race route, the former training grounds of Prefontaine. The plaques bear an image of Prefontaine from his high school year book and various quotes and records from his time in Coos Bay. The plaques were part of a grant from the Oregon Tourism Commission, the Coos Bay-North Bend Visitor & Convention Bureau, and the Prefontaine Memorial Committee.

Each year on the third Saturday of September in Coos Bay, over 1000 runners engage in the Prefontaine Memorial Run, a 10k run honoring his accomplishments.

The Coos Art Museum in Coos Bay contains a section dedicated to Prefontaine. This section includes medals he won during his career and the pair of spikes he wore when setting an American record for the 5,000 meters at Hayward Field.

In 1983, Prefontaine was inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame, where several exhibits showcase his shoes, shirts, and other memorabilia. Steve Prefontaine is an inductee of The National Track and Field Hall of Fame in upper Manhattan where one of his Oregon University track uniforms is on display.

The Pete Susick Stadium at Marshfield High School dedicated their track to honor Prefontaine, in April 2001.

Nike used video footage in a commercial titled "Pre Lives" advertising his spirit for their product. On the 30th anniversary of his death, Nike placed a memorial in Sports Illustrated, and aired a television commercial in his honor. Nike's headquarters have a building named after him.

Portrayals in mass media

Steve Prefontaine's life story has been detailed in two dramatic films: 1997's Prefontaine and 1998's Without Limits, as well as the documentary film Fire on the Track. He has been posthumously nicknamed "the James Dean of track" because both men had a reputation as rebels and loners, and both of them died in auto accidents (in convertibles) at the age of 24.

References

Cited texts

• Jordan, Tom (1997). Pre: The Story of America's Greatest Running Legend, Steve Prefontaine (2 ed.). Rodale Books. ISBN 978-0875964577. http://books.google.com/books?id=TVNLqf5MiZUC&printsec=frontcover&dq=pre&hl=en&ei=Cu5nTbO9IJG6sAP2peCmBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false. 

External links

• Official website
• Prefontaine Classic homepage
• Guide to the Bill Bowerman Papers at the University of Oregon
• Steve Prefontaine Bio & Pix – University of Oregon, Official Athletic Site
• Steve Prefontaine at Find a Grave
• Prefontaine at the Internet Movie Database
• Without Limits at the Internet Movie Database
• Without Limits -vs- Prefontaine at Movie Smackdown
• Nike Commercial "Pre Lives"
• Running Legends, Steve Prefontaine
• Prefontaine Dedication
• Born to Run, From a Kid in Coos Bay to an Unbelievable Legend
• "Without Limits" Trailer
• Nike 30th Memorial Commercial
• Original 1972 Olympic 5k, Steve Prefontaine
• Original 1972 Olympic 5k-2, Steve Prefontaine