Prefontaine: What do you think?

Question

Do you know who Steve Prefontaine(the greatest running legend of all time) is and if you do how do you feel and what do you think about him?

Wow Rick! Who peed in your cheerios

Answer 1

Pre had amazing charisma. He fed off the fans and they loved him in return. He did have his detractors. Many thought that he was cocky. He loved to pull tricks on people. He would take (elite) runners up into the hills on a run and then run fast enough that they could not keep up, leaving them completely lost.

His talent as a runner is beyond question. If he had not died in a car accident at his prime, who know what he might have accomplished.

The bottom line in my book is what he did for the sport of track and field. He put butts in the seats. He was one of the early spokesmen for the idea that top runners get paid. He made Eugene Track Town USA.

And just a small correction to the information posted by someone above, he did not grow up in Beaverton, but on the Oregon coast. He went to Marshfield High.

Answer 2

Steve Prefontaine or Pre is the greatest American runner ever. He grew up in Beaverton, Oregon attended University of Oregon, participated in the Olympics in the 5k, and tragically died in a car crash on May 30, 1975. I greatly admire him for what he did for the sport. He helped to get more rights for amature runners and was someone that runners of all generations look up to. He had some great quotes like

"Somebody may beat me, but they are going to have to bleed to do it."

"A lot of people run a race to see who is fastest. I run to see who has the most guts, who can punish himself into exhausting pace, and then at the end, punish himself even more. Nobody is going to win a 5,000 meter race after running an easy 2 miles. Not with me. If I lose forcing the pace all the way, well, at least I can live with myself."

"To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the Gift."

"I don't just go out there and run. I like to give people watching something exciting."

Answer 3

Pre was a great runner and was a big influence on track and field during his time. He also played a part in starting the Nike company.

I loved watching him run. He would run victory laps faster than most people could run in a race.

Answer 4

he was a cocky b@stard and people probably wouldn't like him as much had he not died tragically in a car crash

edit: not that there is anything wrong with being cocky, if you can back it up, but i just don't like that attitude in people in general