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His
life was a race run too fast, and finished too soon. Steve Roland
Prefontaine was the greatest American distance runner ever. Pre was
seemingly unstoppable, at one point he held every American track & field
record from the 2,000 to the 10,000 meters. The world should always
remember the "rube" from Coos Bay, Oregon; a self styled country
hick who could do anything he put his mind to. Pre was often accused
of being overly brash and cocky, but that was an integral part of what made
him so great. The only thing better than watching Pre run his mouth,
was watching him back up exactly what he had said on the track. But
unfortunately for the world this magic came to an abrupt end. What
happened that horrible night of May 30, 1975, when Pre died at the age of
24, should live on in the minds of all runners. Without Pre the world
would be an entirely different place for runners. Pre made running
cool, he was loved all over the world. Pre made the idea of going
out and running extremely hard from the start something heroic, not stupid.
Steve said that "To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice
the Gift." Pre gave us his gift, he ran every race as if it were
his last. This is his last, this is the bell lap for Steve Prefontaine.
Here he comes, off the last turn, into the homestretch, his eyes on the
clock.....
12:33, 12:34, 12:35... Go Pre! |