Ode to Greatness- Steve Prefontaine

Steve Prefontaine- "Pre"

I am a runner so naturally I hold Pre very high in my regards of athletes.  In fact, I consider Prefontaine one of the greatest American athletes of all time.  All Time.  He ran with no regard for his own body. He ran to win. Winning was all that mattered.  He held every record at nearly every distance from 2,000 to 10,000 meters at the time he died.

He died young (24) and that in itself was a tragedy as he never was able to fully show his greatness on the world stage.  He was incredible in every race, absolutely dominating the entire country for four years at the University of Oregon only losing 3 mile distance races.  He won, he crushed people and he shattered records.  I cannot watch a single second of this video from the '72 Olympics without getting chills and wanting to go outside and run full speed until my body gives out.  I don't know of another athlete that every has made me want to stop what I'm doing to go push myself.  Watch the video, watch him run this race and although he doesn't come out on top (and ultimately falls apart) you can see he gave every single ounce of energy in the name of America and winning.  Given what happened at the '72 Olympics it's even more impressive.

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."

In my eyes, he's a Legend in the likes of any "mainstream" athlete like the Jordan's, Griffey's, and Gretzky's.  He took over the country and boomed an entire industry with is coach, Bill Bowerman, who went on to create Nike.  If you haven't seen the movie "Pre" about his life and running career it's incredible.  You might just be calling me to go do sprints on a track.

Here are some amazing quotes Pre said during his years.  I love every one of them. 

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.
Steve Prefontaine

How does a kid from Coos Bay, with one leg longer than the other win races?
Steve Prefontaine

I run to see who has the most guts.
Steve Prefontaine

I'm going to work so that it's a pure guts race at the end, and if it is, I am the only one who can win it.
Steve Prefontaine

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

Something inside of me just said 'Hey, wait a minute, I want to beat him,' and I just took off.
Steve Prefontaine

To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.
Steve Prefontaine

What I want is to be number one.
Steve Prefontaine

You have to wonder at times what you're doing out there. Over the years, I've given myself a thousand reasons to keep running, but it always comes back to where it started. It comes down to self-satisfaction and a sense of achievement.
Steve Prefontaine

"Don't be afraid to give up the good to go for the great."

"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."