Pre

We entered a new family territory this week: the world of running.

My daughters have been soccer players since they were toddlers. Last fall, with the switch from half field to full field soccer, their coach made it a priority to include running as part of the training. First it was a timed half-mile. Then the one mile. Then the two mile. While the anticipation added some pressure to my girls, they thrived, and what was once a fear became a source of strength.

This summer, my daughter Lily loved the running experience so much that we added another log on the fire by adding fall cross-country to the mix of endless activities. While my daughter Annie didn’t share the same love of long distance running – she is more of a sprinter – Annie decided to jump into the fray as well.

On Saturday, I happened to click on the television, and there it was: the Prefontaine Classic at Hayward Field in Oregon. The women’s 1500 Meter was about to go off, and I called my daughters in to watch, as they would be running in their first cross-country race the next day.

Watching these incredible women was awe-inspiring. After watching it, I thought about the man whom the race was named for: The one and only Steve Prefontaine.

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THE BACKGROUND

Steve Prefontaine was born in Coos Bay, Oregon. It was a blue-collar mill and logging town, and from a geographical standpoint, it was tailor-made for running. From the bay to the coast, you get a thirty-degree difference in temperature, not to mention killer elevation changes between the hills and dunes.

For his first two years of high school, Steve Prefontaine wasn’t anything extraordinary. His sophomore year, he was the 7th man on the cross-country team, and he didn’t qualify for the state meet. Like all great stories, this was the turning point. Under guidance from his coach, Walt McClure, that summer, he decided to train.

Not just train.

Train HARD.

His junior year, he won the state championship.

His senior year, he not only won the state championship, but set the national record in the 2 mile. Over forty colleges recruited Prefontaine, and he decided to choose his coach’s alma mater of the University of Oregon to run for the one and only Bill Bowerman.

At Oregon, Bowerman knew what kind of talent he had in Steve. He shared that if Steve didn’t become the greatest runner in American history, he wouldn’t have fulfilled his job as his coach.

PRE’S STYLE

What made Steve Prefontaine so great? He had tremendous confidence – so much so, that he was off-putting to some people. Whether you liked him or not, it was impossible not to respect his style.

What was his style? Pre was a front-runner. This was a choice built off his belief that he carried more mental toughness than any of his competitors. Rather than holding enough in the tank to wait for the last lap “kick,” he was going to push the pace throughout the race. You may beat him – but if you wanted to beat him, you needed to be willing to endure a level of pain that most runners would avoid. Pre’s simple quote on the subject said it all: “Someone may beat me, but they are going to have to bleed to do it.”

After his first NCAA Championship, Pre took on the ultimate goal: the Olympic title in the 5000 Meter. This was a race typically reserved for men in their late 20s, but at 21, Pre went for it. He set the American record in the Olympic Trials, and was off to Munich for the 1972 Olympics.

The 5000M at Munich is considered by some to be the greatest race ever run. In his typical swashbuckling style, Pre was determined to run out front and push the pace. He led for much of the final mile, but was overtaken by running greats Lasse Viren of Finland and Mohammad Gahmoudi of Tunisia. But the deepest cut of all was this: as Pre was collapsing near the finish line, Ian Stewart of Great Britian raced past him, knocking him off the medal stand to finish fourth. It was his greatest career disappointment.

LEGACY

After the race, Pre went back to work. He won two more NCAA Cross-Country titles along with four NCAA titles in spring track. He was only ever defeated three times in his college career – all in the one mile.

Pre’s legacy wasn’t just about running. As amateur runners struggled in poverty, Pre was outspoken about the inequity of a system that made millions of dollars from races while athletes earned nothing. He was one of the first advocates that opened the door for amateurs to reap the rewards of their own work. Fifty years later, the landscape has certainly changed dramatically – and today’s athletes have Pre to thank for opening that door.

Sadly, after winning a race in 1975, Steve Prefontaine flipped his car on the way back from a party and died in a car accident. The world’s greatest runner, who was a year away from the 1976 Olympics, would never get his chance to win gold, passing at the age of 24.

Nearly fifty years later, Pre’s legend lives on. Pre’s Rock – the place where he perished – is still a sacred place for runners. By the time his career was over, he held every American record between 2,000 and 10,000 Meters. Oregon, his alma mater, became synonymous with running. Bill Bowerman, his coach, led the program to 24 NCAA titles. In the mid-1960s, Bowerman co-founded a little company called Blue Ribbon Sports. ?With Pre as his ultimate test subject, he experimented with waffle-iron shoe-bottoms that gained massive popularity in 1974 with his protégé Pre running in his lightweight shoes. You may have heard of the new name the company took on in 1971: Nike. ???????????????? ????????????????????????????????????????

I’m so glad my girls are running cross-country. Running has that wonderful blend of competing against others, but more importantly, competing with yourself to be the best you can be.

I don’t expect my daughters to try to be Pre. I mean, how could anyone be held to that standard? But if there is anything I want them to take from this man’s too-short life, it’s this message:

“To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.”

So whatever your gift is – go all-in and use it up today!