“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
This past Sunday I watched the movie Prefontaine for the first time in a long time. It still inspires me. I may watch it every Sunday to get me motivated for the challenges of the upcoming week. I recommend the movie, Prefontaine to runners and non-runners alike. The inspirational message isn’t just about running. It is about how we attack our lives’ challenges. Prefontaine didn’t let anything get in his way. Everyday was a gut check, a new challenge to meet. He constantly pushed himself to his limits, then pushed a little harder until he achieved his goals.
Steve Prefontaine wasn’t instantly successful at the sport that he helped revolutionize. In his freshman and sophomore years at Marshfield High School Steve did well but was not spectacular. He didn’t even qualifying for the state championships. However, his Junior and Senior years of High School were much different. He won every meet and set the National High School 2-mile record by 6.8 seconds. He finished High School with 19 National High School records in track. Although it took Prefontaine until his Junior year to realize his potential, this movie portrayed him as a risk taker and pushing himself to the limits even as a young child. Some may hypothesize that he went through a physical growth spurt before his Junior year of High School, I think it was more of a mental growth spurt.
Steve brought this mental toughness to the University of Oregon where he ran for the famous coach Bill Bowerman, founder of Nike. In college, Pre started to revolutionize the sport of running. He would start off the race hard and never relinquish the lead. He challenged other runners to stay with him. He felt that if it was a close race at the end, he would always win. The end of the race is a gut check, and he knew in his mind that he had the most guts. He saw running as an art. He equated his running to painting on a canvas for the spectators. He was inspirational. Prefontaine motivated others to watch and participate in the sport of running; revolutionizing it.
When Pre was 21 he participated in the 1972 Summer Olympic Games in Munich. He ran the 5,000 meter event against the best in the world. In this race he didn’t run his usual racing style; charging out in the front and daring the other runners to stay with him. He finally took over the lead of the race with about a mile left; however, he was unable to hold on for the win. He was at the point of exhaustion near the finish line, being pasted with about 15 meters left to finish the race 4th overall. He was determined to do better in the next Summer Olympic Games in Montreal.
In his Senior year at the University of Oregon Steve began to battle the Amateur Athletic Association over athletes maintaining their amateur status. In order to maintain their amateur status and compete in the Olympics, athletes were prohibited from being paid to run races or receive endorsements. Steve saw this as being an unfair price to pay for participating in the Olympic Games. Steve led the way in fighting for this cause, but on May 30th, 1975 Steve Prefontaine died in a fatal car accident. He swerved to avoid another car, ran into a rock wall, and had his vehicle land on top of him. He was quickly found by someone who lived nearby but the car could not be lifted off of Steve. As the samaratian went to find help to lift the car, Steve passed away.
Steve Prefontaine left behind a legacy that is still prevalent today. No one knows what types of records he would have accomplished if he were still alive, but one thing is for certain, he would have continued to inspire others.
Everyday is a gut check. Do it for your own satisifaction. All it takes is guts to achieve your goals…and everyone has guts.