To my fellow distance Runners out there, never stop pushing. Our brotherhood was baptized by the agony of that last stretch. When our mind says "no more", our body says "I',m done" but our hearts.... our hearts are the Crest of human endurance... Pre showed us the way, Pre pushed the boundaries. Runners... unite, embrace that pain and savor the taste of the finish line, of that new p.r. Of that milestone performance , because that is what Steve's legacy incites: PUSH because you know you can, dont think you can't. BELIEVE as Pre believed... without doubts, without limits.... Watch over us on the track Steve, on the cross country courses, let us hear you tell us, "your not done" ...We are blessed to have this iconic legend from Coos Bay as the Godfather of our sport, God plucked a beautiful flower when it was just about to blossom, and I'm betting Steve and JC lace up every morning for "an easy 10"
As a high school runner in ‘72 I was fortunate to meet him at the Olympic training camp at Bowdoin College. He has always been my running inspiration. Gone but never forgotten.
Agree. His journey was unfinished, but he left such a legacy. Impressive his mark on history. Watched the story today again and went for a nice 12k run. And I am 54 years old. Greeting from New Zealand.
@@SamMartinPeakPerformance yea id say it depends on where you live. Im from Houston and people don't really run down there so I honestly never heard of Pre, then I went to live in oregon for a year and EVERYONE knew Pre. I got introduced to running up here and fell in love with it. But most young runners up here in the pacific nw knows the name PRE. The legacy will always live on.
I worked on the film with Jared Leto, filmed in Tacoma, Seattle, Stanwood, Marysville Washington. With the Fabulous movie magic the locations as real as the locations where these things happened. It was honor to meet the Prefontaine's and sister and the Finnish runner. Kudos to the director and crew of the film. Good show mate! And Jared, remember GO Pre GO! When the groupies were chasing you? Go Pre Go!
I can remember getting ready for school that morning and hearing about his death on the radio. I cried. It’s been 47 years and that I can recall that moment with crystal clarity.
Pre lives . Amazing runner, gifted by God. God bless his soul. Thanks for all you did. 50 years since you left us and you are still in our hearts. Btw , I love your trail and I called " my peace of Heaven on Earth " I try to go everytime I get a chance. GO PRE!!!
As a distance runner in high school, our varsity team got together to watch a video on Pre. Running has never been covered much in the US beyond the Olympics, so it was eye-opening to see how much cultural impact a runner - a distance runner at that - could have. I don't run nearly as much (or as fast) as I used to, but running has given me so much meaning, challenge, focus, friendship, confidence, and even identity throughout life. As I'm sure most people here know, to be a distance runner means you need to be a little sick in the head and a sucker for pain, and Pre was our patron saint. He was our sport's rock star, and he made me even more proud to be a distance runner.
Glad I found this video on the legendary Steve Prefontaine, since the 2021 Olympics are coming up next month. He is an icon in the world of track and running, just as the legendary Jim Morrison was to the world of 60's rock music. The Doors and other music hits were appropriate background music, since these were the hit songs of the era. By God, I would love to travel back in time to return to the early 1970's, back to the long hair, mustaches, and side burns that so characterized young men back then, and of course Steve Prefontaine. I was 16 at the time, and I remember the terrorist tragedy of the 1972 Munich Olympics only so well, and what a tragic jolt it was to the Olympics at the time.
Last year after I graduated high school, me and my 4x800 team were invited to run in nationals in Eugene Oregon. We got 14th place out of 16 teams, which isn't so bad for our first time there. While I was there I got run at Hayword field for the race, run on pre's trail, and visit the spot where he died. It was one of the best things that ever happened to me.
Oh, he was drunk. They don't mention that in this at all, making out like it was a mystery that he lost control. But I see that his blood alcohol level was 0.16. That's more than high enough to have an accident like this. Strange to me they don't mention it. Doesn't make him less great. Though maybe more human.
Thank you for this EXCELLENT documentary. I cried my eyes out. I was too young at the time to know about his death. But I will now never forget it, or him.
I never knew of him until well after his death but I feel pain at his loss. Anytime someone dies with so much more they could have achieved it leaves a hole in people. Rip Steve Prefontaine and Salvador Sanchez. Two great athletes taken in their prime.
Was 18 at my hs graduation party at home ‘75 when I got the Sports Illustrated issue with his death in it. Also had a white mg with GoPre license plates:(😥So many great memories in these videos that you couldn’t see back then except for the 3 major news networks.Thank goodness for Track and Field News:)
People these days don't realize how great they have it when it comes to receiving news and media at the touch of a button as soon as it happened Even up to the late 90s this country was so regional most people didn't even know what was going on outside of their little pocket
From the day I was introduced in the 80s to who he was, I've always been a fan of this guy. Maybe if I had been aware of who this guy was and what he ran, more importantly, how he ran, I'd probably have taken high school track a tad bit more serious. My son will know exactly who he is.
@@Crismans843 How about helping someone learn instead of trying to make them feel stupid for not knowing something and asking a question? I don't know why either. Maybe because now they use professional athletes with worldwide fame? That's all I can come up with, but maybe I'm wrong. Am I a troll too?
This isn't the original "Fire on the Track" that I saw 20 years ago but snippets of it with a different narrator. Nevertheless I'm glad to see his flame still alight.
"If ya go down to the pencil shop and find a donut in the drawer then you're likely gonna be putting a necktie over your uncle's toe" -Bill Bowerman (probably)
My dad is a long distance runner and lead his school to fourth at state with a 18th place at state with a time of 17:38 and after he graduated taught the bcc team and then after that became a marathon runner and steve prefontaine was his idle he has pictures of him
I really believe Secretariat came along to fulfill the promise of Pre and Jim Ryun. I know it sounds silly but in some spiritual way it helps ease the pain.
I believe that Dave Wottle's incredible kick & Olympic Gold Medal in the 800 Meters in 1972 was amazing. And Frank Shorter's Olympic Gold Medal in the Marathon in the 1972 was huge.
Steve brought a level of charisma and arrogance to athletics which was ahead of its time, and arguably never again seen before the emergence of Usain Bolt. Something I personally despised, but which most other athletics supporters loved. Either way all sport needs its characters, and athletics needed Steve. Although of outstanding ability both he and the American public somewhat overrated what he was capable of. In the Olympics he slotted into what I personably believe to be the best 5,000 metres race ever seen. Even to this day. His 4th place was commensurate with any pre-race objective assessment as to what was likely / possible. It was a fabulous well-earned result - the three runners who beat him were all well established living legends and so immensely talented. Everyone weeped on hearing of Steve's early demise, and such elevated his alleged talent even further. But what the heck, athletics also needs stories of the like of both Griffith 'Guto' Morgan and Steve. P.S. Steve must always be remembered / saluted for changing governing athletics' body rules/ athletes' rights in the USA, just as John Tarrant did in the UK.
Steve Prefontaine - A good clean amateur American athlete. A crowd pleaser with a touch of maverick, a ton of charisma and an abundance of guts. Not mature enough to win a medal in the turmoil of Munich 1972 but he had bucket loads of potential. Unfortunately his potential was never realised due to a tragic accident. Could he beat the best at the Olympics in 1976? Quite possibly but we will never know. What is known, is that he elevated the sport of running in America and was feared in international competition. Not too bad for a guy in his mid twenties. Sport would be better off with a sprinkling of more athletes like Steve Prefontaine. The legacy that he left was far better than the World and Olympic medals he may have won because he was a "Game Changer". Perhaps this was his destiny and his greatest achievement. Legends don't always have to be World beaters, It's the impact they have on the World that makes them so, and Steve Prefontaine's footprint could certainly be described as legendary.
Pre laid a 40 ft skid locking up the brakes to avoid.a.16.yr.old.driving in the middle of the road. The kid was a doctor's son and fled the scene--16 years old. Pre didn't speed, didn"t "lose control" due to beer--vehicular obstacle avoidance. ~Det. Ken Mains.
What a story. I never heard of him, but several other in the video, like Frank Shorter, and I knew the Finish and Soviets was good at that time, some was even into blood doping. But I will sure remember him from today, sad he didn't live and run in Montreal ❤️. We had an extremely good swimmer, Alexander Dale Oen, who took a silver medal in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, and became World Champion in July 2011, just three days after the big terrorist bombing and massacre on an island outside Oslo. He died in young age, only 26 year, of heart-stop when he was on a training tour in Arizona US. I'm sure would have made could have taken the gold medal also in the London Olympics. Today one off the swimming hall's in his hometown Bergen is called after him.
Pre was the only runner i ever heard of who could survive overtraining. no runner should ever try to push beyond what your body says it can do. it only takes one case of excess racing to ruin a runner for the rest of his life. jim ryun was destroyed by his coach who must have hated him.
I wAs in the movie we shouted go pre many times To make it real fun times also was there when Craig Blanchett was hot ,, couldn't break into wheelchair track it was hard,, I regret that but I'm old now and still look forward to building handcycles to help others and doen good
I realize it was a different time back then, but I wonder why they downplay his drunk driving. Growing up I watched all of his movies and don't really remember any of them making a big deal about the fact that he was 3x over the limit. Or maybe they did and I just never paid attention to that part
Correct that drunk driving was only beginning to be taken seriously in 1975. But in this, they don't just down play it, they say how he lost control was a mystery. And this was made 20 years later. It's not the death you want for a beloved athlete, but it's what happened, and it doesn't make what he did any less great.
He was my baby brother and I was his half-sister. Never did he call me half-sister. Linda Prefontaine was the only one saying that. Because She was always jealous of my relationship with my brother. Now she and Mr. Shoe also have left me out..I am sad but I loved my brother like a son. If anyone wants to know the Real story, watch for my book. God's will be done. Amen Steve.
Note Phil knight saying "he is the greatest athlete to wear our products"... This was in 1989 I think? The year before Michael Jordan created Air Jordans...
The plan he had was messed up from the jump so he tried to improvise. It's why he took off full sprint with 600m to go, and his body ran out of gas. Alot of people wondered why he didnt go for the silver or bronze because he easily could have gotten a medal but for Pre it was 1st or nothing.
6:42 - Doug Crooks and Hal Jackson. Pre's freshman year he won the NCAA 3-mile after slicing his foot at a pool. Had something like 13 stitches...Tough?
Without Limits, showed the motel scene where he was standing on his head & having sex with a Prefontaine groupie, when he lost his balance & his foot smashed against the radiator. Pre had more women than Wilt Chamberlain during his college days.
Gino Odjick was an "enforcer" for the Vancouver Canucks. In a game he took a slap shot to the mouth. The puck broke and knocked out 14 teeth. Odjick didn't go to the dressing room and only missed one shift change. In other words he spent about 5 minutes on the bench before he was back in the game. One tuff Algonquin Native!!!
Now,,the Olympics is an odd phenomena,,because they measure right and keep the field clean of steroids ,I was primarily a health nut anyway ,I did well in the Games as a result
Lasse Viren's magic formula was reindeer blood infusions, 10 days before the 1972 & 1976 Olympic Games began. Viren would do diddly squat in between the Olympic Games but once the Olympic Games began, he became a vastly improved runner that was unbeatable at the 5K & 10K. Reindeer Blood became the breakfast of champions until EPO reared its ugly head in the early 90s. El G. & Gebs paved the way.
@@richardmilliken8705 Well ,,never ate that ,took normal supplements,,I would rock climb hike ,camp out with a gallon of ice water,,then at 5 AM hiked back down ,,got along with mountain lions ,and black bears ,there was no phone tower that far up ,,but I found the Olympic London marathon easy ,,
Welcoming foreign champion ,that Herod Empire is watching ,athletes like Ovett or Lasse Viren just wanted a normal meet ,my dad was very powerful secretly and brought Red phone athletes in like Vasily Ambrov,,but he thought mean Jews syndicates were after the sport
If its a pure guts race no one can beat me. They can beat me, but they'll have to bleed to do it. ... Winning any other way is chicken shit. What do u call hangin back for 2 and a half miles and stealing the race in the last 200 yards? Thats called winning. No, thats chicken shit. Winning to me is running out front flat out the whole race, giving it my best. Winning any other way is just plain chicken shit. Pre.
I am not convinced Prefontain would have got the world records at 5k. when he died aged 24, his best was 8 seconds off it. That is quite a long way, at aged 24. He might have just got the WR if he'd improved lot between aged 24 and 26. , but he might not have. Yifter the Shifter never set WRs at 5k or 10k, despite winning olympics golds at both. But he set a WR at 1/2 marathon
First, you can't judge a distance runner's greatness by WR's. Lot of factors play into that and have to come together to set a WR. Weather, right track, pacesetters, and competition. Pre did the vast majority of his racing here in the US. Many times he was so far ahead it was like he was running a time trial. You don't set WR's in distance running that way. In the 70's it was harder for Americans to run in Europe than it is today. The AAU made it very difficult to compete post college and stay an Amateur and retain Olympic eligibility. So guys had to work jobs and train whereas guys like Lasse Viren received support from their country and the Athletic Organization within their countries. So they could concentrate 100% on training. Pre fought to change that and he did. Because of that guys had a very hard time getting to Europe and being able to race there. The entire American distance running system was pretty screwed up in the '70's and still is to an extent. The Olympic Trials really screwed up many of our great runners like Pre and Jim Ryun and others due to the fact that you end up having to "peak" twice in a relatively short time frame. Other countries did not make their elite runners do that, they choose the team, so they could concentrate on the Olympics, not the Trials. Pre had the highest VO2 Max ever tested to that point (and still one of the highest) so there was no doubting his ability, he just needed the right circumstances and he would have been right there in terms of WR. But the Olympics are what distance runners on judged on, not WR's. As for greatness the fact that we are still talking about him 45 years after his death should be a hint as to how great a runner he was and his Legacy . His "failure" in 1972 was one of the gutsiest races I've ever seen (only on video years later) and shows how tough he really was.
God forbid Salazar ask an over weight female runner to lose weight so she can run faster!! Not one male, other than snowflake Magness complained about Salazar. Thank God, that Seb Coe never complained about his Dad wanting him to run at 119lb at 5ft.9in. I never heard fellow teammates complaining about doing crazy interval workouts like Jim Ryun during the 60's!!
It's sad what happened to him But Why they don't Tell the whole truth about him And how he really killed himself? First of all this guy had an very nasty attitude problem and why they don't say that he was drunk when he had the accident, He never won an olimpics 🏅 like Jesse owens, Frank shorter, and many other athletics he probably would but he didn't, Let me tell you that this guy wasn't a Role Madel for anybody, I know I'm gonna get alot of bad comments about this but people don't like to hear the truth,
Steve Prefontaine inspired more people to run in the United States than anybody in this country's history. He might have been intoxicated when he died. Is that what's most important? The silver lining is that he has inspired people to embrace the spirit of running and self-improvement. He still is a "Role Madel" to a lot of people.
