Steve Prefontaine the legend
Introduction
Many people have never heard of Steve Prefontaine. These people are not ignorant, they just have not followed Americas distance running. In distance running Prefontaine, better known as Pre, is truly a legend. The people that knew Pre could see the passion and desire in everything he did. Not many people have heard of Steve Prefontaine because of his short life-span. He was only 24 years old when he passed. The purpose of this paper is to inform you on who Steve Prefontaine really was, and what he achieved as a high schooler and in his college years.
Methodology
When I was first given this assignment, my mind started racing on who I thought was a leader and a catalyst for change. Everyone started calling out who they wanted to do and slowly but surely every famous person I knew was taken. I was really stumped and started researching “leaders” on google but everyone who came up didn’t seem interesting enough. My AVID teacher Mrs. Swain asked me what I enjoyed doing and I replied with running and she brought up Steve Prefontaine. She brought me up to speed about him and it got me interested how he for the longest time he held the record in every distance track race. As I began researching about him, most of the cites said the same thing: He held the record in every distance track meet and died at age 24. So for a while I couldn’t find out more information on him. In the article “The Legacy of Pre still lives on” gave me Pre’s whole back story. Where he grew up, how he was on the less fortunate side, he went to college full ride and how he at first wasn’t interested in the sport. Another part that was difficult to find was how he was a catalyst for change. I knew he was responsible for the running boom in the 1970’s, but besides that he wasn’t very involved in anything else. But then it hit me that he was responsible for the running craze, he changed the minds of Americans that running wasn’t tortuous, but enjoyable. Compared to my other classes, it wasn’t that difficult to find my answer. I just had to look on different cites or type in different key words to get what I needed.
Leaders Context and Actions A man once said “To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.” This man was one of Oregon's greatest sports legends. His name was Steve Prefontaine. Steve was a regular kid that decided to start running in high school and realized he was pretty good at is as he progressed in the sport. His pursuit for Olympic medals was a driving factor in the American running craze in the mid-1970s. During his brief 24-year life span, Steve Prefontaine grew from hometown hero, to record-setting phenomenon, to internationally acclaimed track star. The runner Steve Roland Prefontaine was born on January 25, 1951, in Coos Bay, Oregon. Prefontaine was a rambunctious kid. He was always moving around, partaking in different activities. In junior high, Prefontaine was on his schools football and basketball team, but due to having one leg shorter than the other his playing time was kept to a minimum. In eight grade, he noticed several high school cross country team members jog to practice past the football field, an activity he then viewed as boring. Later that year, Prefontaine began to realize that he was able to compete well in longer distance races in his P.E. class during a three week conditioning period. By the second week of the daily mile runs, Prefontaine was finishing second in the group. With this new-found success, he fell in love with cross country. When he first began to take cross country up as a sport he wasn’t that great. He didn’t qualify for state his freshman or sophomore year. During his junior year he qualified for state and placed fourth. Finally his senior year, many of his highest goals were set. He obtained a national record at ht Corvallis Invitational with at time of 8:41.5 for the two mile run. He won two more state titles that year after another undefeated season in both the one and two mile distances for track. Prefontaine also set a national high school record in the two mile race and broke 19 national high school records in track. Widely considered one of the greatest American runners of all time, Prefontaine held the U.S. record in every long-distance event from the 2,000 meters to the 10,000 meters. Prefontaine was recruited by several top track programs across the United States, but decided to enroll at the University of Oregon to train under the legendary coach Bill Bowerman. Pre, as he was called by his fans, won three Division 1 NCAA Cross Country championships and four straight three mile titles. It was while at the University of Oregon that Prefontaine earned a reputation for his aggressive front-running racing style, going out hard and not relinquishing the lead. One runner described Pre by saying he ran every race is if it was his last. Pre would often say “you can breath when your done.” He soon became a legend not only in his native Oregon, but nationwide, appearing on the cover of Sports Illustrated at age of 19. In his four years at Oregon, Prefontaine never lost a collegiate (NCAA) race at 3 miles or 6 miles. After missing a medal at the 1972 Olympics in Munich because of his aggressive front-running racing style, Prefontaine returned to the university of Oregon to finish is collegiate career. He then set his sights on the 1976 summer olympics in Montreal. Tragically, he was killed in a car crash in May of 1975 at age 24. Pre’s life may have been cut short but his contributions to the sport are not forgotten. Even after his death, Steve Prefontaine remained an icon in the running world. During his short career. He ran 153 races and won 120 of them. He was partially responsible for inspiring the running boom in the 1970s, and several movies were made in his honor.
Others Perspective Steve Prefontaine is known by many as the best American runner of all time. His quest for Olympic gold fueled the American running craze in the mid-1970’s. Even though Prefontaine had a large support group, every famous star has to have his doubters. Al Johnson expressed his opinion saying he had his doubts that Steve was that talented. He was pushing the idea that Steve Prefontaine was on steroids (Johnson). Prefontaine’s ability to run at a fast pace for 3 miles surfaces a lot of doubts a questioning of his ability to run the distance at that speed. Al Johnson wasn’t the only one who doubted Prefontaine's capability, Lynn also believed that Steve had a drug and alcohol problem. She stated “Maybe he would of make it to the 1976 Olympics if he wasn’t into drinking.”(Lynn). Lynn was indicating that if he didn’t drink alcohol, he would be alive today. Granite, Prefontaine did pass from drunk driving, other sources have a strong opinion that Prefontaine was truly talented and didn’t use steroids. From the magazine The Entertainer, they named all of Prefontaine’s accomplishments throughout his lifestyle. He claimed seven NCAA titles, a fourth-place Olympic finish in 1972 (5K), and American records from 2,000 meters through 10,000 meters. They also added in Prefontaine’s interesting racing style, going hard and not relinquishing the lead (Entertainer). So basically Steve started and ended the race in a dead sprint. That is why many argue that he was taking some sort of drug to enhance his performance and be able to hold that running style throughout the entire race. From the evidence above, it is obvious the Prefontaine had more fans than haters. Even though his running style seemed impossible there was no evidence that Prefontaine was a user of steroids during his time as a runner. Although when he did celebrate from a win he was known to go a little heavy on the drinking, causing him to get into a car accident and lose his life.
Leader as a Catalyst for Change “To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.” When Pre would speak as he often did to young athletes at clinics and camps, he would end his talk with this sentence. For him, the “gift” was running, which had taken him for junior high bench warmer to the cover of Sports Illustrated by the time he was 18 (Steve Prefontaine). For him, the gift was not something you were just handed to, but something that had to be pursued with tenacity and diligence. Pre acknowledged that he was a good runner, but he sincerely believed that many others had been born with more running talent than he. “It made him mad to see wasted talent,” stated one of Pre’s closet friend. Pre could be incredibly eloquent at times, and quite profane at others. Much of both came from honesty. Leave it to Steve to talk to junior high school students without embarrassment about dangers of a disease. It was his honesty and don’t-mess-with-me attitude that inevitably brought him afoul of the Amateur Athletic Union. While proclaiming that he was “not really trying to get under anyones skin,” he proceeded to do just that. Other athletes had complained about the restrictions and sanctions placed upon them by the bureaucracy. Pre sank his teeth in and wouldn’t let go. His example in life and the profound shock of his death increased the resolve of many to carry on the fight that he started. In 1978, the U.S. Congress, after hearing testimony from Frank Shorter and athletes from other sports, passed the Amateur Sports Act, in effect breaking the stranglehold of the AAU and reorganizing a number of sports, including track and field. In 1981, the Association of Road Racing Athletes challenged the rules of international amateurism by offering prize money openly to the top finishers in the Cascade Run-Off in Portland, Oregon, Pre’s home state. Slowly at first, and then with increasing velocity, “shamateurism,” with its under-the-table payments, gave way to direct payments to athletes in both road running and track in field.
Conclusion
Steve Prefontaine was known by everyone for his incredible talent in running short and long distances. Before his life was tragically taken from him at such an early age, Steve was changing the countries perspective on running. Before Pre, running wasn’t a very popular sport, if anyone was running, it would be to train for a different sport. After Pre, people started running for enjoyment or as a sport. Furthermore Steve encouraged high schoolers to get involved in running. He would visit high schools across the United States giving his story about he came from a small town and shows them the difference he's made. The whole country was Steve’s biggest fans.

Work Cited
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“The Entertainer.” Singers and Dancers. 1994. Gale Biography in Context. Web. 24 Aug. 2013.
"Why Pre Still Matters." Runner's World. N.p., 22 Mar. 2013. Web. 12 Dec. 2015.
Williams, Doug. "Legacy of Prefontaine Still Lives on." ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures, 12 Sept. 2013. Web. 12 Dec. 2015.