Steve Roland Prefontaine was born in Coos Bay, Oregon, on January 25, 1951. Through

out his life he established himself as one of the greatest American Running legends. He is the only

person to ever hold the American record in all distances for 2,000-10,000 meters. The impacts of

his short life can still be seen and heard today. Wendy Ray the announcer at Hayward field during

Pre's running career describes him best saying "He just had whatever that is-I don't know, actors

have it. Singers have it. Some people have it, some people don't. Most people don't. He had a lot

of it." (Jordan 115) Pre was a special person and changed running totally. He changed peoples

views on it he made people see it as a sport and not just a hobby. To him running was special and

he conveyed these feelings to all the world. He once said "Some people create with words or

with a brush and paints. I like to make something beautiful when I run. I like to make people

stop and say, 'I've never seen anyone run like that before.' It's more then just a race, its style.

It's doing something better than anyone else. It's being creative."(Jorda

That night Pre and the American team went out and had a good time. Pre was talking

getting through these. He beat George Young, former world record in the two mile. After a tour

confidence that he had lost after not placing in the Olympics.

winner on his schools cross country team. In his senior year he set a new high school 2 mile

off, the pace of the race. Pre very upset told a reporter "If it had been 8:40 for the first two miles,

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Approximate Word count = 1801
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)