Cut Caption: “Pre was unhappy with the lack of competition and the fact that his race was run 15 minutes late. Nonetheless, he took the lead from the start and won by 40 yards. He led at the end of the first lap with 60.4, opened a 3-yard lead at the half in 2:04, and broke loose to take a 30-yard lead after three laps, finishing with the 40 yard lead.”
His final time was 4:06.0.
PRE DETERMINED
Any debate regarding Steve Prefontaine’s merits as an all-timer should begin with these numbers…[0] defeats in cross-country or track during Pre’s junior and senior high school seasons.
[19] Pre’s age when he appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1970.
[3] NCAA Cross-Country Championships won while at the University of Oregon.
[4] National titles earned in the three-mile while at Oregon. Pre was the first track athlete to win four straight in the same event.
[0] losses in races longer than a mile while running at Oregon.
[35-3] overall record in the mile at Oregon’s Hayward Field.
[40] years Pre’s U.S. Olympic Trials 5000-meter record (13:22:8) stood, until Galen Rupp broke it by less than two-tenths of a second in 2012.
[.64] seconds separating Pre from bronze medalist Ian Stewart in the 5000 at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
[7] U.S. records set in distances between 2000 meters and 10,000 meters (his three-mile and six-mile marks still stand).
[$5,000] yearly value of the contract Pre signed with Nike in 1974, when he became one of the shoemaker’s first athlete endorsers.
[78] percent– Pre’s lifetime outdoor track win percentage across all distances (119 wins in 151 races).
