Between all those who came to watch Pre perform live in the early 1970's, the two Hollywood adaptions to his life and the legendary stories, one interesting tidbit of information has crept beneath the floorboards the entire time.
In 1973, shortly after failing to medal at the XX Olympiad in Munich, Steve Prefontaine competed in a low key 3000m steeplechase race at Marshfield High School's track (where he would later go on to set his 2000m American record of 5:01.4 in 1975), testing the waters and reinvigorating his passion for racing.
The race featured locals Dan Pulman, Jeremy Waters and Bill Ross, and, like almost every other race Pre ran in, he lead from the gun. After an opening kilometer of 2:53, Pre upped the tempo, dropping the others. The 2K was reached in 5:40 (a second kilometer split of 2:47), and, to the roar of the small crowd, Pre drove hard to the line, finishing in 8:28.4, with a last kilometer of 2:48. This mark was 14 seconds off the world record at the time, held by Ben Jipcho of Kenya, and many believed he would go on to steeple at international competitions. But Pre's heart was set for the 5000m.
Just one month later, Pre raced over 5000m in Helsinki, setting a new Personal Best time, and new American Record, in 13:22.4, before having a stellar 1974 campaign. Unfortunately, his life was cut short in 1975 by a fatal automobile accident.
I posted a link to a picture of Pre hurdling over a barrier at a 12K cross country invitational in 1974 (second picture down in link). I do not believe any pictures of his actual steeplechase race exist, however if you possess any home footage or pictures of the race, I would gladly appreciate if you could post them here or send them to my email,
matt.cardona3@yahoo.com
to use on my website (given your permission, of course.)
http://www.flickriver.com/photos/thehappyrower/tags/cc/
The Happy Rower (flickr account name) also has many great pictures of Steve Prefontaine for those interested in his life.