So I was having a talk with a guy who was trying to inform me that Prefontaine was notorious for dropping out of races if they weren't going his way. I told him that to my knowledge Pre dropped out of one race, a 2 mile in London due to stomach problems. Is this true? Any oldtimers out there who can verify?
Thanks
You are correct. the Pre-hater is a moron that has no idea what he's talking about.
i thought the one race was in Eugene and he dropped out because farmers were either burning or spreading pesticides at their farms...im not sure though...but for some reason this rings a bell
Can't recall the location, but you're correct, Pre only dropped out of one race during his career. Think the race was in Europe, but not entirely sure. If you can get your hands on Tom Jordan's book, he has all Pre's races chronicled in the back.
odd wrote:
i thought the one race was in Eugene and he dropped out because farmers were either burning or spreading pesticides at their farms...im not sure though...but for some reason this rings a bell
part right. he ran in bad air pollution, what was a time trial, not a race; in between Eurpean tours; he injured his rib cage cartlidge from coughing so hard after the mile. this was recorded in detail in a Cover story from T and F news that summer, titled 'the summer of Pre's discontent'. There was a picture of him after the mile, talking to 'his people' through a megaphone. Thousands showed up just to see him run. Some concerned people tried to talk him out of running that mile due to the heavy smoke in the air, but Pre said he couldn't disappoint the thousands who showed up to see him run.
it is also in the Tom Jordan book PRE.
PRE > RUPP
PRE > TEG
PRE > LAGAT
PRE > EPOpians
PRE = PRE
just putting that out there
PRE = WAY OVER RATED
THANK you truth finally somebody says something. the only reason he is so over rated is because of his cocky attitude and birth of american distance running. thats about it, yeah he was really good but not the best ever that people should idolize and want to be/run like him
Oh Jesus, here we go.
teg doesn't run the 10k!
How about we remember Steve Prefontaine objectively? That is to say, he was a tremendously talented (people seem to have created this posthumous idea that his achievements were based on pure balls) athlete whose life and career was tragically short. I really think he would've won a medal (silver) at 5k in Montreal.
Now, to say or imply that the back stories and strength of character of his colleagues, competitors and successors aren't equally compelling is just plain wrong.
:) wrote:
THANK you truth finally somebody says something. the only reason he is so over rated is because of his cocky attitude and birth of american distance running. thats about it, yeah he was really good but not the best ever that people should idolize and want to be/run like him
you idiot. you couldn't resist, could you? No matter that the subject of the thread has nothing to do with you and your self-loathing buddies post. Just go away.
GlobalView wrote:
whose life and career was tragically short.
A little kid with a terminal illness is a tragedy. A person or persons killed or maimed accidentally is a tragedy. A natural disaster like a hurricane or tornado has tragic consequences.
A tragedy is when a drunk driver kills someone minding their own business.
Running into a rock while driving drunk is not tragic, it is stupidity and selfishness.
The guy who says Pre dropped out all the time is full of it. Pre only dropped out of one race in his career in his last race of 1974 because of his recuring sciatica problem in in his back.
The tragic part was that he died young and that we'll never know what he could've done. The nature of the accident was selfish and stupid, I would agree. As you do, I deplore DUI, and I think that definitely taints his memory. Which fits my point: let's look at him objectively.
?????????? wrote:
A little kid with a terminal illness is a tragedy. A person or persons killed or maimed accidentally is a tragedy. A natural disaster like a hurricane or tornado has tragic consequences.
A tragedy is when a drunk driver kills someone minding their own business.
Running into a rock while driving drunk is not tragic, it is stupidity and selfishness.
He said that Pre's life was tragically short, not that it ended tragically.
yeah he was really good but not the best ever that people should idolize and want to be/run like him
So people should only idolize or want to be like the best ever? I agree in one aspect... Jesus Christ. But then you are saying that boys should not want to be like their dads and girls there mothers or whomever they look up to. Hell, Pre was one of the fastest distance runners ever because he had a good work ethic... I see nothing wrong with wanting to be like or run like a really good runner. A lot of young kids just simply look after their older sibling... I see nothing wrong with that.
Yeah he had a good work ethic but it wasn't great. He would rarely run distances farther than 10 miles and would insist on running at 6 min pace or faster. His stubborness in races prevented him from running certain times or acheiving certain goals. I agree he was great but he is not someone that I would want my athletes to mirror in training and somewhat in races.
Endust wrote:
Yeah he had a good work ethic but it wasn't great. He would rarely run distances farther than 10 miles and would insist on running at 6 min pace or faster. His stubborness in races prevented him from running certain times or acheiving certain goals. I agree he was great but he is not someone that I would want my athletes to mirror in training and somewhat in races.
You are an idiot.