STEVE PREFONTAINE || WHAT IT TAKES TO BE GREAT
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- čas přidán 20. 06. 2019
- Steve Prefontaine is one of the greatest American distance runners in history.
At the young age of 21, Pre ran at the 1972 Olympic Finals in the 5000 meters where he faced the greatest distance runners in the world.
In this video, we'll take a look at what Pre did throughout his running career and how it made him into one of the greatest distance runners in history.
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“The best pace is a suicide pace, and today is a good day to die” Steve Prefontaine
"Believe in yourself, have a passion and forget about limitations". Steve Prefontaine
Joe Kinchicken Imagine being a lowly piece of shit like yourself. Steven wasted his gift by drunk driving, but everyone acts as if this one mistake taints his humanity. He made a poor choice and died. He’s still one of the greatest runners ever that inspired countless other runners. What have you contributed? He’s not a loser, he’s a legend. Don’t disrespect a resting soul, you fucking loser.
@Joe Kinchicken we prefer flawed winners to perfectly behaved losers like yourself. no one will remember you.
@Joe Kinchicken yes, but ted bundy never actually competed and won. so your comparison is invalid.
@Joe Kinchicken what the fuck is wrong with you? You clearly dont know pre's story. He was a legendary runner that everyone looks up to as one of the greats and he had some of the most gutsy races of all time
Pre had incredible pain tolerance. It might have been how his body processed lactic acid. Modern studies on Michael Phelps and some pro cyclists show an insane metabolic rate of processing lactic acid, allowing them to maintain extreme exertion longer than most. It would have been interesting to test Pre.
Maybe he did baking soda. A teaspoon before a run drops lactic acid.
Pre had a VO2 max of 84.4. Higher than Lance Armstrong at his peak.
No dude it's in the mind body changes accordingly when you push it
Yeah lactate threshold is what sets some of the elites apart in endurance sports. Pro cyclists can flush out lactate at a much higher rate than normal people and sustain extremely long periods of high lactate build up. Also mental toughness is a requirement for any elite endurance athlete. They need to be able to hurt themselves a lot and keep pushing through the pain. Pre definitely had all of these ingredients.
I idolized Prefontaine when was a kid.
Steve Prefontaine's death at age 24 was a devastating loss to American distance running. He was just on the verge of even greater achievements and international stardom. During the past 30-40 years, I've never seen runners in a class with Prefontaine and Mary Decker. They were truly breathtaking performers.
Neither of them won at the top level
@@sage6336 that’s sort of the point. His death cut a career short that had not yet fully matured. Nice non-point.
Prefontaine was a big fish in a small pond but overrated at the highest level. His actual times were not particularly fast by international standards, but he made his reputation due to racing against lower quality (at that time) fields in America and his rebel image with the media. When he came over to Europe for the Munich Olympics his lack of experience against the top racers and naïve tactics cost him the bronze medal in the 5000m. Had he competed in Montreal it is likely that he would have finished 4th again, as he did not have the 1500m speed of the kickers. Had he lived he would probably have been better off concentrating on the Marathon where his lack of basic speed would not have been a handicap.
@@jimferoce4862 He was still 24. Most champs in distance have won gold at world championships in their early 20s. Cheptegei at 21, Ingebrigsten at 20, Barega at 20, etc, etc. and these are only three examples of current runners. By age 24 you have a good idea what a career will be and if someone hasn’t won a medal on a world stage by then it’s tough to label them as a legend or as some people call Pre the goat. I personally think Pre is fun to watch and he has some entertaining stories but he just wasn’t a top performer on the world stage. For someone to say in 30-40 years that haven’t seen a runner like Pre can be a true statement but it just means they haven’t seen any of the best runners. Gebresallasie, Bekele, El Guerrouj, Ovett, Coe, Kipchoge, Tergat, Cheptegei, Ingebrigsten, Mo Farrah, Barega; U.S runners: Ryan, Lagat, Rupp, Fischer, Webb the list goes on. They are all far superior to Pre.
Pre isn’t even a top 5 all time for the US. I’d go Ryan, Lagat, Shorter, Rupp, Webb, Fischer, Chelimo, even Kincaid and Klecker over Pre.
He was great in a US context, but in world athletics he was just very good. Nowhere near an all-time great; and even if he lived for longer, he never would have been a world all -time great. Not talented enough for that.
My dad and uncle both ran with Pre and always marvel at how dedicated and competitive he was. They both credit him to their own desire to constantly improve. The story you mentioned of Pre spending 3 days focused only on beating my uncle is only one of dozens of stories they have along the same lines. What an amazing man!
That is awesome man! It would be cool to have coffee w your uncle.
Pre is the best American male distance runner of all-time. If he would have lived on, he would have only further made that point.
I dunno, him vs. Galen Rupp?
@@Weedle_in_a_Haystack I think it's very close there...comes down to attitude and style for me at that point. No one is cooler, tougher, or more inspirational than Pre!
He is not the best American distance runner ever. Fact!
John George Walker 1976 gold is all I go to say when I hear the bull that he would have been hot shit at 1976 Olympics
@@thomaskreuzpeintner5819 Who do you have in mind? I would say Jim Ryun
If u asked him “What does it take to be great” I think he would say determination and courage, which he showed by taking the lead early every race despite how mentally and physically exhausting it is
And that’s why he was great and will always be
To this day PRE still motivates many runners like me. RIP PRE We miss you still
100%!
My mans, you have to do the great Emil Zatopek
Joshua Eng I love your commitment to Zatopeck! Don’t worry. It’s coming! 💪
I love hearing about pre from people outside of Oregon. I'm from Coos Bay and he is a complete home town hero. Hes everywhere. Growing up, I always wondering if people knew about him in other places
I’m from Malaysia, Southeast Asia country. Pre was one of the reason i started running in college
Lovely to see a video on Pre. He was the reason I got into distance running in the first place.
Great to see his training schedule. The distances in the "off-season" schedule are totally bareable for everyday training, but it's hard not having a single day off. It is mentally very challenging.
6/7 per mile is not hard, even at my age, but the difficulty is the consistency of his training, and knowing that after all that hard work you have to increase that (perhaps not distance, but definitely speed) in order to hope to compete.
Where did he get that info is what i want to know
Pre Fontaine was not a tactical runner , he was strong and muscular for the distances he ran . he could’ve medaled in the 72 Olympics if he wasn’t burning all of his energy so early . love the man and his competitive spirit. but i have to disagree on calling that 5 k race in Munich a great one for him . still believe he was young enough to adjust his style and approach had he lived on to win more awards and podium finishes . may he RIP .
PS : thanks for the effort and putting this together .
stalin1909 you’re totally right, pre wasn’t a tactical runner at all, especially in that 72 race. But, I think you have to agree that his relentlessness during that race is what made it so interesting. If he hadn’t pushed the pace on that last mile it would’ve just been another boring jog and then sprint for the last 400m. Him being so assertive made it more entertaining, and pre was a great showman with his running. If he hadn’t passed away he definitely would’ve developed a better racing style though
Stalin 1909. Pre ran way to hard and competitive in his heat and to add to this he was completing his 30:40 training workouts whilst in Munich. I think his competitive side took the edge of what coukd have been. If he was a bit fresher and not cooked prior to final he would have won.
Sunny M
yes he was definitely entertaining and fun to watch . hard to find a crowd favorite in middle and long distances like him ..
James Carroll
yes your analysis makes sense ..
stalin1909 he ran in an outer lane when he didn’t need too and would waste energy losing and gaining the lead when he should’ve stayed
Reminds me of the old-school training method of going as hard and fast a possible until you throw up. But whenever I'm suffering out there on a long run, I always think of Pre.
Long runs should be at a easy pace where you can talk
@@dhdjdjej yeah lol. That’s probably why Pre never won a medal at any international competition.
Living only 10min from "Steve's Rock" is humbling. I truly enjoy Track City and the stadium. Oregonians love their track & field and welcome all athletes.
I was just @ University of Oregon and saw them building PreFontaine Stadium.
Prefontaine is my all time favorite track and field athlete. I only wish he could have lived longer. In the short time he was around he achieved so much success. He will never be forgotten.
"achieved so much success" . . . domestically, but not internationally
Just found this channel yesterday and can't stop watching your videos, absolutely love them man!
Waited for this video for two years 👌💯
Respect, pre will go on to live in the hearts of millions. Thanks for covering the legend.
Thank you for this! I remember watching a grainy documentary for what felt like hours as a kid on this runner. Parts of the footage and watching it always in memory but could never remember the guys name. Great video!
You should look at lasse viren's munich 10000 where he fell and set the wr. Also I really love your content and keep up with the nice vids.
Oh, but he still won
And I wouldn't call him that if he was one of the best runners in the world at his time. But yes pre was also an amazing runner and worked like a maniac
But idk if that is true or not
All time great race
Viren was amazing that last mile in the 5k. So was Pre.....in a way maybe even moreso for having the guts to push it. However I don't understand the disrespect for Lasse by Pre fans. If he was cheating then fine but where is the proof? I love the sport more than the cult leader and Viren was a great gold medalist runner who won an epic battle against Pre. That is something very admirable.
That workout schedule is sick!
Great video, well done. Ran track in high school in early 70s. We all loved and admired Pre.
Best intro, more like that plz
incredible runner and thanks TRP for making this informative clip.
Pre was an outstanding long distance runner with an unbelievable training schedule making his races look effortless. It’s great just to watch any of his competitive events. My goodness could this guy run.
It was a goal every race. He drove himself more than any runner ever did. If I’m not running someone else is, and they will have the advantage. He didn’t ever want to lose in Eugene. He could go into his physic brain and be in another place before he raced. Great brain training. ♥️💃🏼🙏
Meb Keflezighi please! Although he wasn't the most naturally gifted runner, his victories in the 2009 NYC Marathon and 2014 Boston Marathon were nothing short of amazing. His race strategies are what set him apart, and it was extremely moving watching an American win these two races. I would love to see a video of his life from moving to America from Eritrea at the age of 12, to his victory in Boston. Thanks for these great videos.
I remember reading about the new age training. Where you use the lactic acid as a short energy source or something like that..
Pre was a machine, and one of my favorite runners of all time.
I was in the same class with Steve at Marshfield my first two and a half years of high school. I then moved to Coquille, Oregon where I finished high school. Our senior year Marshfield came to Coquille for a special track meet where you had to enter an event other than your specialty. As a sprinter I ended up in the mile (coach chose for me) and Steve being a distance runner also ended up in the mile. The first three laps we were side by side, however on the fourth lap once the adrenaline hit I started my kick too soon and Steve caught me in the last 40 yards.
Amazing, truly inspiring.
I worked in data analytics and found something out using Pre as an example. It was about how competition and visibility improves performance and then you add a Pre type enigma to the mix. Overall, the wholistic performance of everyone improves. Someone who leads fast brings the entire group with them. You can replicate this with nearly anything, even horse and dog racing.
Without question the most inspiring runner ever!!! I'm not a runner but was a boxer and Pre was a fighter!!!
45 years ago today we lost arguably our best middle distance runners an idol of mine growing! RIP Steve 12.08 am May 30th 1975!
Steve will be a Legend foreverar a runner!
Happy Birthday Pre!
ONE OF MY IDOLS
role model🙏🏽
Don’t be afraid to give up the good, and go for the great!
Nice video
Holy shit... in a NON competitive week, median for all miles of options... he ran an AVERAGE of 72 miles... in a non-competitive week... wow...
I could be wrong but I think he would run less in a competitive week because he would he resting his body for races
That’s actually very low mileage for a pro.
Do a vid on Steve Scott!
You should do a video on the rivalry between Steve Ovett and Seb Coe
My brother idolized this man. Ran upwards of 80+ miles a week as a teenager but bc of that he messed up one of his knees and could never compete again. Fastest freshman in the state of texas at the time. Really bummed me out bc he was so dedicated and consistent but got bad luck and lost it all early
Really goes to show that you really need life and luck to be on your side as well
Nice video, Pre Lives
I doubt you'd make a video about him, but Sir Peter Snell passed away last month. The only man in the last 100 years to win both the 800m and 1,500m at the same Olympics (1964). Former 800m and 1 mile world record holder and 3 time olympic gold medalist. Perhaps his achievements aren't up there with the greatest ever, but definitely the best runner New Zealand has ever produced.
watched the movie... What an athlete he was!
Pre was just THAT GUY. Man was made of steel always pushing the envelope
This is my jam
Great Story and Video .Could you please do a Story on The Great Portuguese Runner My Hero CARLOS LOPES Thanks.
loved it!
You should do a video about Gerry Lindgren!!, he ran crazy mileage in high school and had many records!
It would be difficult. Gerry deserves more credit and has largely been forgotten. He is a pretty nutty guy however and not a reliable source for details regarding the past. He was active as a masters runner (in his 40s) in Honolulu back in the early '90s. He was slow as molasses at that time. Breaking an hour in the 10k was a challenge for him. Whenever you were around him you just found yourself scratching your head, how could this be the guy? Bless his heart. He was beast in his prime.
Insane.
Amazing stats.
Paavo Nurmi dominated mid and long distance running in the 1920s and 1930s
Thomas Koska He’s definitely one of the all time greats!
He was an animal when it came to interval training and a great business man! One of the All-time distant-runner greats!
Tyler Hamilton had a high threshold of pain, even before juicing. He talks about it in his book. Was a huge fan of PRE. No one ran like him or with his passion. Going to Hayward field (the old one is gone, I know) to watch an NCAA meet. I know his spirit is still there. ♥️
Please do a video on Suguru Osako
Interestingly, I was pushing the last mile of a fifteen mile training run down Atlantic Avenue in Port Orange, Flordia. Port Orange is next to and south of Daytona Beach. It was 1986. I was staying in Flordia training for a marathon. I was running three and five kilometer local races for speed work. I saw a man appreciatively smiling at me admiring my running style as I ran by him. I said to myself, "He looks like Jim McMahon." The next day in the paper it said Chicago Bears Super Bowl quarterback Jim McMahon was in Daytona Beach.
what a legend!
Cam Levins. Great video!
Pre always number one USA but other great Pacific Northwest Runners Bill Dillinger Rick Riely, Gerry Lindgren, Jim Hill, Bill McChesney and Don Clary to name a few.
Rupp???
I would like to watch a video on Evan Jager (3000st).. he's one of my heroes :)
1972 Olympic finals Pre made that race ❤️no matter what anyone says 👍
Totally agree. He may have lost but gave it all. Who else can say
The beach you showed in the beginning is 40 miles north of where he would train. He would also run the beach and a hill in Coos Bay.
We really should be talking about the NCAA 5000m final Pre's Junior year. Pre won that race running on a foot with 10-stitches in it. He gashed his foot open on a bolt sticking out of a diving board and a few days later took down the entire 5000m field (which was pretty stacked). Dude was a savage.
I was born the day after Pre died, and I've always felt a strong connection to him. Pre was an absolute legend
Analyzing of Peter Snell from New Zealand
Steve would say work as hard as you can
should do a story on Henry Rono.
Pre-the greatest American distance runner of all time. He was a rock star! R.I.P.
Jim Ryan? Bernard Lagat? Paul Chelimo? Galen Rupp? The list goes on. You can say the Pre is your favorite but the best? Maybe someone who actually won a medal in a world championships. Ryan went to the Olympics at age 17 and went again and won silver at age 21.
LEGEND🇺🇸
The 1972 Olympics were full of amazing stories. Perhaps the best ever! Pre's training was amazing. What were his diet and rest habits?
John Brzenk and Mike Bridges. Both obscure, bit utterly dominant in their sports. Two of the greatest ever on any sport.
Runner's world has a great article detailing his high school career and training, he went from not qualifying for the district meet his sophomore year to the 8:41 his senior year
A MONSTER , simply a MONSTER
WHAT A GREAT MAN HE RAN HURT BLEEDING MAN WE ALL NEED HIS DEDICATIO STEVE TANKS FOR ALL YOU DONE HERO GOD TOOK YOU TO SOON CHA,MPION
Epic!
I'd like to see a segment on Dick Beardsly!
I met Steve prefontaine once on the EMX
I was in cross country and track in high school, I had a teammate named Geoffrey but we all called him Geof-Pre because he was obsessed with Pre.
You should totally do one on how under recognized ultra runners are or something (Kilian Jornet)
I agree. Kilian Jornet, Jim Walmsley, Anton Krupicka, Rob Krar, Scott Jurek, Dean Karnazes, and many more ultra runners are just as great as the people featured on analyzing the greats.
Thomas Koska I was on the same college track team as Tony Krupicka for 2 years and my wife took some classes with him. He was similar to prefontaine in that pretty much nobody on the team would dare train as much or as hard as Tony. He would do his own AM run, then do the team workout at practice, then do another PM run because the team workout was pathetic and inconsequential to his stamina.
@@RyanAlexanderBloom that's really cool. I'm not surprised by that based on how good he is.
@@RyanAlexanderBloom You must’ve run with my high school Cross Country coach too then because he also ran with Tony at Colorado College. Small world of runners. Lol
Tony truly is a beast. He inspired me to do my first ultra. Such a cool guy and a free spirit.
Filbert Bayi was one of the great 1500m/Mile runners. His Commonwealth Games gold in 1974 may have been the greatest 1500m run of all time. Can you find the complete video anywhere?
Thx for making my pe Coach make me write A summary
J’ai vu dernièrement son film c’est un athlète formidable
Hey bro...please make a video on a 1 miler specialist athlete...
Steve!
Lol I took Prefontaine’s advice on training and it resulted in me been injured for 8 months🙃
Go and try Jim Ryun's H.S. Training and you will be injured for life!! LOL! It's all about gradually improving your intensity on intervals and tempo runs. Instead of doing 16x400 @65 sec,
try 8x400 @ 60 sec.
I took my Older Sisters advice on her training regimen, she was already Pro. I looked my best, but emotionally She was ahead.
I stopped. I felr I had too emotionally I was discordant. But as always she kept training.
Yes. You have to be careful to warm up. I believe he was lucky both genetically like I was. I never needed to stretch until I turned 58. Seriously my muscles never stayed tight. He was also likely doing some kind of oil and/or minerals as a supplement.
It’s not a question of genetics it’s a question of correctly building up to the mileage and intensity. If you’re a dummy and try prefontaines training methods being a runner who trains significantly less than 80 miles per week you’re going to get injured. You should really only increase your mileage by like 1-2 miles per week if you’re trying to up. And you should really only do hard speed workouts 2-3 times per week. The problem is a lot of these paces were casual for Steve. 6:00/ per mile was jogging and 5:00/ per mile would’ve been moderate. This was a guy who ran a sub 4 minute mile.
Cool! A video of my Dad running!!! Who's that guy in the other 11 minutes and 40 seconds of the video?
... and they didn't have Bud Light when he was alive.
7:00 any pun intended? Anyone?
Lol didn’t notice that
Where did you get his training info from?
im here because my my pe teacher made me watch this is interesting though
Please do videos on Peter Snell and Lasse Viren.
seriously guys like this video, we gotta get this stuff popular
He could have won so much.
He was a beast.
He paid a heavy price for that insane training regime in his early 20's with chronic and debilitating sciatica. I'm sure the hard tracks back in the day was devastating to one's legs at that speed. Regardless, he was a beast.
Didn't know that. Thanks.
He was the fastest! But his form wasn't very efficient! His stride was too wide which contributed to his sciatica. He wasn't a good tactical runner. He was an expert pace runner! He let his emotions take control. Emotions held back his unstoppable drive to win!
Let's see one on the legend Craig virgin
You should analyze Ryan hall. Great vid btw!
As a child of 10 or 11 or so, I recall seeing him on TV winning a race n was so far in front, he turned fully around and ran backwards across the finish line!!
Can u find that??? Probably was ABC Wide World of Sports
Hey man I just saw your comment from a year ago on this Pre video. I saw that same race on TV when Pre turned around and ran across the finish line backwards. I was like “did he just do that?”. My dad and I were watching it. He sort of chuckled and said something like “my god that kid is something else”. I will never forget that. I think I was 17 or 18 when he ran that race. I ran track in high school so my dad and I always liked watching track and field on ABC’s Wide World of Sports. We watched Pre run a lot races on that show. I was a sprinter. I ran the 180 yard low hurdles. I never cared much for the distance races until the first time I saw Pre on WWofSports. I was hooked then and watched him as often as I could. His running style…to me and my dad…looked more like a sprinter than a long distance runner. It was so amazing to see him run at what certainly looked like a full sprint for an entire race. I remember once my dad asking me if I thought I could run a long distance race the way Pre did. I said are you kidding me I would’ve dropped dead after about 1/3 of the race. Anyway I enjoyed your comment.
@@bamadad53 awesome memories for both of us! 😊
Lasse Viren did last mile in 4m01s. Pre was a great national athelete.
I wonder what he did to recover inbetween runs. Running at high intensity’s for such long periods of time is really dangerous for your body without proper diet and rest. It just shows how much he knew about his own body.
Have you explored the running career of Herb Elliot? He was undefeated at 1500 meters.
The great Aussie.