“A race is a work of art that people can look at and be affected in as many ways as they’re capable of understanding.”- Steve Prefontaine
One of Coos Bay’s favorite sons, international track star and running legend Steve Prefontaine, will be honored next month during the annual Bay Area Fun Festival. Runners from all over the country will gather here on Saturday, September 19th, for the 2015 Prefontaine Memorial Run, a challenging 10K road race across one of his old training courses, with its finish line at the high school track where he first competed. This event is sanctioned by the Road Runners Club of America.
Steve Prefontaine or “Pre” as he was called, was born and raised in Coos Bay, Oregon and graduated from Marshfield High School. When he entered the University of Oregon in the fall of 1969, he was one of most highly recruited high school track athletes ever and went on to compete in international meets against the USSR, Germany, Great Britain and a combined European team. His life was tragically cut short in a car accident at the age of 24. At the time of his death, Pre held every American distance running record from 2-miles through 10,000 meters.
“At no place is the celebration of Steve Prefontaine and his story more personal than in Coos Bay, Oregon, where he was born in 1951 and discovered his gift for running fast and far as a student at Marshfield High School,” states the event website. “Here, he developed his hunger to be the best in the field, and more, to do it with style—to create beauty when he ran, to show people something they had never seen before.”
To learn more about The Prefontaine Memorial Run or to register, visit www.prefontainerun.com/run
Here are some other points of interest to check out during your Coos Bay visit:
Prefontaine photo credit: Steve Prefontaine with winning trophy after setting a new US record in the 5000m in a US vs USSR All Stars meet at Edwards Field, Berkeley, CA, July 3, 1971
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photo credit: 5000m race, July 16, 1970 Meet at Stuttgart, US vs Germany. Steve Prefontaine 13 (2nd in 13:39.6), Harold Norpoth (winner in 13:34.6), Kenny Moore 15. Runner’s World photo, April 2006
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