Added: 5 years ago
From: macca3k
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  • I always watch Prefontaine videos before a meet :)

  • I love the self-deprecating humor at the end of this video. For all of the talk of Pre as an arrogant jerk, he was someone who always worked to be better. It's just too bad that we'll never know how good he would've really been.

  • My verification is with Shorter and Moore. I know both quite well.

  • My verification is with Shorter and Moore.

  • It's amazing how much faster times have gotten to be considored great.

  • wasn't 4 fat in 1973, not that good for professionals? shouldnt they be going low 3:50's, high 40's? i know obviously not pre, but if the other guys concentrated on the mile.....

  • These were 11-laps to a mile indoor tracks, not the typical 4 laps (plus 9 meters) that can be found outdoors. More curves leads to a slower overall time. Either way, some of the better milers showed up in the '75 version (i.e. Walker, Bayi, and Dixon) and we know what happened then...

  • @wwwgotristancom Actually, even four minutes was a great time back in the early 1970's. At the time of this race, I believe the outdoor world record was 3:51.1 by Jim Ryun, with the indoor record at 3:56.4, also by Jim Ryun. The 3:50 barrier was not broken until John Walker did it in 1975, and it wasn't broken indoors until 1983 by Eamonn Coghlan. Considering the obscure 11-lap track, this made Prefontaine's 3:59.2 all the more impressive.

  • @Raimakusa another factor is that these guys weren't pros. Pre lived off food stamps so nutritrian wasn't that good either. Not to mention technology, these days the boards offer much better grip and sit in place better, whereas these shifted and expanded in the heat/cold. Plus obviously shoes and some coaching advances.

  • @miltondemagnifique Pffft. Prefontaine got ALOT of money- as well as the top other runners. The food stamp statement is false.

  • @VirenKickedPresAss I can reference Tom Jordan's book, Pre, or Fire on the Track. In saying he wasn't on food stamps, what evidence will you submit?

  • @lachmont I see Jordan got your pity vote, didn't he? Go talk to Shorter.

  • @VirenKickedPresAss So are you going to namedrop or quote. I asked you to provide evidence, that means a source. You wanna make a claim you go right on ahead and back it up. Relying on the Barnum Effect makes you look a little silly.

  • @lachmont No, dumbass, straight from the horses mouth, not from Jordan trying to peddle a book and make it look like Pre was destitute. Remember, he had FREE housing (U of O), FREE food ( U of O), FREE equipment (ALL of his sponsers, ie., ADIDAS). And are you so ignorant to believe that they didn't get money or compensation for their abilities? It's funny how the Europeans wish THEY would of had it as easy as the US runners. Maybe it is YOU that shouldn't rely on "Barnum".

  • @VirenKickedPresAss Ok so now you're moving the goal posts. All of the is true pre (no pun intended) 1973 when he graduated. Then he lived in a caravan you may recall. He even 'probably' took money from promotors in Europe for racing, as said by Jordon himself.. However, I asked you to provide evidence that he was not on food stamps. You still haven't done that. BTW do you even know what the Barnum Effect is?

  • @lachmont OK Einstein, please tell us the difference in quality between food bought with food stamps, vs food that ISN'T.

  • @VirenKickedPresAss I could say quantity, but I'm not going to. Instead I am going to redirect you to my initial request: please provide a reference that he was NOT on food stamps, in order to back up your claim.

  • @miltondemagnifique My reference is from Shorter. Kenny Moore will also vouch for the same. Now, please show me how living off of food stamps makes "nutritrian (nutrition?) wasn't that good".

  • @VirenKickedPresAss when you say reference, is this something said to you personally, or something I could read. I ask because I would genuinly be interested. I have (actually motivated by you) read a report on food stamps and nutrition from 1975, I think this period is probably more of value as if we looked at more recent publications many of the issues in occurance during this time would have been addressed prior to this study. The study was Kenneth W. Clarkson. Google this and food stamps

  • @miltondemagnifique I guess you are having trouble reading. See previous posts.

  • @VirenKickedPresAss allow me to absolutely assure you, my literacy standard is quite established. I was actually playing on your style of providing a vague remark and leaving it at that. Clarkson established that as of 1975 the food stamps program had providing no decrease in levels of malnutrition from when they had been established. These levels were the reason they had been. These issues were inherent, given the nature of the food they did purchase, as opposed to alternatives.

  • @VirenKickedPresAss continued: The food purchased with food stamps basically meant that people were eating more crap, rather than less food of higher quality. Food eductation was clearly a factor. I will here admit that Pre was probably receiving better food education than most. However, his overall privation of American athletes, as discuss by Shorter in Fire on the Track, shows what Pre was up against Viren was arguably not. Now, back at the question you didn't answer:

  • @VirenKickedPresAss Well, been a week, still no response from you. Will you answer my question or not? Are you having trouble reading?

  • @miltondemagnifique You said that he was "probably"? You are basing your "assumption" on a "probably"? The European athletes thought the US athletes were the ones that had it easy with the US/university system of much greater care for their athletes.

  • @FatPigAnnWilson depends which part of Europe. The eastern bloc (most part of Europe but does not include Finland),had various athletes in government positions, but for propaganda reasons were pretty much paid to train. The East Germans also had issues with Doping, which is PROBABLY a factor in Shorter not getting two olympic golds in the marathon. Probably is what I say, when I do not know something to be true, but consider it more likely than not the case. Do you know something I don't?

  • @miltondemagnifique No, Are you? I answered it- or maybe it is you that can't read, or maybe your elementary school girl friend isn't around to do it for you.

  • @VirenKickedPresAss yes, I don't know why but the notification didn't come through. Since you're on such good terms with Shorter, what does he say about the various negative things you say on youtube about his old mate Pre? They were friends right, or are you going to tell me they weren't?

  • @miltondemagnifique Sure they were friends, but that is none of my concern.

  • how does that guy play with his head band the whole race and still run a 4:00 minute mile??

  • How is he the best!? He got his ass whooped!

  • Pre is the best!! :D. I wish I could have seen a live race with him in it.

  • I love Pre!

  • Prefontaine= fucking BADASS

  • AMEN BROTHA!!!!!!!!!

  • @mattrunsfast i bet u coudnt run like that

  • You're absolutely right. I'm fast, but Pre is out of my league.

  • It's such a shame he died so young. He had by FAR the biggest engine out of any distance runner in US history.

  • Pre is my life i run the three mile my self.

    I have his shoes! No joke! Me I can see my self running the three mile in the Olimpics! Long LIve PRE!

  • you will really struggle to run the 3mile at the olympics considering the rest of the world uses the far more logical metric system and the 3 mile isn't an event.

  • Pre had a fire in his belly. A tremendous will. That's it. No need to compare times with the current generation of elite runners. If he were around today, in peak form, he would be competitive with the best. The man was driven. This, as it turns out, is a rather unique quality. At least with American distance running.

  • are you saying we American distance runners are not drivin?

  • no, they are very driven runners, but prefontaine without doubt the most determined distance runner who ever lived

  • What drove him?

  • To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift. -Pre

    That pretty much sums it up.

  • The fact that deep down he was better and would work harder then anyone else i guess, he didnt accept a 2nd place, he would start at the front and finish there.

  • bad ass as usual.

  • I would hate to run on that little track...

    Long live Pre!

  • Is that a 150 track or what?

  • yea, 150m, the smallest type of track i believe

  • yeh I know what flying is talking about... in the movies hes all arrogant and partly an asshle... in these interviews hes like down to earth... I think fly it was when he was younger, he didnt kow better so he had that attitude!

  • Pre lives...

  • @ReggaetonDancer15 indeed

  • Pre is always portrayed as being arrogant and a jerk. He sure doesn't seem like it in that interview. Sounds humble and pretty down to earth. Sounds kinda like a joker even.

  • Yeah. He started mellowing down around 1973.

  • people confuse confidence and his personality as arrogant. he just believed in himself. and he always told it how it was. that was percieved as cocky, such as when the hottest girls would ask him for a date a week down the road and he would say "i dont no i need to check my schedule" that may seem cocky but he was so determined to run he was only telling them the truh.

  • You are the best PRE... You inspire me to go further and further...

    R.I.P. master

  • i do the two mile indoors, and trust me, it sucks

  • the best love that guy and his amazing stashe

  • All heart man.

  • Es de lo mejorrr este hombre

  • man..........running distance on an indoor 200track must suck. shows what a great runner prefontaine was - leads from the start, does all the hard work and still beats the rest. loved his do or die tactics (no pun intended)

    - and we never even saw the best from him rip steve prefontaine

  • believe me, it does suck. we race them in our indoor track meets.

  • ye it must. i mean i race 800 on outdoor tracks. (but im injured at the moment wich is really shit) ive never raced on an indoor track - ive only ever trained on one a few times and even then my training times are way slower. cant imagine how shit it is to do a mile plus indoors.

  • Yeah Ive tried frontrunning and I found its just not for me so I usually just start out slow and pick off as many people as I can till the end.

  • LOL, German is toast, his achilles is shot!

  • nice, gilbert arenas scored 20, and a good night for shaq too... think 22/10?

  • dude i'm related to him

    holy shit

  • then get runing lol

  • hockeyshot, how related? Nephew? Cousin?

  • My dad's cousins with him

  • @hockeyshot17 how is he cousins with him? pre died... :(

  • the man the myth of prefontaine will live forever

  • frontrunner for life!

  • Who is this question intended for?

  • I mean 3:58.

  • @thefallen2124 I think you mean 3:55 collegiate record

  • @osrunner7 I wrote that a little over a year ago

  • Check out a high schooler running a 4 minute mile. Type in German Fernandez mile on youtube.

  • This is indoor a bit more difficult. German is great!

  • do you have any idea who this is? THIS is one of the greatest American runners of all time!

  • correction

    GREATEST. Pre tested the limits of the human heart better then anybody.

  • I agree, although I think Roger Bannister tested it the most

  • I know its a year later I replied to you, German ran 3:56 indoors.

  • go pre go ur my hero

  • PRE IS MY HERO!!

  • I always get kind of sad when he says "I wish I could beat some of those 3-milers at their own game". Kind of reminds me of how he died... one of the best runners in history was Prefontaine.

  • Incredible. Basically led the entire way. I thought Liquori would've gotten him though. Pre was just so damned tough.

  • prefontain is the greatest

  • Pre was somthing... what an idol

  • What a talent

  • i wouldnt be able to run on this track. Too many turns would hurt my ankles.

  • No One would have ever beaten Pre on the roads. Can you imagine!

  • sorry i might sound really stupid but this track looks a really odd size. in uk we usually have 200m indoors...

  • i found out it's 160m. that's crazy! i'd be dizzy from so many turns

  • HS indoor in OK is on 160 m.

  • im at a 6:15 mile but i dont really know how to train for it... Any tips?

  • interval training, interval training, interval training

    and alternate hard, fast days (interval training) and slow, long, really easy days

  • yeah, do alot of interval training, some speedwork and some easy days of about 40 minutes

  • whats interval training im new to running but i just run and dont know much technique im a freshmen in high school and have a current PR of 5:10 but want to work on getting it better

  • Interval training could be going out 3 miles slow and coming back really hard. Or, it could be quick speed transitions like alternating between jogging normally and steady sprints. Maybe jogging a minute and a half and sprinting for 45 seconds. You can create any quick interval that suits you but these type of workouts are so much easier with running partners.

  • fartleks, those are pretty good for intervals

  • how much will this beniefit your mile time?

  • 1. Depends on your current mile time

    2. Somewhat depends on your speed capabilities.

    I worked on improving my 800 times and eventually extended that to focusing on the mile. By that time, I had my 800 speed, so it became more of an issue of speed endurance. Fartleks are perfect for speed endurance I think.

  • First do 8 repeat 200's at 37-38seconds with 60-90 seconds rest in between. Rest five minutes and do it again...next week do 4 400's at 75 seconds with 2 minute rest in between each set. Rest five minutes do then do it again trying to get one second faster each time...if you can do those you can break 5!!

  • pre was the best there was and still is.

  • dude thats nothing

    theres was a freshman(sophomore now) who ran 4:21

  • theres a runner on our xc team. 7th grader and he ran a 4.47 mile. and a 17.15 5k. so there are 7th graders who are fast

  • im a junior runner w/ a 4:40 and in 7th grade i was over 6 i hav a friend who actually was a 4:50 miler in middle school but he was top 10 in the nation. So id say highly unlikely but possible point is why lie on youtube?

  • haha rossman u couldnt b more rite u kids are fuckn stupid to think u can lie ur times into comparison with great runners like pre. 457 for a 7th grade mile is complete bullshit thats probably ur 400 time

  • All though those kids could be bullshit there are some rare runners out there. In NY we had a froshman last year named Marco Bertoloti whose mile was 4:35 so its not impossible for ppl to run amazing well just not common

  • Prefontaine is my favorite runner of all time

  • since we're all sharing results, in 3rd grade i ran a 3:57 mile.Not. Haha you guys are all big fuckin liars any kid who could break 4:40 as a 7th grader would be making news around the world. Plus nobody gives a shit about your times, people are watchin this video to reminisce when prefontaine was American running. RIP pre

  • Whoops, I meant there isn't

  • Lol i love how everyone from 7-9th grade claims they can run a sub 5 mile...it's not that hard but comon

  • True that, there is that much talent going around.

  • Even though I'm terrible at running (I run at like a 6:30-7:15 mile pace), it's the feeling of accomplishment afterwards that makes me want to keep running. My times are getting progressively better and better, but I still have a long way to go, and great runners like pre are the ones who help inspire me to keep at it.

  • Pre is too much of a front runner... i think i might be too :-) , in 7th grade i got 4:56 for the mile in dual meet, im looking to get to 4:30 this year

  • Be careful when you compare yourself to Pre.

  • I'm not, being a front runner means that you like to be in the lead for the whole race. I wasn't comparing, I was just saying he was, I am to. No comparison

  • I RAN I 4:37 IN 8TH GRADE

  • ran 5:26 in 8th grade.. fastest in my middle school

  • It's nice to see someone win who leads the pack the entire race. My coach used to get onto me all the time because I'd start out in the lead every race(even against state champions) and then end up getting 4th or something. I will never stop lol.

  • my two friends ross ochs and josh graham ran 4:54 in 8th grade, then 4:38 their freshman year in high school. ochs, now in his sophomore yaer of high school, is at 16:27 for his 5k

  • To give anything less than your best is sacrificing the gift.

  • Ya'll are braggin about running 4:40's your 7th grade year. I highly highly doubt any of those are true and even if they are, i bet none of you will run a much faster time in high school. I've seen it time and time before. As freshman they are super good and then they can't run any faster later in high school. It's called early bloomers peaking early. The good ones, like pre, progressively get better as they get older.

  • I went from a little under 7:00 to 5:18 during my 7th grade year, and then I PR'd at 5:15 the next year....then Freshman year I got 4:54, and shin splints happened. Hopefully the progressively getting better thing will kick in for me.

  • wrestling is where its at. Toughest sport out there

  • then y the fuck r u watching this video if ur so full of it in wrestling

  • 4:52 7th grade year quit after middle school to play baseball

  • my buddy joe ran a 4:41 when he was a freshmen and about an hour later he ran a 2:05 and about two hours after that he split a 55.1 in the 4by4...pick it up marc

  • im a freashman and ran a 446

  • my mile time is 5:14 and that was in 7th grade. is that good? what were your 7th grade times?

  • rip pre

  • hey guitarrulz, my sister ran 4:56 in seventh grade and won states in florida.

  • frikin sweet man, i guess that means i better start pickin up my pace then haha, yeah but running is my life so and i wanna be an olympian like everyone else so thats my goal, where is ur sister from at in florida cause i used to live there

  • miami

  • Aun asi nunca le hubiera ganado a Lasse Viren en las olimpiadas de Montreal 76 era aspirante a la plata a lo mucho

  • pre is awesome he just leads and doesnt slow down at all top race

  • Oh P.S. i'm a sophomore

  • unless you were a freshman in '75 and ran these times, let it go, we are 32/33 years down the road, training, nutrition, gear and tracks have seen huge leaps in improvement.

  • Thank God someone finally said it. Nike, Addidas, NB, etc probably spend millions upon millions of dollars researching perfect running shoes. On top of MIT engineers designing tracks, and John Hopkins nutritionists guiding the runners in the right directions. On top of the latest in designer steroids and performance inhancing drugs.

  • I live in Eugene :D

    I know there are other places too

    but I tell you what, he is without

    a doubt a bigger cult here than

    anywhere. Everybody at our school

    worships him. (then again who doesn't)

  • i got 5:34 as a 7th grader is that good?

  • hell yeah thats good, my best time was a 4:56 this year as a 7th grader and i won state in Illinois

    and my 800 time was 2:08 so yeah thats pretty good

  • wait - ur a 7th grader and ur already that good? what high school are you gunna go to? I also live in Illinois.

  • Illini West HIghschool, but im gonna be an 8th grader next year, where u from?

  • This year being a senior i ran 4:34 for the mile, and 16:47 for xc

  • This past year ran a 15:48 in cross country.

  • i ran 3:35 for the mile. Pretty good eh

  • youre so full of it... thats a world record retard

  • if youre gonna lie, make it believe able

  • Oh, come on! 19 High School records is hardly average. He was average as a freshman, good as a sophomore, but awesome in the final 2 years of High School

  • yeah that is not fast..especially for pre. i thought it was fast before i realized it wasn't a 1/4 mile track.

  • That track was probably slower than a 1/4 mile track because the turns are more frequent and sharper.

  • Laxpandemonium, I got my facts from the book PRE and the book run with the champions and what does average runner mean? I would say a runner of his caliber a 5:01 is not that great so why would you say that I am wrong either way?

  • As a Freshman i ran a 4:43 mile and a 2:04 800.

  • As a freshman I ran a 4:49 mile but I haven't raced this year, (as a Sophomore) yet.

  • he ran a 5:01 at the end of freshmen

  • Dude he ran the 2 miles faster than I could run the mile in 5th grade... Impressive.

  • he only ran the mile in 5's his freshman year, a 5:01, by his senior year at 18 years old he got down to 4:06 with his 2 mile time being 8:41

  • theres no way he ran a 5 something in highschool i run a 5 15 and i suck thrs no way

  • No he was just the average runner in HS, he just trained hard and worked at it. I've read his bio, it's true.

  • Pre was one of the top distance runners in US high-school history, check it out at

    trackandfieldnewsdotcom

  • im a freshman and i run a 5:28 mile...it is possible

  • this year was my freshman year and I ran a 5:04. I easily could have broken 5 but i was stuck at like 5:40 and 5:30 until the last 2 meets (I had no pace or stride until the end of the year). Now I know I can brake 5.

  • Man i run CC ( or XC ) too, i saw a movie on prefontaine, i wish i could set records, mi bess 3 mi. is 21 sumthin, but 12'z? wow! i no sum1 tht does a mile in 4:29, and hes in highschool, prefontaines in hoghschool was 5: sumthin, but hes awesome! whoever put this on, thankyou! bcuz we need more prefontaine, hes an idol!

  • was the movie called Prefontaine or Without Limits? Cuz I saw Prefonatine in XC & Without Limits in Track.

  • is this hamilton spectator

  • What is the track made out of?

  • what a champion. someone to look up to.

  • :...I wish I could beat some of the three milers at their own game". What a beautiful guy he really was.How fun would it have been to watch him run for 10 more seasons

  • To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the Gift. -Pre I run xc so this is freakin awesome! Thanks to whoever put this vid on!

  • steve is one of my biggest inspriations for running..i always read books about him and watch videos like this before big races

  • hey darris enjoy the prefontaine video

  • i remember making this exact video from my tape and putting it available for download on runnersrealm (wink wink). its cool to see it on youtube.

    i have some more pre videos if yall want

  • really enjoy the video....PRE is , and has been a hero of mine for some time now.....is there any way i could download/find more videos like this one?

  • Yeah man that would be cool if u got a few more on here.

  • I love anything about Pre and I try to know everything there is about him....he is my hero. that would be sweet if you could get more

  • upload them on u tube please