This time of the year, old timers can’t help thinking about Steven Roland Prefontaine. Part of the reason I moved to Oregon. Got a letter from Jerry Jobski. Part of the reason I went to college in Arizona. In the late Sixties, Mr. Jobski was one of the best runners in the United States. He looked tough, like a hard ass, which is why I liked him. Same reason I liked Pre. – JDW
Dear Jack,
Pre was unique and certainly an individual. We don’t know how “big” he would have become in life but we do know that he is “huge” in death.
Was watching a tape of the Prefontaine Classic last night. Just got back home from a trip to the graduation ceremonies at the Naval Academy and was happy to find that The Pre had been recorded on my DVR.
I remember Pre in 1969 when he was just finishing high school. I had beaten Lindgren over six miles in the heat and humidity of Kentucky (US Track and Field Federation Championships….remember them) and wasn’t eligible to run the NCAA meet in Knoxville because I had competed at ASU as a freshman before they changed the rule.
I should have gotten a court order to run the NCAAs but my coach did not want to shake the boat. I felt that I was entitled to run because they had already changed the rule but did not make it retroactive. Anyhow, my coach said to concentrate on the AAU meet in Miami.
In Kentucky they were watering the track because of the extreme heat and humidity 88 degrees and 85 percent humidity and I ruined the only pair of racing spikes I had with me. Coach said, no problem, just get the Adidas rep to give me another pair. Only problem was the pair that Mike Larrabee gave me had been in a basement that had flooded and been dried out so that they could use them as promo shoes.
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About two miles into the six-mile in Miami my shoes started falling apart….the toe spike plates came off. I decided to drop out as we were on a black track in the evening twilight and it was very hot. I felt that trying to finish would have been a disaster because of trying to run barefoot in the heat. So I decided to wait for the three-mile two days later. Only problem was I couldn’t get another pair of shoes.
Art Simberg with Puma finally gave me a pair that were a full size small. I needed a 9.5 or 10 and these were 8.5. I decided to try to run in them anyway. Looking back this was the only time that I was to run against Pre….
It was very hot on the track and my feet started to blister about three or four laps into the race. Tracy Smith and Lindgren waged quite a battle up front and two Mexican runners and Pre and myself were about 15-20 seconds back with a lap to go. I always felt like I should have finished no worse than 4th that day but wound up sixth with my feet aching. Pre out kicked me badly in the homestretch after passing me with about one-twenty to go. I think he ran 13:43 and I was about 13:46.
The AAU officials took Pre under their wings because he was their rising star. He got to go everywhere that summer and I got to go back to Reno and work.
The last time I saw Pre was around February of 1975 in Albuquerque, NM. He was working the indoor circuit, running not for times or records but just to pick up a few bucks so that he could survive and train. He ran the mile that night and was second or third in around 4:09. The crowd actually booed.
They had a hospitality room at the Hilton where the athletes were headquartered. I did not run after the Nationals in 1971 except for a few cross country races that fall…..injuries basically ended any hope I had of making the 1972 Olympic Team. So I had not been around the athletes at all for most of three years. Still, Pre came over and treated me like I was the most important person in the room. Discussing his plans for the 1976 games and reminiscing about races and records.
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I do not want this to sound like I’m whining. I am not whining.
My main purpose in relating all of this to you was to show that Pre was not only the toughest of runners but also a good human being.
My problems with the shoes and especially Adidas are something that only those who were very close to me were aware of.
My best shot in 1969 for making the National team was in the six-mile and that went by the wayside when the toe plates came off of the shoes. Pre would probably have out-kicked me in the three-mile, regardless of the shoe I was wearing. Oh, how my feet hurt after that race.
Another thing that bothered me a lot after Miami in 1969 was when they picked the National team they went six deep in the six-mile which I had dropped out of and they only took three in the three-mile.
I was the fourth American as there were two Mexican Runners in the race that finished in the top six. I did get selected for the National team in 1971 with a 27:58 six mile in Eugene, Went to the Russian/American meet in Berkeley as an alternate but never ran.
My younger brother died in an accident shortly after the Berkeley meet and I was injured later that fall. The dreams of representing the USA in international competition never were realized.
I have often wondered how fast Pre would have run, how many medals would he have won. He was a fearless competitor but a steadfast and loyal friend.
He was special in a way that can only be understood in remembering how he affected the entire running scene.
Thanks, Jerry J.
