Best Steve Prefontaine Quotes

Steve Prefontaine Quotes About To Give Anything, Nike, Motivational, Running, Confidence, Leading, & Inspirational! Steve Roland “Pre” Prefontaine was a well-known American intermediate and long-distance runner. One of his most notable achievements was that he competed in the 1972 Summer Olympics and held American records in seven distance track races, from the two-kilometer to 10,000-meter range. On January 25, 1951, he was born in Coos Bay, Oregon, USA.

While taking part in physical education, he realized that he could perform effectively in longer-distance races. In 1965, he started his high school career at Marshfield High School. In the United States, Steve Prefontaine was approached by several top track and field programs. However, he attended the University of Oregon. To better himself, he worked with Bill Bowerman as a trainer.

He was victorious in the 3-mile race for a record-setting four years in a row and took home three ‘Division I NCAA Cross Country Championships. At the Olympics in 1972, he narrowly failed to earn a medal in his event. He had his sights set on competing in the ‘Montreal Olympics’ in 1976, but he was tragically killed in a vehicle accident when he was only 24 years old.

Prefontaine, who was known for his aggressive racing style known as “front-running,” is still regarded as one of the finest American runners in the game’s history. His career was credited for influencing the “running boom” of the 1970s. Several films have been made about Steve Prefontaine’s life, including Prefontaine starring Jared Leto and Without Limits, featuring Billy Crudup.

Best Steve Prefontaine Quotes

1. “What I like most about the track is the feeling I get inside after a good run.” — Steve Prefontaine

2. “Over the years, I’ve given myself a thousand reasons to keep running, but it always comes back to where it started. It comes down to self-satisfaction and a sense of achievement.” — Steve Prefontaine

3. “Every once in a while I think, ‘What am I doing out here running, busting myself up? Life could be so much easier. The other guys are out having fun, doing other things, why not me?’” — Steve Prefontaine

4. “Some people create with words or with music or with a brush and paints. I like to make something beautiful when I run. I like to make people stop and say, ‘I’ve never seen anyone run like that before.’ It’s more than just a race, it’s a style. It’s doing something better than anyone else. It’s being creative.” — Steve Prefontaine

5. “I don’t just go out there and run. I like to give people watching something exciting.” — Steve Prefontaine

6. “Did you ever run behind a slow pack? You get a trailing wind and a lot of body odor.” — Steve Prefontaine

7. “Kids made fun of me because I was a slow learner, because I was hyperactive, because of a lot of things. Running gave me confidence.” — Steve Prefontaine

8. “I’ve been in an international competition, and now I know what the big boys can do. You don’t go out and just run. There’s an offense and a defense.” — Steve Prefontaine

9. “It’s hard to run a mile when you’re not a miler and to kick when you’ve led all the way.” — Steve Prefontaine

10. “I’m going to work so that it’s a pure guts race at the end, and if it is, I am the only one who can win it”. — Steve Prefontaine

11. “A race is a work of art that people can look at and be affected in as many ways they’re capable of understanding.” — Steve Prefontaine

12. “If I lose forcing the pace all the way, well, at least I can live with myself. But if it’s a slow pace, and I get beaten by a kicker who leaches off the front, then I’ll always wonder, ‘What if…?’” — Steve Prefontaine

13. “A lot of people run a race to see who is fastest. I run to see who has the most guts, who can punish himself into an exhausting pace, and then at the end, punish himself even more.” — Steve Prefontaine

14. “Somebody may beat me, but they are going to have to bleed to do it.” — Steve Prefontaine

15. “Something inside of me just said, ‘Hey, wait a minute, I want to beat him,’ and I just took off.” — Steve Prefontaine

16. “When people go to a track meet, they’re looking for something, a world record, something that hasn’t been done before. You get all this magnetic energy, people focusing on one thing at the same time. I really get excited about it. It makes me want to compete even more. It makes it all worthwhile, all the hours of hard work.” — Steve Prefontaine

17. “I used to say, ‘Hey, man, what kind of a stupid question is that?’ to a newspaperman asking me heavy things right after a race when I’m still in an emotional state. Now I at least try to answer.” — Steve Prefontaine

18. “If I want to go to Europe and get thrashed by the Europeans, that’s my business. Every race I lose, I learn from and get tougher.” — Steve Prefontaine

19. “To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.” — Steve Prefontaine

20. “It’s not who’s the best – it’s who can take the most pain.” — Steve Prefontaine

21. “Nobody likes tainted victories.” — Steve Prefontaine

22. “I knew I had to show everybody that I could excel at something. But I didn’t know what.” — Steve Prefontaine

23. “I decided that if I was going to continue in track, that I didn’t want to lose, that I wasn’t going to lose.” — Steve Prefontaine

24. “It doesn’t feel that good when you’re ahead the whole way.” — Steve Prefontaine

25. “You probably choose x-country because you were too small to play football.” — Steve Prefontaine

26. “If you can make money with your talents, why not?” — Steve Prefontaine

27. “No one will ever win a 5,000-meter by running an easy two miles. Not against me.” — Steve Prefontaine

28. “If anybody wants to beat me, let them run a world record.” — Steve Prefontaine

29. “I have a positive mental attitude, and I think I’m divine, but I also think it takes a heck of a lot of blood, sweat, and tears.” — Steve Prefontaine

30. “My philosophy is that I’m an artist. I perform an art, not with a paintbrush or a camera. I perform with bodily movement. Instead of exhibiting my art in a museum or a book or on canvas, I exhibit my art in front of the multitudes.” — Steve Prefontaine