Prefontaine- Round 2!

[@gakaface]

This is absolutely awesome! What a race! I never knew Prefontaine raced against Bayi and Walker. This is also amazing in that is was another meeting between the two milers at the peak of their form - Bayi and Walker, only a few weeks before both would go on to break the world record for the mile - first Bayi, then Walker. But here we can see that Bayi was the supreme racer at the time, this being his second win over Walker - the first being the Commonwealth Games 1500m in 1974.

[@gary1961]

John Walker, Filbert Bayi, Rod Dixon. Prefontaine was never going to beat these guys over a mile so there is no disgrace here. Anyone mocking him for finishing 5th of five simply don't understand. This was good speed training for Pre. It's a shame to think he didn't have long to live when this race was run. 48 years ago today. Rest in peace. Thanks for the inspiration.

[@yourbestfriend194]

Even Pre lost this race, to me he is always going to be a winner! *He will ever be one of my all time favorites, my inspiration!*

[@randygreen8916]

Steve Prefontaine was a front runner...and darned good at it.

[@kofinater]

"Somebody may beat me, but they are going to have to bleed to do it" Prefontaind definently pushed the pace and forced them to respond

[@karattop]

greatest man ever!! and i have the same birthday!!

[@scottfree2929]

When Pre was interviewed later. He told the reporter, "I didn't enter this race to be 2nd". End of interview.

[@johna2323]

When I started xc and track...I asked one of the older guys on the team who the best guy was...he said some guy named Pre...ha...nuff said!

[@Sargebri]

This was when most indoor tracks were 11 laps to the mile. Years later indoor track would adopt the more uniform 200 meter tracks, which were half the size of the 400 meter outdoor tracks.

[@ObscureAuteur]

This is no bad day. Pre vs.a who's who of world class mile running coming in last is no surprise and no shame. Walker and Bayi were the WR record holders in the mile and 1500 in 1975. Walker won the Olympic gold the next year.

[@jonathonpower6666]

hey pre is my favorite distance runner of all time, and the favorite of many many people. But lets face the fact that the only reason he couldnt achieve both gold olimpic and world medals is because he died almost beore reaching the peak of his carreer, hes great for what he could have been. Also he managed to do very interesting things in college. hes a god

[@stickingupforchildren8976]

Filbert Bayi's race. The greatest miler/1500 meters runner of his 1973-75 time. Shame that he and Walker didn't get to square off in Montreal 1976.

[@Ange1ofD4rkness]

Thxs for posting these i always wanted to see my hro in action

[@C0rran05]

For anyone who wants to know, this conversation is continued, i'm learning more, and I am certianly cenceeding certain points to your friend here. Smart guy, knows alot, just a little too enthused in proving this wrong. Pre was a great runner, he had alot more potential, but he didn't always, win [we all SHOULD know that;seems some of us didn't] The key is his spirit, just keep that alive. Run till u've got nothing left; thats the Pre spirit!

[@wickedfire0]

Prefontaine is like my freaking hero now

[@tver005]

Wow thanks, it's great to see videos back from when New Zealand was a force in world athletics. They were good days... Snell, Halberg, McGee, Baillie, Davies, Dixon, Tayler, Walker... not much since then but keep your eye on Nick Willis. Oh and jdogs333, what are you on about? Walker and Bayi did not test positive for anything. Don't spin crap

[@basilcruncher]

three great athletes: bayi, walker and prefontaine... but what a tremendous performance from bayi that day!

[@wiremanart]

truth, you know absolutely nothing about running first of all. secondly he Ran a 4:04 LAST mile in that race where he "didn't win the gold", and no one would have ran that unless he pushed the pace for them. He turned that race into a work of art. He didn't win, but he put out the most effort and left it all out there, and that is the essence of what Pre represents.

[@Opie852]

The race with his foot in disrepair was while he was at U of O, he graduated in '73, so it was before then.

[@DarkNitro741]

every body has bad days but pre was one of the best runners ever lived

[@scottfree24]

Pre was a beast don't get it mixed! He didnt win.....but he wasn't unbeaten in his career! He was respected.....and is a Legend. Imagine the sport now if he lived!

[@cicirunner]

Never seen this race before....Well I guess I've seen round 1 but not round 2. It's strange seeing Pre get handled, but then again, he isn't a miler.

[@IronKreator]

Pre is absolutely amazing. What's the length of one lap on that track?

[@jaimesandoval1988]

Prefontaine is one of those "what if" type of athletes like Bo Jackson. They both (Pre, Bo) were great athletes and icons in their respected sports even though none of them won their sports top prize.

[@runwithkyrstin2002]

Still the greatest runner ever...........any other great runner will tell you they wished they had Pre's fire and guts on any given day. Watch Doc's about him and there are former champions that say he was an amazing runner.....Watch "Fire on the Track" the Steve Prefontaine story

[@Devilxmanxcrybaby]

May his legacy live on

[@cicirunner]

if anyone else ran like Pre did in that race, they would be deemed an idiot....but with him, he is a fighter. He doesnt change his running style no matter what the competition.

[@stratosailor]

I can't believe anyone would criticize Pre because he lost a race. Does losing one race invalidate the unbelievable accomplishments of his all too short career? I don't thinks so. Pre is golden. And if you think you can do better, then by all means prove it.

[@ObscureAuteur]

Most world class milers can run very respectable 5K's. Walker ran around 13:24 in 1984. Eamon Coghlan ran under 13:20. Liquori ran 13:15. El Guerrouj won both the 5000 and 1500 in Athens 2004. Ryun ran an AR 2 mile around the time he broke the 880 and mile records. Aouita held the 1500, 2K, 3K and 5K WR's at the same time. No lapping likely.

[@BeauPaul]

Long Live Pre!

[@mgs3master]

Good race. Nothing else too it.

[@tripleMmagic]

Pre is proof of how great you can become with guts and determination. How great is Pre? Well his name is the title of a video of a race in which he was last place. That's how great he was.

[@ObscureAuteur]

At the trials Pre had only one dangerous rival to neutralize who had never run faster that Pre's pre-trial AR. At Munich he faced an opponent with a recent PR of 13:19 who could out-kick him, and went on to run a 13:16 two weeks later. Viren had Pre coming or going. There are few tactics that can beat an opponent who is superior in every aspect of the event. What you suggest, at best, would leave Pre in 2nd looking at the new WR holder and gold medalist ahead of him.

[@track2996]

Did first run the exact same time as the miracle mile? Youd think Pre would have done better on a 200m track, being pretty short.

[@qjsolis]

Pre didn't win 'em all. Tough race. I wonder if he ran one before this race in that meet.

[@C0rran05]

Well, i don't know who Walker and Bayi are, but they didn't become legend like he did. You learn about him, you learn more about the heart of running than about any other way you could. "Running is a work of art" he said. Also, I'm not going to make a excuse for him losing this race. But something to think about: he's not a miler. They are. They are as much out of his leauge as he is of their, just in different races. He ran longer ones, they ran shorter. They belong to diff. leagues.

[@DoretoMan123454]

pre was a great runner no doubt. But most people call him a legend because of his confidence and mental disipline (that like no1 had like pre )and how he believed in him self. Itsnot always about the time.

[@TheDeadhead56]

he ran hard and he gave his best.

[@markbaker330]

Bayi Damn he's fast as shit but yeah prefontaine, walker all of them did amazing there all really fast lol I could never do that lol

[@AvgDude]

This country still produces a few runners of Pre's caliber, but they are often ruined by over-training in college. I wish I had a dollar for every gifted runner I ever met who got stress fractures from excessive high-speed training in college.

[@SetTheStageForMe]

he was a great runner, there were a lot of good runners though, you win some you lose some...

[@jdogs333]

I have actually seen this already and I found out that the winner of this race tested positive for banned substances 2 weeks after this race the 1st and second place were tested positive.

[@runwithkyrstin2002]

what was Virens winning time in Munich? What was Pre's time in the Trials in Eugene? Virens Gold medal time 13:26.4 Pre's U.S. Trials time 13:22.8 where's the problem here? People need to get off this "he finished 4th kick" Should have ran the same negative splits he did against young (or faster) and he would have had it....problem was they walk thru the first 2 miles...not Pre's style

[@mattt2624]

i heard he was sick...even if he wasnt he didnt let them win...u hav no idea how hard it is to hold off some of those kickers that r some of the best in the world

[@ObscureAuteur]

Amazing, no doubt. A powerful presence, absolutely. Greatest American ever, probably. Greatest ever? No. That is mere fan talk. I will give you Emil Zatopek for just one counter-example, is there really any less fire there? I have read and watched everything you cite, and more. I also got to watch and read about it when it happened.

[@mewoyou]

i wonder why pre lost this race, anyone know where there is footage of the race he won with stitches in his foot

[@thefallen2124]

didn't they do a blood coke thing? i mean the people who won? i was reading about it lasse wiren did lots of it

[@Claizen]

3:59 mile, goddamn thats fast.

[@C0rran05]

in the end, its recognized that winning in the olypics is not equivilent to being the best. Thats why there's an "olympic record" and then the "world record" is compltetely different, expect in the cases where they happen to run there best times at the olympics. Admitadly, i only glazed over the list, but it looks like most world records are NOT made in the olympics. Looks like that Gold is only a symbol now, huh? And one that doesn't mean what u thought, either.

[@FreddieFreddie1]

@starbrighter You think 4:04 Is Fast You Should See His Other Mile Time It Was A 3:59.2

[@thefallen2124]

eh doesn't matter prefontaine is my hero and he didn't blood dope

[@tripleMmagic]

I'm on your side... But Viren didn't die after munich... Even if you mean he figuratively stopped running well, that's not true. He got double gold again in Montreal...

[@ObscureAuteur]

What bad day? Look the field, who's who of mile runners including the world's two best. This result is not a surprise, nor a "bad day". The other video where he wins the indoor mile is in a much weaker field.

[@VinceRosetta]

At the start of the video they said it is an 11 lap race

[@matt51306]

not to mention he kept turning down offers to go pro so he could run in the olympics -- he had nothing to retire on

[@SomethingHeavenly]

some are 160, i don't know why they don't have just on distance

[@imjstcl]

pre was last because this wasnt his race... and the other ppl were VERY fast at this race

[@cesarcoelho7227]

I never knew PRE finished in 5tH PLACE IN race

[@C0rran05]

"Did Pre ever..break world records?" Uuuuhhh..YEAH! okay, nm.I just checked.He did not set world records.I was wrong, i admit it.Sry. However, he set MANY american records which still hold to day, and btw, the 3k was still too short a race. Have u not heard me? He-was-a-DISTANCE-runner.Generally i'd call 1.6k and 3k distance,but it hardly seems didtance at thier level.His best races were 5k and up. And btw, his best 5k time was faster than the winners of 72 olympics. Literaly had a bad day

[@thefallen2124]

You know whats funny in the 1973 LA times mile Pre ran faster then the winners in this, he ran a 3:59.2 they ran a 3:59.6 hes still better in my book.

[@yung4evr]

That's exactly right. Pre wasn't very sharp for this race for whatever reason. Had he run the race he ran in '73 LAT he would have likely won here.

[@cicirunner]

it must have been tough running on those crappy, small tracks.

[@yung4evr]

You bet it was. Most of them had hollow spots where you would sink and it would completely throw your rhythm off. Really difficult to get any momentum going unless the track was well-maintained, which most of them weren't. These tracks were probably a good 3-4 secs slower than today's modern synthetic 200m tracks.

[@upnunder13]

tough for a real track runner to run laps around a stick like that.

[@elpasitotuntun]

Prefontaine last? :( if this was a 3 mile run pre would of owned hardcore

[@xxxDAPROBLEMxxx]

@oneshot6kills Its best pace, not only good, and today looks like a good day to die not way to die. come on man

[@warrencundy]

That was his last win over the Great JW he is too big for this tight indoor track 11 laps so it must be 150-160 yards long he didn’t like these tight indoor tracks

[@mattt2624]

i kno but sinschild07 is talking like pre let them win cuz he fooling around or something and he definately wasnt he just had an off day

[@mandykhoo2473]

The days before the bad

[@thefallen2124]

i meant blood doping*

[@JCDrums19]

@dlpman8 i know everyone has been replying to you but what is one more. first of all its sophomore, second, that is just a dumb comment.

[@headache515]

wow too bad pre took it out so hard, thats a pretty fast mile considering that its such a short track. all those turns and crap

[@karpopper]

pre dfl

[@KapitalKel]

@rud3dogg lol

[@Pineforest100]

6-0

[@mervrun]

WTF...I watched the whole race to see PRE RUN LAST......

[@Raimakusa]

Pre never was that great in the mile. Haha.