Prefontaine

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If he can hold this pace...

Prefontaine will own

the NCAA indoor record.

Here are the 5,000 meter

final results;

First place with a new American

record, Steve Prefontaine.

No one within 60 yards as

Pre wins his 21st straight win.

Pre turned distance running

into a blood sport.

You want to know what he meant

to folks around here?

What was it the hippie kids

used to say back then?

You just had to be there.

We raised Steve the way most

folks in Coos Bay raised their kids.

We just tried to give him the kind of

life that we never had growing up.

But Steve was a

different kind of kid.

Nine, ten, eleven, twelve...

13, 14, 15...

16, 17, 18...

19, 20, 21, 22...

23, 24...

- You go first. - It's Buck's turn.

I went first yesterday.

That was off the

dinky little bridge.

What's the matter?

Are you scared, Buck?

What the hell is Pre doing?

How'd he get up there?

Go ahead, Pre, jump.

- Yeah. Go, Pre!

- Shut up!

Come down, Pre, before you

get yourself killed.

- Cool!

- My God!

Yeah! Yeah!

Whoo-hoo!

- You ready to play?

- Yeah!

Okay. Dick's catcher.

Bobby, take second.

Jimmy, center field.

Buck, you're my pitcher.

Pre.

First sub in.

Jeff, third base.

Joe, right field.

- You'll get in, Pre.

- Let go, Buck.

Let's go, guys.

Take the field, boys.

Let's go!

Pre did love sports, but...

he was like, four-eight.

He weighed 90 pounds.

He had really shaky

hand-eye coordination.

It seemed like the

less he got to play...

the more he felt

he had to prove.

Prefontaine!

Kickoff team!

Go get 'em, Pre!

Go, Pre, go!

Go, Pre, go!

Once he started running,

I guess he never stopped.

Here is Jim Ryun,

beginning to move up now...

This is the race he's been preparing for

since he was a high school sophomore.

I'm going to Munich.

What's that, son?

The Munich Olympics four years

from now? I'm gonna be there.

- In Munich?

- Relax, Elfriede.

Let the boy dream.

- In Germany? - I'm goin' and

nobody's gonna stop me.

First it was football, now this.

Getting up at dawn

to run before school.

I thought that the neighbors

must think...

I'm a crazy German woman

to let my son do this.

Keep your speed constant, Ellie.

I had an itch on my gas foot.

He was my first real boyfriend.

He was hot stuff.

Hey, don't kill me, now.

Come on.

I didn't have any idea what I wanted

to do when I was growing up.

But he knew.

Steve, grab the level and

check this for me, will you?

Ray, your son sure kicked that

North Bend boy's behind last week.

- How bad you beat him?

- Not that bad. Maybe half a lap.

You let him off easy, Ray.

Not my son. Okay, Steve.

Bring that two-by-four over here.

Yeah, keep runnin, 'kid,

so you don't have to spend your life...

shaggin' two-by-fours

for your old man.

All right, hold it steady.

We heard about this small kid

from Coos Bay who could run.

A kid we had to see.

A real fire-eater.

After he broke all those national

high school records...

- college scouts came like

bees to honey. - Uh-uh.

Thanks, Coach.

Steve?

Steve tells me you're

quite an architect.

No, actually,

I'm just a carpenter.

I'll be honest with you, Ray.

Architects... they're

overrated in my book.

Have you seen

Steve's scrapbook?

No, ma'am.

Not, uh...

Not lately.

Steve!

Hello, again, Pre.

- Where's Bowerman? - He sends his

apologies. It's hard for him to get away.

- To make the trip. - Plenty of other

head coaches have gotten away.

- Steve.

- He did ask me, though...

to, uh... give you

a personal letter.

That's all right.

I've got milk crates full of em.

Come on, son.

Not, uh... like this one.

That's hot off the press.

Dear Pre, If you want to come

to the University of Oregon...

there's no doubt in my mind...

you'll be the greatest

distance runner in the world.

Please, don't wrinkle it, Steve.

I want it for the scrapbook.

No more war! No more war!

Hell, no! We won't go!

Hell, no! We won't go!

# Some folks are born #

# Made to wave the flag #

# Ooh, they're red,

white and blue #

Any question of violence on the

University of Oregon campus...

is in the hands of President Clark and

the police department of Eugene.

If they want violence, they will

start violence. We will not.

I shall take what action

is necessary to end it.

Whether it's disciplinary

or police action.

# It ain't me

It ain't me #

# Some folks are born

silver spoon in hand #

# But when the tax man

comes to the door #

# Now their house looks

like a rummage sale #

He definitely wasn't what

anyone expected.

It's the Beverly Hillbillies.

You've gotta remember,

back then...

most of the best distance

runners on the team...

in the whole country, were these

middle-class or upper-class kids.

Hey, guys.

Steve Prefontaine.

- Hey, I'm Mac.

- Hey, Mac.

Hi. Pat Tyson,

your roommate.

I moved in yesterday.

- Hi, I'm Ellie.

- Ellie Mae?

No, just Ellie.

- Thomas Becker.

- That's right.

Saw you run that 3:57.4

last summer.

- Personal best, right?

- Yeah.

- Man, that was really smokin'.

- I'm flattered.

I'm going to beat

that time this year.

Man, if it wasn't for runnin'...

I'd be dodging bullets in 'Nam

instead of training for Munich.

- Munich. As in Olympics?

Three years from now? - Yeah.

The only way I'm getting to Munich is

if I buy a plane ticket.

- Hey, hey, U.S.A., how many kids

did you kill today? - Look at this.

They'd be the casualties

back in Coos Bay.

Hey, hey, U.S.A., how many kids

did you kill today?

Oops.

Hey, Pre. The sidewalk's

over here. Pre!

- Hey!

- Peace.

Do you realize, Ellie,

that I've been reading about this

place since I was in junior high?

The road to Olympic gold.

Track capitol, U.S.A.

The house that Bowerman built.

You really know how

to sweet-talk a girl.

I'll be coming down

that backstretch...

burning all eight cylinders...

a world record in my hand,

blowing past all the competition...

the crowd cheering me on.

I'll look up in the stands...

and there you'll be.

Yeah, on my way

to the bathroom.

You're dead!

- Always gotta keep me humble, huh?

- Mm-hmm.

Which is why I'm gonna

have to marry you someday.

Yeah. Someday.

Someday soon.

Did I say what field

are we on?

Track capitol, U.S.A.

That's right, you son of a b*tch!

You'd better drive away!

Last goddamn time

you'll clip my box!

- Coach Bowerman?

- Don't ever call me "coach".

Had an S.O.B. for a coach.

Still hate that word

to this day.

Um, Mr. Bowerman.

Or "Bill" would be fine.

Come on, rube.

Give me a hand here.

I'm, uh...

I'm Steve Prefontaine.

You don't say, rube.

That's it.

Hold it right there.

Now, what are you doin' here?

I heard you wanted to see me.

I mean, what are you doin'

here at the university?

Well, you said in your letter you'd

make me the best runner in the world.

Letter. You think

I wrote you a letter?

That's dynamite.

Uh-huh.

Just enough to get the

bastard's attention.

Hell of a view, wouldn't you say?

Yeah, it's beautiful.

You know, back home

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