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Steve Prefontaine Steve “Pre” Prefontaine was born on January 25, 1951 in the small town of Coos Bay, Oregon. Steve originally wanted to play football, baseball, and other typical high school sports, but he was always told that he was too small or he wasn’t good enough. He wanted to prove himself to everyone, so he took up running. |
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| Prefontaine found himself being a young, strong runner. Already, in his senior year of Marshfield High School, he set an American record in the two-mile run. Coach Bill Bowerman of the University of |
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Oregon recruited Steve. While at U of O, Pre won 7 NCAA titles: three in cross-country, 1970, 1971, and 1973 and four in the three-mile track event in ’70, ’71, ’72, and ’73. | |
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He was the first athlete to win four consecutive NCAA track titles in the same event. Steve also held the eight collegiate records including the three-mile and six-mile races which still have not been broken. Pre made the 1972 Olympic team for the 5000 meter run. He ran a fast race, leading most of the last mile, but ended up coming in fourth place. |
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| Back at Hayward Field Steve never lost a race. His fans would fill the stadium. After all of that, Prefontaine had broken his own and other American records fourteen times. Steve Prefontaine |
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He volunteered at Roosevelt Junior High School and started a running club at the Oregon State Prison. was also involved in his community. | |
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The end of Pre’s running career only came when he died on May 30, 1975. He was driving home from a track meet where he had just set the American record in the 5000 meter race when his MGB convertible flipped over and pinned him to the ground. There he lay and died. The exact cause of the accident is unknown but it is terrible. The worst part is Pre was only 24 years old. |
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“You have to wonder at times what you’re doing out there. 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 achievement.” -Steve Prefontaine |
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“To give anything less your best is to sacrifice the Gift.” -Steve Prefontaine |
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Marion Jones
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Even at an early age Marion Jones knew she was going to be an athlete. She grew up in the suburbs of Los Angeles. Marion could play the sports and games with her brother, Albert, and his friends because she was strong enough and fast enough. Jones was even five years younger than them. |
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Seeing how well she played, Albert and his friends nicknamed her “Hard Nails.” Marion had a hard family life. She didn’t know her father well because he left the family at an early age. Her mother had married and divorced a couple of times as well. Finally, Ira Toler came into her life when he married her mom. |
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Ira loved Marion very much and she loved him back. Life at home was much better when she had to parents that loved her. Having the extra help at home was needed when Jones started playing T-ball, ballet, and gymnastics. | |
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By the age of ten, she was running in competitive track. Ira suddenly died of a stroke in 1987. Jones coped with her anger and depression through running. Marion’s coaches saw an Olympian in her. Then, she was relocated near Rio Mesa High School. Another coach saw her and put her to the test. |
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Marion could jump up and grab the rim of the basketball hoop. “Hard Nails” continued on in high school and could beat almost anyone on the track. She started doing |
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very well in basketball, too. Marion experimented with track events like the shot-put, hurdles, high jump, long jump, and, of course, her sprints. | |
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Hundreds of colleges wanted Marion, but the University of North Carolina agreed to do whatever Jones wanted to do. Marion is a three-time 2000 Olympic Gold Medalist in the 100 meter, 200 meter, and 4 by 400 meter races. She’s also a two-time 2000 Olympic Bronze Medalist in the long jump and 4 by 100 meter events, a two-time World Champion in the 100 meter in 1997 and 1999, and a two-time World Champion in the 4 by 100 meter in 1997 and 2001. |
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| Jones is a World Cup Gold Medalist in the 100 meter of 2002 and the World Champion in 200 meter in 2001. She’s a World Champion Bronze Medalist winner in the long jump of 1999. Marion is twelve-time U.S. Outdoor Champion: three in the long jump, four in the 100 meter, and five in the 200 meter. |
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She many other awards including the 2001 ESPY Awards: Female U.S. Olympic Athlete of the Year, Woman’s Track and Field of the Year, and Female Athlete of the Year. And as she always wanted, Marion Jones received the honor of walking down the red carpet. |
 Lance
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Lance Armstrong ran the New York City Marathon in 2006 and 2007. His time improved by thirteen minutes. This year he finished in 698th place with a time of two hours, forty-six minutes, and forty-three seconds (2:46:43). |
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| “I enjoyed it much more this year,” said Armstrong, “Last year I had no idea what to expect with 26.2 miles and I paid for it.” Lance, already being fit, dropped seven pounds. He then weighed in at 173 pounds. That helped him finish in under 2:50. n 2006, this seven-time Tour de France winner |
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finished in 856th place. I Armstrong got horrible shin splints last year that took him four months to recover from them. “Next year could be another challenge, another sports challenge, so give me a few months,” Armstrong said. |
| Will Ferrell and his wife, Viveca ran the NYC Marathon in 2003 in five hours one minute and fifty-six seconds (5:01:56). They had some training help |
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from Gary Kobat. Under Kobat, Ferrell lost 25 pounds. His times improved and his wife and he continued the marathons. |
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Ryan Hall In his first half marathon, Ryan Hall smashed an American record almost as old as he is. He crossed the line at 59 minutes and 43 seconds (0:59:43). He took one minute and twelve seconds off the American half mile record that stood for 22 years. That record was set by Mark Curp in 1985 with a time of one hour |
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and fifty-five seconds (1:00:55). This 24 year old that had specialized in the mile and 5000 meter at Stanford University blew away a record that was only two years younger than him. No one was within a quarter mile of him during the race. That’s pretty crazy. |
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Dean Karnazes Dean Karnazes planned to run 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days. That’s one marathon a day in a different state each day in a row. Most of us call that insanity. Someone decided to question him on that. This person was Chris Carmichael. Carmichael was the coach of Lance Armstrong. |
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Karnazes’ VO2 max - the amount of oxygen his body can process – is 64.8. Yes, that’s higher than the general running populations but still nowhere near Armstrong’s super human 80. Yeah, he completed his goal and even burned 143,530 kilocalories in the meantime. |
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