Bay Area Fun Festival - Coos Bay Downtown Association
During his brief 24-year lifespan, Steve Prefontaine grew from hometown hero, to record-setting college phenomenon, to internationally acclaimed track star. In a similar span of years since his death in 1975, Pre has become the stuff of enduring legend.
His rare combination of talent, discipline, determination, and star-quality with a human touch made Pre the idol of those he called “his people” — the devoted fans who came to watch him run and entered into the performance with roars of encouragement, “Go Pre!”
At no place is the celebration of Steve Prefontaine and his story more personal than in Coos Bay, Oregon, where he was born in 1951 and discovered his gift for running fast and far as a student at Marshfield High School. Here, he developed his hunger to be the best in the field, and more, to do it with style—to create beauty when he ran, to show people something they had never seen before.
Bay Area Fun Festival - Coos Bay Downtown Association