Everyone Needs A Hero

A rebel was born, but what remains?

by Marc Davis

20 years ago, when I was in high school, I knew nothing about Steve Prefontaine. And I am not talking about that I did not know his times or his races. I simply never heard of him. I went to a downtown high school near the beaches of Southern California; seemingly thousand of miles away from the blue collar life of Coos Bay, Oregon.

Even when I arrived at the University of Arizona on a track scholarship, I barely heard of the great �Pre�. In fact, the first time I started hearing the stories, I had graduated college and just moved to Oregon to train with former Duck runner Alberto Salazar. By that time, I didn't get a chance to emulate or look up to him, because I was already being compared to him. And while that may be a huge honor, I really did not truly appreciate it the way I should have at the time. I wanted to be the first Marc Davis. Not the next Steve Prefontaine.

Besides, I was having my own worries just trying to take on the African onslaught that was happening during the 90's. I didn't have time to look back and find a hero. If I did strive to be someone, it might have been Bob Kennedy. He was my �Pre�. He ran fast. He won all the races. When Bob stepped on the track, everyone knew that it was on. He was the first guy I actually got to see challenge the runners from Kenya and Ethiopia . Watching him run under 13 minutes for 5000 meters back in 1997 had to the highlight of my �running fan� days. I really thought that he was going to win everything. Just like Pre.

But now many writers have said that there will never be another Pre. That all distance runners should just accept that he is the standard by which they all will be measured. That is why after 30 years, people young and old still make the trip up to Pre's Rock and pay their respects. Because no matter how you define a hero, he was also a rebel. And in this day and age, the young runners of this country can relate to that. He challenged the system. He fought the powers that wanted to control him. And more importantly for my era, he stove to protect the rights of the athletes.

In every part of life, we all need heroes. Whether you are baseball player and need Hank Aaron, or you are football player and need Joe Namath. Maybe you are an aspiring movie actor, and you need Robert DeNiro to look up to. No matter who you are or what you do, human nature drives us to find a hero. Someone with the right amount of swagger, or the right amount of coolness. Someone who told you about the great feat they were about to accomplish, and then went out and did twice as much as they predicted. Bottle that all up, and serve it to a generation of runners seeking to bring back some glory to American distance running, and you have yourself one heck of a story.

At the moment of his untimely death, Steve Prefontaine held every American Record from 2000 meters to the 10,000 meters. Something that seems unfathomable in this day and age. He also had some of the fastest times in the world, which also today would be a hard task to accomplish. But that's not to say we should compare him to today's runners. Because in my mind, it doesn't matter how fast the top runners are going today, Pre would have done anything to be �Pre�. He would have charged for every lead. He would have still gone for gold. And more importantly, he would remain a hero. Because that is what a hero does. No matter what the odds are, no matter who is up against him, the hero always finds a way to win.

One of the records that Prefontaine held was the less often competed 2-mile distance. Back in 1974, Steve ran 8:18 for 2 miles at a meeting in Stockholm , Sweden . This Sunday, at the 31 st Annual Prefontaine Classic, some of the greatest runners in the world are gathering to run this rare distance. Only in high school is the 2 mile such a contested event. Some of the notables in the field include former high school sensation Alan Webb. As well as other top Americans Dathan Ritzenhein, Daniel Lincoln, and Jonathan Riley. They are going up against a star-studded field of international track runners; including the reigning 5000m World Champion Eliud Kipchoge. Check here tomorrow for Part II of my segment, as I break down the field and their individual chances at victory. And don't forget to look for Sunday's lap-by-lap coverage of this spectacular event. Maybe, just maybe, we might even all find a new hero.