exactly...today we have phony announcers who all go to the same school of journalism without any creativity or genuine commentary. Just rehashing all the same buzzwords and making it all about them. Soooo annoying
Carrie Tollefson does great commentary for many of the big races. She is passionate about the sport, a great ambassador, and really elevates every broadcast she is on.
Demigods racing in the early years of the US distance running explosion. Thrilling to watch the evolving strategy during the course of the race. The dirt track, chalk lined lanes, kids running along and the 64’ VW van made me nostalgic!
Awesome footage. It's great to be able to see Pre run back then. I took up running several years after his tragic death, but his legacy inspires me to this day. I was fortunate to run the 10k memorial run in Coos Bay this year. At 60 I felt pretty good with a 52.46 on a hilly course Pre used to run for training. Thanks so much for sharing!
While watching this vid, I realized I went to school there from 1970 to 1978, ran the 2-mile in track on this same field in 77-78! Never knew I was running on rarified dirt and oil that these legends had previously run on. Amazing..
Yes, same here. When the race started I was wondering where this was taking place and as they went down the backstretch I went "Holy Cats, they're at Punahou!" I would have been 7 at the time so I'm pretty sure I would know some of those boys that were racing along every time they went around the east end. Punahou Class of '80.
I used to run on a high school track in CA around a football field. I had the same feeling when I learned Raquel Welch was a cheerleader in high school on that same field.
Class of 73. I kept thinking, that looks so familiar... I was in Ewa Beach, and probably watched this on TV, though I can't say I remember that. I remember all those names. Very cool indeed.
Considering they're running on a dirty track, just imagine what these guys could have accomplished with today's tracks, tech, and training! Gerry is a legend. Go Rogers!!
Chris Angel can’t agree more, plus steve was only graduated highschool and already ran against other top runners. It was not only talent, it’s pure guts
Well-tended cinder tracks could be very fast. It just depended on their condition and on how many races had been run before a particular event. Naturally, I can't say how good this track was, but it's possible it was all right. Great to see Lindgren on some old footage. Prefontaine was great, but we don't hear enough about Gerry. His victory over the Russians in 1964 was, in many ways, the beginning of US long distance running.
It is wonderful for this running lifer to again see these four racing after so many years. They, along with Jim Ryun and Dave Wottle, were my early running heroes (I started running and racing in 1970 and never stopped). Pre, in particular, was my role model because I was a little blonde kid who tried my best to emulate his take no prisoners racing strategy (alas, with nowhere near his speed or toughness). Pre's 6/15/70 Sports Illustrated magazine is framed and displayed on a wall in my home. Thank you for posting!
I use to watch VHS tapes of Steve run and tried to learn from his races. One thing I learned from him is heart and determination can beat talent any day. I ran a 4:16 mile in highschool. Went to college and found out I was just to slow for the mile. So I did the 5k sub 15 minutes and the 10k sub 30. I was a decent runner but nothing like these gents. Amazing to watch.
heart and determination is needed when battling someone in the same talent range, but if the person you are running against has superior genetics, all the heart in the world won't get it done.
These guys were our heros in high school. The mile/2-mile distances and times brings back memories for those of us who spent hours and hours on the track trying to chase the 4 minute mile mark. After seeing Shorter win the 1972 gold medal I was truly inspired and I put everything i had into ti to get within 20 seconds a year later. To see someone who can do that at the halfway point of a 2 mile race still seems like some sort of miracle ... even years later.
At the Wapato High School I ran the mile in 4:29 . My last two laps I would keep picking up the pace... I also kept trying to beat the 4:00 mile.... I would run 3 miles in the morning and 3 miles at the end of the day.... no matter what the weather was.....
Lindgren was said to have possessed one of the best cardiovascular systems in the world. PS: Thanks so much for posting this historic footage and double thanks for not declaring the winner in the title.
@@Asimyusree Yes, he did. He said in an interview once "It always surprised me how much energy I could get out of my wimpy body". Pre's equal IMO. I had the pleasure of seeing him compete in person once.
Great footage with some great runners. I enjoyed watching Frank have brief words with Steve prior to the race. Frank was a great competitor and a continues to be a great mentor.
Wow-- such great footage. In addition to the awesome race between legends, how cool to see all the kids just playing in the field while all of this was going on.
Stephen Martinez I downloaded it from historicfilms.com where I cut short the full footage. This one is free to download when you sign up for the account. There are other footage of Prefontaine’s races but you need to pay $100 for every 60 minutes of the footage.
It's pretty cool to be able to see this broadcast of a race with the 4 biggest stars in U.S. distance running history all on the track at the same time (and nobody else in the race ... just these four runners who would become future legends). Pre was only 18 at this time. Liquori was 20. Shorter was 22 and Lindgren was 23. It was pretty impressive that Pre was able to be this competitive against these older guys, although Lindgren showed his difference at that stage of their careers when he left Pre on the last lap. Fascinating to see them run.
Running cross country my freshman year in High School Billy Mills , Jim Ryun , 😅Jerry Lingren were the big cahuna’s…Pre came a bit later and Frank Shorter winning an Olympic Marathon was the big stunner. Eugene, Hayward Field, Nike. Many great memories . What a fantastic video.
I was at Rogers H.S. and overlapped Gerry's attendance. Gerry was a great athlete as shown by his many, many accomplishments and qualifying for the Olympics. Something most people don't know is he was one of the nicest people you could ever meet.
I ran mile repeats there in 2011 while I was a high school miler. I'm not even from the area but their football coach, who was running a practice on the infield, seemed to understand why I came.
Running a mile under 5:00 is difficult enough. Consider 4:22 1st mile the 2nd a bit faster. Not everyone appreciates exactly what they are watching here.
I met Gerry Lindgren at his store, the Stinky Foot, when I was a kid back in the late 1970s. I remember him being a really nice and down-to-earth person.
Gerry Lindgren had serious mental problems and mysteriously disappeared shortly after you met him, abruptly deserting his home, his wife, three children, and his store for no apparent reason. Those who knew him best say he never learned to accept the responsibilities of adulthood and simply ran away. Lindgren actually went into hiding for a few years to avoid paying child support, using the fake name Gale Young, and started a new life in Hawaii. You may have been one of the last people to talk to Gerry at his store before he disappeared and started a new life.
@@kevdean9967 Yeah, there is a real intriguing story here. I don't know any movie producers but if someone reads this post who is, they should definitely look into producing this thing.
Fantastic. That's Jack Whitaker on the opening commentary. This obviously was televised on CBS. I guess everything legendary was happening that summer. This was just a few days before the Apollo 11 moon launch and about a month prior to Woodstock
Wasted Century wow, i just knew that. Thanks. Jack Whitaker used to interview Pre after he won races back then. Really enjoyed listening to his voice and commentary.
Back in Prefontaine's glory days, I lived in Oregon and knew some of his relatives. He probably wouldn't have known them, but they were quick to point out that they were related. So, he was an even bigger deal there. Just remember how stunned I was when I heard he had died. So tragic.
my Mom Was a Daisy Duck booster member for Oregon then, she knew Pre, I used to train on Pre’s trail Along the willamitte river for Springfield High 1980 and have Oregon stars Alberto Salazar, Mkchesnie twins, Rudy Chapa, Don Cleary pass by us!😳😉👍
Awesome! 😂 i graduated high school in 2001 and my class ran the last year we had a dirt track. I ran the one and two mile races and occasionally the 800. Running in the rain was the best!
The definition of 'LEGENDS'.. Marty Liquori is not as well known today (besides being a commentator) as the others but he was the 3rd high schooler to go under 4 minutes in the mile (3:59.8 in 1967) and the last one to do it until Alan Webb in 2001.
Had the pleasure of meeting Gerry Lindgren at his highschool (rogers) for a track meet, great guy, and he even signed our school's giant stuffed bear ;)
My brother set the 2 mile record for Petoskey High School in May 1975 on a sandy cinder track, running 9:43.3. He always said that if he ran on a rubber track like the downstate larger high schools his time would have been much faster. He always ran sub (under) 10 minutes for the 2 mile. It doesn't help that the Sleeping Bear dunes were just a short drive away...sandy soil, of course, is a runner's worst enemy.
I just finished reading "Shoe Dog a memoir by the creator of NIKE Phil Knight"...I never knew how tied up Pre and Bill Bowerman and Shorter and Lindgren were all with Nike...Hell, I didn't even know who any of them were except Prefontaine was. Excellent book and this was icing on the cake to get to watch this after hearing so much behind the scenes stuff. Plus Bill Bowerman developing the famous Nike waffle pattern that changed running forever. Changing Nike forever. Read it.
Great video of 4 great legendary runners, but,, there's a 5th legend in this video,, does anyone recognize ? lol The Volkswagen BUS!!! lol High 5 if you were lucky enough to have grown up in one of those awesome wagons lol We had one! lol Thanks so much for posting this video of 4 of our most outstanding distance runners.
@@random46579 They were originally English, America already had independence from Britain when England switched to Metric (which was spread with French influence of the Napoleonic Wars)
I ran the 2 mile in H.S. Wanted to break 10 minutes but never did LoL. These guys are incredible. Nothing but giant Heart muscle and giant lungs. 9:02 last place cant imagine!
@@user-rg4yk4jr1y very respectable in my book. I'm sure that is better then I ever did but I can't really remember exactly what my 2 mile time was. I seem to recall covering the 1 mile in 4:30 or 31
This is a great video ; I was a decent high school(1970's) track athlete PB 2:03 800 meters; 4:46 mile at 6 feet 200 pounds--so I have great admiration for these runners; but what's with that clock it started out at 37 minutes or something?
Worked at a hamburger drive inn in Pullman. Took tons of BS from students, usually drunk or stoned with the munchies, derogatory comments about the food, me, the owner, the snow on the ground. Gerry Lindgren would come in with his “Gray W” letter and jacket on. What an absolute gentleman. A truly good character. A polite man. So sorry what he did to his family. We humans are complex. I loved watching this tape. Thanks
I saw Frank Shorter running in the mountains near Boulder a few years ago. He looked like he was still in pretty good shape for a guy with so much gray hair.
Three years later, Frank Shorter was the gold medalist in the men’s marathon at Munich, West Germany. (Before the Berlin Wall fell) I had turned 9 less than 2 weeks before-it’s the first Olympics I remember. That race had an impostor that got on the course late in the event. A West German student named Norbert Südhaus ran the last kilometer and entered the stadium before Shorter did.
@@Tiburon876 yeah four years experience over Prefontaine showed. but I just have to say like the rest of the world ,that Prefontaine is the name you remember and his accomplishments speak for themselves. what were you doing at 18 years of age? getting beat up in the parking lot cause you sound like some kind of a pussy. What if you accomplished in your life?
In the early 80s one of my fellow cross-country teammates ran an indoor distance race at CU-Boulder, and to his astonishment shared the track with Frank Shorter! Can you imagine? My teammate didn't win.
Dirt tracks vs. modern day ones are different in plenty of ways from the Traction, Impact, Etc....but its not that drastic of a difference where they would hold the world records of today.
@@truearrow007 If you want to play this game then we can play it. Its a quick search and you'll find that there are hundreds of runners who have a better 2 mile record then everyone on this field. But apparently they all took steroids according to you and these guys didn't...but none of this matters because the original comment here is Dirt Tracks vs Modern Tracks.
If anyone is interested Gary Cohen has an interview with Gerry on his site the man is interesting. He was the reason Pre took up running as Gerry mentions he decided to console Pre over not making his softball team and so he just ran to Pre's house and back, no big deal it was only about a 30 mile run.
Axel, I'm not sure what you are talking about? Pre's house is Coos bay? I think you got the stories mixed up. Gerry has been known to tell a few exaggerations though .
@@seaturtledog Yeah he's unreliable a character for sure. In that interview he also claimed his dog was a genetic experiment mixed with some other creature.
Born and raised in Spokane, about 7 years younger than Lindgren. I was leaving grade school football practice on my bike when I saw him running headed for the hills in the park. Everybody in Spokane knew who he was. I tried to catch him on my 'sting ray' bike - high handlebars and a banana seat. No luck there, he left me behind like I was standing still.
I don't go that far back, but I know what you mean about seeing one of the greats. My buddy went to the State CC meet in Michigan back in 2000 and he invited me along. I was jogging with him as he warmed up for the Division 2 race and the Division 1 race was already underway. We were at a part of the course with few spectators and out of nowhere Dathan Ritzenhein breezed by us effortlessly at like 4:30 pace. We were stunned. We looked at each other and said, "where's everyone else?" It was a full 60 seconds before 2nd place appeared. I didn't know it was Dathan until later, as we had never heard of him at the time. It was like watching lighting. I think he finished that HS race in 14 flat or so.
Although Steve is better remembered (indeed now an American legend) Gerry had a like record for being a schoolboy prodigy. When the Hawaii invitational took place Steve was a mere 18 years old and not yet in Gerry's league. When Steve reached his prime in '72 (he didn't survive much beyond that due to his fatal car crash) he was by then arguably better than Lindgren. Gerry went on to finish 9th in the '72 Olympics 10k, whilst Steve finished 4th in the 5k in one of the greatest races in history. It's certainly my favourite of all time. Steve's bravery in that race is legendery by those in the know of all eras of middle distance running. Steve was an immensely courageous runner who always laid everything on the line, and feared no-one.
Sign of the times. If they tried running with the runners today, security would have jumped them. But back then, they just wanted to be close to their heroes.
I loved seeing that. And the station wagon and camper van on the grass. Seemed like a fun, family event and inspiring for the kids. Sports can be too serious these days.
When i was in highschool running cross county. We we had a couch that would train with us. Robert e lee. Everyone called him the general. He was a running nut. Ran lile 50/week wepl into his 60s. Well hed always tell us about all these old dudes. He had us all obsessed with prefontain. Its cool to see this video.
wow paulrydrick anak puri!
Now this is commentary!! A nonstop flow of relevant detailed information along with keeping up with specifics of the race!
Way better than what we have now
exactly...today we have phony announcers who all go to the same school of journalism without any creativity or genuine commentary. Just rehashing all the same buzzwords and making it all about them. Soooo annoying
Carrie Tollefson does great commentary for many of the big races. She is passionate about the sport, a great ambassador, and really elevates every broadcast she is on.
Old radio host can't be beat
Compare this to Kara Goucher idiocy that we’re forced to listen to these days. Mute button is preferred
Demigods racing in the early years of the US distance running explosion. Thrilling to watch the evolving strategy during the course of the race. The dirt track, chalk lined lanes, kids running along and the 64’ VW van made me nostalgic!
i'm trying to figure out time travel so i can go back and relive this moments
Packed dirt or cinders were the best surfaces to run on.
Don't forget the kangaroo leather spikes. I also like how the announcer notes that Pre is from 'Coosss Bay, ORegun' and not 'Coozzz Bay, Oregawn'.
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All giant names from my generation. Thnx for finding this gem
Awesome footage. It's great to be able to see Pre run back then. I took up running several years after his tragic death, but his legacy inspires me to this day. I was fortunate to run the 10k memorial run in Coos Bay this year. At 60 I felt pretty good with a 52.46 on a hilly course Pre used to run for training. Thanks so much for sharing!
Good job! I hope you're still going strong! Hugs from an AZ grandma
Man what a talent. Just graduating high school and going and pushing it with some of the top Americans.
This is not unlike what Katelyn Tuohy is doing right now! She finished 2nd at usatf club xc championships right after nxn
Wow! I’m friends with Frank Shorter, he lives near me. This is awesome, I’m going to send it forward!
While watching this vid, I realized I went to school there from 1970 to 1978, ran the 2-mile in track on this same field in 77-78! Never knew I was running on rarified dirt and oil that these legends had previously run on. Amazing..
What a great realization to have...very, very cool.
Yes, same here. When the race started I was wondering where this was taking place and as they went down the backstretch I went "Holy Cats, they're at Punahou!" I would have been 7 at the time so I'm pretty sure I would know some of those boys that were racing along every time they went around the east end. Punahou Class of '80.
William Maguire then you know ‘Suds’, eh?
I used to run on a high school track in CA around a football field. I had the same feeling when I learned Raquel Welch was a cheerleader in high school on that same field.
Class of 73. I kept thinking, that looks so familiar... I was in Ewa Beach, and probably watched this on TV, though I can't say I remember that. I remember all those names. Very cool indeed.
Considering they're running on a dirty track, just imagine what these guys could have accomplished with today's tracks, tech, and training! Gerry is a legend. Go Rogers!!
Chris Angel can’t agree more, plus steve was only graduated highschool and already ran against other top runners. It was not only talent, it’s pure guts
Gerry lindgren is amazing I really enjoyed his book
@@toxicblood5548 Amazing runner, terrible parent.
@@TheInsaneShecklador his dad abused him really badly I can see why he would be a bad parent
Well-tended cinder tracks could be very fast. It just depended on their condition and on how many races had been run before a particular event. Naturally, I can't say how good this track was, but it's possible it was all right. Great to see Lindgren on some old footage. Prefontaine was great, but we don't hear enough about Gerry. His victory over the Russians in 1964 was, in many ways, the beginning of US long distance running.
It is wonderful for this running lifer to again see these four racing after so many years. They, along with Jim Ryun and Dave Wottle, were my early running heroes (I started running and racing in 1970 and never stopped). Pre, in particular, was my role model because I was a little blonde kid who tried my best to emulate his take no prisoners racing strategy (alas, with nowhere near his speed or toughness). Pre's 6/15/70 Sports Illustrated magazine is framed and displayed on a wall in my home. Thank you for posting!
I use to watch VHS tapes of Steve run and tried to learn from his races. One thing I learned from him is heart and determination can beat talent any day. I ran a 4:16 mile in highschool. Went to college and found out I was just to slow for the mile. So I did the 5k sub 15 minutes and the 10k sub 30. I was a decent runner but nothing like these gents. Amazing to watch.
TOO slow....
to me, a 4:16 mile is really fast. But i've always hated the mile, a 2 mile race suited me more for some reason
@@YourMom-wl3tj Sorry but it's not rude to point out a spelling error. It's not that hard to edit ya know.
heart and determination is needed when battling someone in the same talent range, but if the person you are running against has superior genetics, all the heart in the world won't get it done.
Sure you did.
These guys were our heros in high school. The mile/2-mile distances and times brings back memories for those of us who spent hours and hours on the track trying to chase the 4 minute mile mark. After seeing Shorter win the 1972 gold medal I was truly inspired and I put everything i had into ti to get within 20 seconds a year later. To see someone who can do that at the halfway point of a 2 mile race still seems like some sort of miracle ... even years later.
At the Wapato High School I ran the mile in 4:29 . My last two laps I would keep picking up the pace... I also kept trying to beat the 4:00 mile.... I would run 3 miles in the morning and 3 miles at the end of the day.... no matter what the weather was.....
@@joslynmoses9024….. excellent …. you are to commended for your tenacity and dedication …
Just pure racing by these legends. Thanks so much for posting.
My left ear enjoyed this man's voice
My right ear...
WHAT
@@atwaterkent911 Yer headset/speakers are backwards
@@radicalleavemealone-ist7751 They only plug in one way - pre wired from the factory.
I was looking for this comment.
Lindgren was said to have possessed one of the best cardiovascular systems in the world. PS: Thanks so much for posting this historic footage and double thanks for not declaring the winner in the title.
Kirtley Burggraf thanks for the info also. Lindgren used to run more mileage than other runners back then
@@Asimyusree Yes, he did. He said in an interview once "It always surprised me how much energy I could get out of my wimpy body". Pre's equal IMO. I had the pleasure of seeing him compete in person once.
All. Knew Ling G, win! He was listed first in the thumbnail
His mileage was insane
His youngest son died of a heart attack earlier this year. It's a shame his genetics didn't get passed on.
Four of my favorites of all time, together! Awesome!
They were four of the best--ever! Can’t believe they were in the same race!
Judging by the crowd track and time. Looks like a photo op
Great footage with some great runners. I enjoyed watching Frank have brief words with Steve prior to the race. Frank was a great competitor and a continues to be a great mentor.
So fun to watch! Can't wait to show it to my 12 year old son who is loves SP. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you so much for posting this! I grew up in Eugene when Pre was running for the University of Oregon.
A high schooler versus Olympians....Incredible!!! Those times on loose gravel track - My Oh My
That was dirt and oil track. You could get decent traction on it. I ran the same race on it 8 years later. ...but not against the same guys. haha
Probably a cinder track. They really weren't bad if you wore longer spikes.
@@randyevermore9323 Its what I grew up running on
Wow-- such great footage. In addition to the awesome race between legends, how cool to see all the kids just playing in the field while all of this was going on.
Where did you find this archival footage? This is awesome! Four American distance legends together on a dirt track in 1969. It's unbelievable.
Stephen Martinez I downloaded it from historicfilms.com where I cut short the full footage. This one is free to download when you sign up for the account. There are other footage of Prefontaine’s races but you need to pay $100 for every 60 minutes of the footage.
JJ oh my, what a time to be alive 😍
@vitoduval Rupp would smoke them.
@mike toni no, we are celebrating a sport legend. You need to learn how to set things apart dude, personal life from legacy in sports.
Have always liked Frank Shorter.
Wow. All these legends in one race!
This is unbelievable footage. Never seen this. Thank you:)
Chad Tellevik no problem. Just a a big fan of Pre here ✌🏻
this was 2 years before my arrival here on planet earth. great memories. thank you for the post!
Thank you sir for posting. Love watching legendary pre
It's pretty cool to be able to see this broadcast of a race with the 4 biggest stars in U.S. distance running history all on the track at the same time (and nobody else in the race ... just these four runners who would become future legends). Pre was only 18 at this time. Liquori was 20. Shorter was 22 and Lindgren was 23. It was pretty impressive that Pre was able to be this competitive against these older guys, although Lindgren showed his difference at that stage of their careers when he left Pre on the last lap. Fascinating to see them run.
Running cross country my freshman year in High School Billy Mills , Jim Ryun , 😅Jerry Lingren were the big cahuna’s…Pre came a bit later and Frank Shorter winning an Olympic Marathon was the big stunner. Eugene, Hayward Field, Nike. Many great memories . What a fantastic video.
I was at Rogers H.S. and overlapped Gerry's attendance. Gerry was a great athlete as shown by his many, many accomplishments and qualifying for the Olympics. Something most people don't know is he was one of the nicest people you could ever meet.
Well, up to the point where he abandoned his family disappeared for years.
I ran my first sub 5:00 min mile (4:55) at Marshfield High School in Coos Bay. At that time in 1972 I knew exactly where I was, and the history.
I ran mile repeats there in 2011 while I was a high school miler. I'm not even from the area but their football coach, who was running a practice on the infield, seemed to understand why I came.
mike toni gold star for not being relevant
Mike Toni. That was your daddy, not your friend’s mom loser. :-)
Running a mile under 5:00 is difficult enough. Consider 4:22 1st mile the 2nd a bit faster. Not everyone appreciates exactly what they are watching here.
THAT'S A,SLOW TIME. YOU WERE A BUM
God....what a field!!!!!!!!!! Thank you for the upload.
1thepner my pleasure
I met Gerry Lindgren at his store, the Stinky Foot, when I was a kid back in the late 1970s. I remember him being a really nice and down-to-earth person.
I met Lindgren about the same time when he started the Stinky Foot. He said it was on the corner of Walk and Don't Walk!
Gerry Lindgren had serious mental problems and mysteriously disappeared shortly after you met him, abruptly deserting his home, his wife, three children, and his store for no apparent reason. Those who knew him best say he never learned to accept the responsibilities of adulthood and simply ran away. Lindgren actually went into hiding for a few years to avoid paying child support, using the fake name Gale Young, and started a new life in Hawaii. You may have been one of the last people to talk to Gerry at his store before he disappeared and started a new life.
@@CaneFu Sounds like the folks at Netflix need to do a biopic on Lindgren!
@@kevdean9967 Yeah, there is a real intriguing story here. I don't know any movie producers but if someone reads this post who is, they should definitely look into producing this thing.
Fantastic. That's Jack Whitaker on the opening commentary. This obviously was televised on CBS. I guess everything legendary was happening that summer. This was just a few days before the Apollo 11 moon launch and about a month prior to Woodstock
Wasted Century wow, i just knew that. Thanks. Jack Whitaker used to interview Pre after he won races back then. Really enjoyed listening to his voice and commentary.
I grew up behind Pre, same school, same town, he was idolized by everyone , he was always running around, easy going, chat with anyone
Back in Prefontaine's glory days, I lived in Oregon and knew some of his relatives. He probably wouldn't have known them, but they were quick to point out that they were related. So, he was an even bigger deal there. Just remember how stunned I was when I heard he had died. So tragic.
my Mom Was a Daisy Duck booster member for Oregon then, she knew Pre, I used to train on Pre’s trail Along the willamitte river for Springfield High 1980 and have Oregon stars Alberto Salazar, Mkchesnie twins, Rudy Chapa, Don Cleary pass by us!😳😉👍
Love this footage - as a Villanova alum and also a big Pre fan - it's great look back in time.
Awesome! 😂 i graduated high school in 2001 and my class ran the last year we had a dirt track. I ran the one and two mile races and occasionally the 800. Running in the rain was the best!
This was a gem of a post, thank you.
Great stuff , cinder track and excellent competition , this was my era all the way.... Pre was my hero !!
Watching the kids run alongside the track about about 4:45 made me happy.
The definition of 'LEGENDS'.. Marty Liquori is not as well known today (besides being a commentator) as the others but he was the 3rd high schooler to go under 4 minutes in the mile (3:59.8 in 1967) and the last one to do it until Alan Webb in 2001.
“My oh my” what a great American term & man what a wonderful piece of World Class track footage … Sumner, Christchurch, New Zealand
I was in 9th grade, these guys were my sports heros. Makes me feel old
@willie billie Thanks, but I'm not ready to pack it in just yet.
Group of legends. Loved seeing that Volkswagen bus parked each lap.
and the station wagon
And the classic family station wagon!
This is AMAZING quality!
Dick Bank was the greatest track and field announcer and analyst ever. It's nice to hear him again.
Had the pleasure of meeting Gerry Lindgren at his highschool (rogers) for a track meet, great guy, and he even signed our school's giant stuffed bear ;)
My brother set the 2 mile record for Petoskey High School in May 1975 on a sandy cinder track, running 9:43.3. He always said that if he ran on a rubber track like the downstate larger high schools his time would have been much faster. He always ran sub (under) 10 minutes for the 2 mile. It doesn't help that the Sleeping Bear dunes were just a short drive away...sandy soil, of course, is a runner's worst enemy.
That race was a who’s who of American middle distance running. Amazing!
I just finished reading "Shoe Dog a memoir by the creator of NIKE Phil Knight"...I never knew how tied up Pre and Bill Bowerman and Shorter and Lindgren were all with Nike...Hell, I didn't even know who any of them were except Prefontaine was. Excellent book and this was icing on the cake to get to watch this after hearing so much behind the scenes stuff. Plus Bill Bowerman developing the famous Nike waffle pattern that changed running forever. Changing Nike forever. Read it.
You didn’t know who Bill was, or even Frank Shorter?
You should read Kenny Moore's book Bowerman and The Men of Oregon.
Great video of 4 great legendary runners, but,, there's a 5th legend in this video,, does anyone recognize ? lol The Volkswagen BUS!!! lol High 5 if
you were lucky enough to have grown up in one of those awesome wagons lol We had one! lol Thanks so much for posting this video of 4 of our most outstanding distance runners.
Frank Shorter won the marathon in the Munich Olympics .. great find this video
I think Wottle won the 800m too
Thanks for the post
Victor Keith you’re most welcome
Wow, some famous dudes in this race.
I love hearing the announcer talk in English units. “The first 440...”. Yeah baby. My generation.
440 aren’t English units, they’re American units
@@random46579 That's why they are called Imperial Units.
@@random46579 They were originally English, America already had independence from Britain when England switched to Metric (which was spread with French influence of the Napoleonic Wars)
@@random46579 Where do you think America got them?
Jerry’s a friend of mine; however I never got to see him or Pre run. That was a great 2 miler to watch. Both extremely tough competitors.
Love this ! Four greats of the old days. Wonder how they are all doing now at 60+ yrs old
Well, Pre tragically died about six years after this...
Gerry is alive and well living in Hawaii. He coached the U of Hawaii women track for a bit
Those are some names I haven’t heard of in a long time. Prefontaine was absolutely amazing.
I ran the 2 mile in H.S. Wanted to break 10 minutes but never did LoL. These guys are incredible. Nothing but giant Heart muscle and giant lungs. 9:02 last place cant imagine!
I ran a 10:05 in my senior year Lake Howell High School Orlando Fl.
@@user-rg4yk4jr1y very respectable in my book. I'm sure that is better then I ever did but I can't really remember exactly what my 2 mile time was. I seem to recall covering the 1 mile in 4:30 or 31
They are all winners! Gerry Lindgren is a powerful little runner.
Awesome footage
Holly F'n Sh!+! A gathering of the Gods! All my heros from back in the day.
Exactly! It won't go down as one of the great races in history, but just to have the four of them in the same race!
For real! Just amazing. I got goose bumps.
Minus Jim Ryun and Dave Wottle!😎
Good point!
Fantastic film. thanks
How awesome. Best commentators will still be talking about "Pre" when so many better american runners go unknown. Thanks for sharing!
Four legends, great video.
Thanks for posting this!
Thank you.
I used to run at Hayward field in Eugene for track city club as a kid, remember seeing pre at the track, my mom knew him!😉👍
Now THIS is a classic matchup, only Jim Ryun missing
This is such a great race video.
Some of the greatest right there! Shorter coming up FOURTH!
One can only wonder at what these legends could have run using todays facilities and equipment.
This is a great video ; I was a decent high school(1970's) track athlete PB 2:03 800 meters; 4:46 mile at 6 feet 200 pounds--so I have great admiration for these runners; but what's with that clock it started out at 37 minutes or something?
Worked at a hamburger drive inn in Pullman. Took tons of BS from students, usually drunk or stoned with the munchies, derogatory comments about the food, me, the owner, the snow on the ground. Gerry Lindgren would come in with his “Gray W” letter and jacket on. What an absolute gentleman. A truly good character. A polite man. So sorry what he did to his family. We humans are complex. I loved watching this tape. Thanks
I saw Frank Shorter running in the mountains near Boulder a few years ago. He looked like he was still in pretty good shape for a guy with so much gray hair.
Three years later, Frank Shorter was the gold medalist in the men’s marathon at Munich, West Germany. (Before the Berlin Wall fell) I had turned 9 less than 2 weeks before-it’s the first Olympics I remember. That race had an impostor that got on the course late in the event. A West German student named Norbert Südhaus ran the last kilometer and entered the stadium before Shorter did.
Lindgren's turnover was incredibly fast the entire race compared to Pre's. Pre's legs looked so slow, even though they were both cruising.
That's because Lindgren was BETTER!!!.. YOU SAW WITH YOUR TWO EYES..he chewed up the cocky prefontaine as did the Europeans..
He was confident not cocky
@@Tiburon876 Lindgren was 23, Pre was only 18. Not exactly a fair comparison. Pre wasn't fully developed yet.
@@Tiburon876 yeah four years experience over Prefontaine showed. but I just have to say like the rest of the world ,that Prefontaine is the name you remember and his accomplishments speak for themselves. what were you doing at 18 years of age? getting beat up in the parking lot cause you sound like some kind of a pussy. What if you accomplished in your life?
In the early 80s one of my fellow cross-country teammates ran an indoor distance race at CU-Boulder, and to his astonishment shared the track with Frank Shorter! Can you imagine? My teammate didn't win.
Realize if they had the tracks they make today hahaha their times would just be unreal
Exactly nothing like running on loose lava rock in the day.
Dirt tracks vs. modern day ones are different in plenty of ways from the Traction, Impact, Etc....but its not that drastic of a difference where they would hold the world records of today.
@@DrakeBrunette Fuck off you ignorant poorly educated brain dead moron
@@J.M.-nb4gw why are you so sensitive?
@@truearrow007 If you want to play this game then we can play it. Its a quick search and you'll find that there are hundreds of runners who have a better 2 mile record then everyone on this field. But apparently they all took steroids according to you and these guys didn't...but none of this matters because the original comment here is Dirt Tracks vs Modern Tracks.
I ran a 4;49 when I was a sophmore. Finished 3rd. Still broke the school record. Ronnie brown memorial mile.
Nice i ran 4:46 im a freshman
Very Cool when i was a kid these guys were legends.
That's one heck of a field!
If anyone is interested Gary Cohen has an interview with Gerry on his site the man is interesting. He was the reason Pre took up running as Gerry mentions he decided to console Pre over not making his softball team and so he just ran to Pre's house and back, no big deal it was only about a 30 mile run.
Axel, I'm not sure what you are talking about? Pre's house is Coos bay? I think you got the stories mixed up. Gerry has been known to tell a few exaggerations though .
@@seaturtledog Yeah he's unreliable a character for sure. In that interview he also claimed his dog was a genetic experiment mixed with some other creature.
So today, what distance has replaced the 2-miler?
Wow what a finish for Lindgren
A 4-man race!? Amazing.
I used to live a block away from Corvallis High School, where Pre broke the national two mile record. .
Unfortunately he never got a rematch with Virren i still have the Sports Illustrated article Final drive about Steves obituary
R.I.P. TODAY 40 YEARS AGO
44 years ago.
Incredible video...
Born and raised in Spokane, about 7 years younger than Lindgren. I was leaving grade school football practice on my bike when I saw him running headed for the hills in the park. Everybody in Spokane knew who he was. I tried to catch him on my 'sting ray' bike - high handlebars and a banana seat. No luck there, he left me behind like I was standing still.
I don't go that far back, but I know what you mean about seeing one of the greats. My buddy went to the State CC meet in Michigan back in 2000 and he invited me along. I was jogging with him as he warmed up for the Division 2 race and the Division 1 race was already underway. We were at a part of the course with few spectators and out of nowhere Dathan Ritzenhein breezed by us effortlessly at like 4:30 pace. We were stunned. We looked at each other and said, "where's everyone else?" It was a full 60 seconds before 2nd place appeared. I didn't know it was Dathan until later, as we had never heard of him at the time. It was like watching lighting. I think he finished that HS race in 14 flat or so.
Although Steve is better remembered (indeed now an American legend) Gerry had a like record for being a schoolboy prodigy.
When the Hawaii invitational took place Steve was a mere 18 years old and not yet in Gerry's league.
When Steve reached his prime in '72 (he didn't survive much beyond that due to his fatal car crash) he was by then arguably better than Lindgren.
Gerry went on to finish 9th in the '72 Olympics 10k, whilst Steve finished 4th in the 5k in one of the greatest races in history. It's certainly my favourite of all time. Steve's bravery in that race is legendery by those in the know of all eras of middle distance running. Steve was an immensely courageous runner who always laid everything on the line, and feared no-one.
His Olympic career for lindgren wasn’t the best but his high school was legendary
Pre stumbled @7:25 of the video. Looks like he stepped on the inside liner of the track and he never recovered.
Tech Admin Nice catch. We all did that once or twice back in the day. It is hard to regain the pace and that left ankle feels it!
I saw that as well. Think it did slow him down.
Those raised kerbs could roll an ankle pretty bad. Hated them!
Yeah, when I it my first mile in 4:22, I usually throw in a surge...
Sid Farkas 🤣🤣👍🏻
Pedestrian pace of 4:22
God, I miss Pre.
Crazy that Pre was fresh out of high school racing against collegiate athletes who had been receiving college coaching
Imagine if you gave these guys Dragonfly's and put them on a modern world class track...
i love how the movie had him always leading from the start as his style
I wonder about those kids playing in the back ground. Has one of them become a runner, at least?
Sign of the times. If they tried running with the runners today, security would have jumped them. But back then, they just wanted to be close to their heroes.
Pure fun. They're runners already, right ?!
Best commen oft this whole thread, David!
I loved seeing that. And the station wagon and camper van on the grass. Seemed like a fun, family event and inspiring for the kids. Sports can be too serious these days.
When i was in highschool running cross county. We we had a couch that would train with us. Robert e lee. Everyone called him the general. He was a running nut. Ran lile 50/week wepl into his 60s. Well hed always tell us about all these old dudes. He had us all obsessed with prefontain. Its cool to see this video.