Steve Prefontaine's image graces an outside wall of Eugene's Nike store.

Steve Prefontaine was a runner, and not just any runner. His brash self-confidence and remarkable success – at one point, he held every national record between 2,000 meters (1.24 mile) and 10,000 meters (6.2 miles) – made him a crowd favorite at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field, where he never lost a race of more than a mile. At the age of only 21, the Coos Bay native placed fourth, just out of medal contention, among a group of veteran European runners at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

Prefontaine was a rebel. He fought the strict rules of the Amateur Athletic Union, which did not allow American athletes, unlike their European counterparts, to be paid a living wage while they trained for international competition.

He was also an innovator. When his coach, the irascible Bill Bowerman, created an experimental, lightweight running shoe with the help of his wife’s waffle iron, Pre was the first guinea pig. Thus was born the Nike company.

Thanks in large part to Pre, Eugene became known as Track Town, USA. But his life was brief: He was 24 when he died in a tragic one-car rollover accident in Eugene in May 1975.

The entire state mourned his passing. The stands at Hayward Field were filled for his memorial service. Two feature films, ”Pre” and ”Without Limits,” celebrated his life. Mementos continue to be left beside an inconspicuous plaque on Skyline Boulevard, the site of the accident in Eugene’s east hills.

– John Gottberg Anderson