Quotes by Steve Prefontaine

About Steve Prefontaine:

Steve Roland "Pre" Prefontaine was an American middle and long-distance runner who competed in the 1972 Olympics. Prefontaine once held the American record in seven different distance track events from the 2,000 meters to the 10,000 meters. Prefontaine died in May 1975 at the age of 24 in an auto accident.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A race is a work of art that people can look at and be affected in as many ways they're capable of understanding.

Steve Prefontaine

My philosophy is that I'm an artist. I perform an art not with a paint brush or a camera. I perform with bodily movement. Instead of exhibiting my art in a museum or a book or on canvas, I exhibit my art in front of the multitudes.

Steve Prefontaine
Best quotes by Steve Prefontaine, UberQuotes

To give anything less than your best, is to sacrifice the gift.

Steve Prefontaine

I run to see who has the most guts.

Steve Prefontaine

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 a sense of achievement.

Steve Prefontaine

Something inside of me just said 'Hey, wait a minute, I want to beat him,' and I just took off.

Steve Prefontaine

A lot of people run a race to see who is fastest. I run to see who has the most guts, who can punish himself into exhausting pace, and then at the end, punish himself even more.

Steve Prefontaine

What I want is to be number one.

Steve Prefontaine

Somebody may beat me, but they are going to have to bleed to do it.

Steve Prefontaine

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 a sense of achievement.

Steve Prefontaine

No one will ever win a 5,000-meter by running an easy two miles. Not against me.

Steve Prefontaine

Kids made fun of me because I was a slow learner, because I was hyperactive, because of a lot of things. Running gave me confidence.

Steve Prefontaine

I've been in international competition, and now I know what the big boys can do. You don't go out and just run. There's an offense and a defense.

Steve Prefontaine

If he's having a good day and running the right race, nobody can beat Frank Shorter at 10,000 meters... nobody except me.

Steve Prefontaine

Every once in a while I think, 'What am I doing out here running, busting myself up? Life could be so much easier. The other guys are out having fun, doing other things, why not me?'

Steve Prefontaine

When people go to a track meet, they're looking for something, a world record, something that hasn't been done before. You get all this magnetic energy, people focusing on one thing at the same time. I really get excited about it. It makes me want to...

Steve Prefontaine

Some people create with words or with music or with a brush and paints. I like to make something beautiful when I run. I like to make people stop and say, 'I've never seen anyone run like that before.' It's more than just a race, it's a style. It's d...

Steve Prefontaine

Some people create with words or with music or with a brush and paints. I like to make something beautiful when I run. I like to make people stop and say, 'I've never seen anyone run like that before.' It's more than just a race, it's style. It's doi...

Steve Prefontaine

I'm going to work so that it's a pure guts race at the end, and if it is, I am the only one who can win it.

Steve Prefontaine

Author Bio

  • NameSteve Prefontaine
  • DescriptionUnited States long-distance runner
  • BornJanuary 25, 1951
  • DiedMay 30, 1975
  • CountryUnited States Of America
  • ProfessionSportsperson; Long-distance Runner