I just saw this movie about the life and times of American long distance runner, Steve Prefontaine. The movie pictured him as a different kind of runner. One who saw running not only a sport but also an art; not only to win but to give one's best. "Pre", as he was called by everyone lived running. He saw it not only as a part of his life but the very way life should be lived. His coach learned more from him than he from his coach.
"Pre" had been quoted a lot by his coach, team mates, friends, and fans. He ran in order to achieve his full potential as a person. Once he had ran his best, his next goal is to run more than his best, "without limits", that is why.
I particularly liked what his coach said during his eulogy; " There are times when you win even though your mediocre; and you lose even when you have given your best." Therefore, winning is not the ultimate goal. Giving one's best is.
He died in a car accident.
Here are some of the words immortalized by the late Steve "Pre" Prefontaine;
"To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the Gift."
"Somebody may beat me but they have are going to bleed to do it."
An anonymous sports writer once said, "When the great scorer pens your name, he writes not whether you win or lose but how you played the game!"
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. Nobody is going to win a 5,000 meter race after running an easy 2 miles. Not with me. If I lose forcing the pace all the way, well, at least I can live with myself."
