Pre: The Story of America's Greatest Running Legend, Steve Prefontaine

Book arrived in a timely manner and even though not new, it looks in good shape and very readable.

Interesting incites on races less popular in Steve's career. Really shows human side of a running legend. Great read for anyone who enjoys running and inspiration.

An interesting man with great talent. Taken too soon, I imagine. But we will never know what would have become of him. All we have is what he was and what he left behind. The legacy of Pre will live on in track/running history beyond us all.

The prose, kept short in the best way possible, adds foundational support to the skyscraper of quotes and testimonials that build a ferocious and beautiful story of America's most interesting runner.

I have sent this to several of my young male clients who were looking for inspiration. It's an easy read.

I think this book does deserve a top ranking because it does give us good insight to Pre's life and is inspiring though still a basic overview. With that said, it does seem largely to be based on newspaper and magazine articles and interviews and as someone said, seems to scratch the surface about Prefontaine. However, in doing that, we still get the basic facts of his life, hometown, achievements, a bit on his training habits and his personality. Perhaps there is the need for a more grand examination of this runner but living tragically a short life, this is still a fair summary. Perhaps more about his trip to the Olympics and disagreements with the AAU could have been written about but I'm sure, there was a lot more to come from him. Eventually, I've got to see the movies.

Simply a great book to read. They don’t make them like Pre anymore. I didn’t realize the depth of him outside his running career.

I loved the Pre movie and I was hoping this would get more into his personal life. The book actually is much more focused on his running achievements giving times for his different races. A running fan would probably find this more interesting but as a fan of the personality of Prefontaine I wanted more personal information. The book was actually a little short. Overall its good just not fantastic.

A fantastic insight into one of he all time running greats. A got a real sense of how tough this man was and the hard work and sheer bloody mindedness it takes to reach the top. If you beat PRE, you ran bloody hard and fast, none of this sitting on the shoulder of someone, letting them do all the hard work and kicking off the final bend. e stretched the field right from the off, and usually stayed out in front.My only critisism it the length of the book, just 150 pges, nowhere near long enough!

Unless you into American college running you might not find this so engaging but the bits about European and world races are greatNot so much about the man's past and what made him though

I have seen some comments about Mr Prefontaine and calling him James Dean of American Running. He was radical and he had that will to win. But with all legend there is some truth and spells it out well. Good read for athletics fans.

I love reading running books and especially about athletes such as Prefontaine who in his own right was a running legend, especially in the States even though he never won an Olympic gold medal. After reading all the 5 star reviews on here, I decided to buy this novel and read it whilst I was on holiday.I have to be honest, the book was written very factual and direct. I actually wanted to know more about "Pre" the person and not necessarily just about his running ability. What was he like as a person? There needed to be more information about his personal life as well as his athletic ability, but this book just seemed to be a little one dimensional.The other complaint I had about the book was the running times that the author thought so important throughout the novel. I love my running and love to hear about other peoples PB's and lap times etc. but this was taken to ridiculous proportions with some chapters detailing about six or seven different times that Pre recorded in one athletics meet alone. It was all again a bit too data driven and I sometimes got a little lost due to it being too much information in small pockets.Overall the book was an interesting read and I did enjoy it but there needed to be more information about Prefontaine the person as well as the athlete he so obviously was.

Really great book about Steve Prefontaine. It is amazing how much of a legend a high school runner can be!