steve prefontaine

“ Running gives me confidence. ”

“ It doesn't feel that good when you're ahead the whole way. ”

“ I knew I had to show everybody that I could excel at something. But I didn't know what. ”

“ Nobody likes tainted victories. ”

“ The best pace is suicide pace, and today looks like a good day to die! ”

“ It really gets grim until the competition begins. You have to wonder at times what you're doing out there. ”

“ 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.' ”

“ What I want is to be number one. ”

“ No matter how hard you train, Somebody will train harder. No matter how hard you run, somebody will run harder. No matter how hard you want it, somebody will want it more, I am somebody. ”

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