Something inside of me just said 'Hey, wait a minute, I want to beat him,' and I just took off.
Steve PrefontaineA 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 PrefontaineWhen 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 compete even more. It makes it all worthwhile, all the hours of hard work.
Steve Prefontaine