Steve Prefontaine was interviewed by reporter John Conrad of the Eugene Register-Guard. The article that this description is based upon appeared April 4, 1975, accompanied by this illustration signed "Feril." Pre had just returned from a month of high-altitude training with Olympic marathon champion Frank Shorter in Colorado. After a mid-week workout, in the familiar Oregon rain, Pre paused to reflect on what he termed the most intensive training period of his life. Pre cleared his mind and tuned his body during the training in Colorado. "I learned a lot about myself and it was good to see a different environment and make some decisions about my future without friends around asking about the pros, the Olympics or whatever," remarked Pre. Pre made some decisions: He spurned the offer of a lucrative pro track contract once and for all through the 1976 Olympics, in which he planned to compete. He then would make a final decision on going pro. He felt a majority of American track stars would eventually decide to turn pro unless major reforms are made in amateur athletics are made prior to the 1976 Olympics. "A month ago I would have accepted what they are offering right now," Pre said of the offer reported to be the highest for an amateur athlete's in the brief history of pro track. "But I'm really enjoying running right now and I've got a lot on the ball. It's no longer convenient to turn professional right now because I've got some other commitments." The reference was to plans by Pre and three partners to open a bar and grill in Eugene, Oregon. He said the space had been lease; the business will be located on Oak Street in the downtown area. He declined to pinpoint the site due to the landlord's desire to keep it quiet. The bar and grill would be a blend of Pre's fame and his partners' capital. Pre seemed genuinely excited about their plans because of the bright future he saw for the business, while continuing to train while earning a living. "We're going to call it the Sub-4," Pre said. "It will have pictures of all of Oregon's sub-four minute milers. But, generally, its theme will be highlights of the entire University of Oregon athletic history since the year one. "We won't have hard liquor . . . I don't want to get into that. It'll just be beer and wine, but will be something this town doesn't have, It's a culmination of a lot of travel and seeing a lot of restaurants." Pre was excited about the direction his life was taking, with one exception. In Denver he gave an interview on his thoughts about amateur athletics. He praised the original article by the Denver reporter, but was upset with the condensed Associated Press wire version that ran in many Oregon newspapers. In general, the AP article left the impression Pre was ready to divorce his country because of the injustices he and many others felt had been done to amateur athletes in America. In the article, Pre called himself and "internationalist" and said he would run for himself and not the "red, white and blue." "I said those things, " Pre admitted. "But not in the context they came out in the wire stories. I wish everybody could see the original story that ran in the Denver paper. "I said that I was tired of the nationalism and the flag wavers in athletics who are behind you until the time comes to support you. The way the wire services carried the story didn't make the distinction between my frustration as an athlete and my feeling for my country in general. I don't consider myself unpatriotic." Pre said much of the original article dealt with what he sees as the direction amateur athletics must take in the US. But he didn't expect it to happen, which is why he felt there would be a large exodus of American track athletes to the pros after the 1976 Olympics. "We need to set up national training camps supported by big business and other interested groups," Pre said. "We need to open the avenue for using the athletic ability and knowledge of our athletes to coach and build a junior program in all the individual sports. "We're too pro-oriented in this country and nothing is done for the amateur athlete after he gets out of college. I think we'll see in Montreal that we're falling further and further behind the european countries. "But I get tired of justifying my reactions to people when things get turned around. What I ought to do is keep my mouth shut and not talk to anybody." But know that Pre will continue to be heard from. While he works toward the opening of Sub-4 -- hopefully sometime the summer of 1975 -- Pre hoped to continue training hard, have a successful spring competing in what meets are available to him and then possibly go to Europe again in the summer. His current plans included running in the Twilight Meet in Eugene May 29th. Given his current fitness, and continued g

Steve Prefontaine was interviewed by reporter John Conrad of the Eugene Register-Guard. The article that this description is based upon appeared April 4, 1975, accompanied by this illustration signed "Feril" (This is a colorized version of the original BW illustration, with the actual photos inserted in the frames that the original drawings were modeled after). Pre had just returned from a month of high-altitude training with Olympic marathon champion Frank Shorter in Colorado. After a mid-week workout, in the familiar Oregon rain, Pre paused to reflect on what he termed the most intensive training period of his life. Pre cleared his mind and tuned his body during the training in Colorado. "I learned a lot about myself and it was good to see a different environment and make some decisions about my future without friends around asking about the pros, the Olympics or whatever," remarked Pre. Pre made some decisions: He spurned the offer of a lucrative pro track contract once and for all through the 1976 Olympics, in which he planned to compete. He then would make a final decision on going pro. He felt a majority of American track stars would eventually decide to turn pro unless major reforms are made in amateur athletics are made prior to the 1976 Olympics. "A month ago I would have accepted what they are offering right now," Pre said of the offer reported to be the highest for an amateur athlete's in the brief history of pro track. "But I'm really enjoying running right now and I've got a lot on the ball. It's no longer convenient to turn professional right now because I've got some other commitments." The reference was to plans by Pre and three partners to open a bar and grill in Eugene, Oregon. He said the space had been lease; the business will be located on Oak Street in the downtown area. He declined to pinpoint the site due to the landlord's desire to keep it quiet. The bar and grill would be a blend of Pre's fame and his partners' capital. Pre seemed genuinely excited about their plans because of the bright future he saw for the business, while continuing to train while earning a living. "We're going to call it the Sub-4," Pre said. "It will have pictures of all of Oregon's sub-four minute milers. But, generally, its theme will be highlights of the entire University of Oregon athletic history since the year one. "We won't have hard liquor . . . I don't want to get into that. It'll just be beer and wine, but will be something this town doesn't have, It's a culmination of a lot of travel and seeing a lot of restaurants." Pre was excited about the direction his life was taking, with one exception. In Denver he gave an interview on his thoughts about amateur athletics. He praised the original article by the Denver reporter, but was upset with the condensed Associated Press wire version that ran in many Oregon newspapers. In general, the AP article left the impression Pre was ready to divorce his country because of the injustices he and many others felt had been done to amateur athletes in America. In the article, Pre called himself and "internationalist" and said he would run for himself and not the "red, white and blue." "I said those things, " Pre admitted. "But not in the context they came out in the wire stories. I wish everybody could see the original story that ran in the Denver paper. "I said that I was tired of the nationalism and the flag wavers in athletics who are behind you until the time comes to support you. The way the wire services carried the story didn't make the distinction between my frustration as an athlete and my feeling for my country in general. I don't consider myself unpatriotic." Pre said much of the original article dealt with what he sees as the direction amateur athletics must take in the US. But he didn't expect it to happen, which is why he felt there would be a large exodus of American track athletes to the pros after the 1976 Olympics. "We need to set up national training camps supported by big business and other interested groups," Pre said. "We need to open the avenue for using the athletic ability and knowledge of our athletes to coach and build a junior program in all the individual sports. "We're too pro-oriented in this country and nothing is done for the amateur athlete after he gets out of college. I think we'll see in Montreal that we're falling further and further behind the european countries. "But I get tired of justifying my reactions to people when things get turned around. What I ought to do is keep my mouth shut and not talk to anybody." But know that Pre will continue to be heard from. While he works toward the opening of Sub-4 -- hopefully sometime the summer of 1975 -- Pre hoped to continue training hard, have a successful spring competing in what meets are available to him and then possibl