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.' It's more than just a race, it's a style. It's doing something better than anyone else. It's being creative.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the artistry in running and the creativity involved in making it unique.
In this quote, Steve Prefontaine expresses how running, often viewed merely as a sport or exercise, can be an art form where one can showcase creativity and individuality. He encourages the idea that it's not just about winning a race, but rather about the style, elegance, and personal expression one brings to the act of running, much like artists do with their respective crafts. Prefontaine highlights the joy of making a mark that is visually and emotionally impactful, inviting admiration and appreciation for one's unique approach.
In practice
In a motivational speech to runners at a local marathon, one might say this quote to encourage them to embrace their own unique running style.
How does a kid from Coos Bay, with one leg longer than the other win races? All my life people have been telling me, 'You're too small Pre', 'You're not fast enough Pre', 'Give up your foolish dream Steve'. But they forgot something, I HAVE TO WIN.
The AAU doesn't care about the athletes; why should I care about them?
The best pace is a suicide pace, and today looks like a good day to die.
This is my last year at Oregon, and it means a lot to me. The people have been great to me up there, so if I have to run three races to win the Pac-8 title, I'll do it. Oh, sure, I'll probably be tired, but the people shouting will carry me across the finish line.
World records at 19. I don't want that. Later, yes. And when it comes, I'll learn to live with it, but it won't be my first love.
I'm the one who has made all the sacrifices. Those are my American records, not the country's.
I love singing. I love it, and it doesn't feel like a chore. It's an expression.
Double, double, toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble!
People sometimes forget all the films that we've done. They remember the likes of 'Malcolm X' and 'Do the Right Thing.' But I've been working since 1986. From the beginning, I was determined to not just be a flash in the pan. I've got to keep up with Woody Allen. He's lapping me.
But as I grew up as a child, falling in love with the theater and Shakespeare, my heroes were Sir Laurence Olivier and Sir John Gielgud.
The very best design, I feel, is that which resonates so deeply that people can't help but discover something within themselves when they see it.
Oh Woman, come before us, before our eyes longing for beauty, and tired of the ugliness of civilization, come in simple tunics, letting us see the line and harmony of the body beneath, and dance for us. Dance us the sweetness of life. Give us again the sweetness and the beauty of the true dance, give us again the joy of seeing the simple unconscious pure body of a woman. Like a great call it has come, and women must hear it and answer it.
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