Today (September 26) was the GWTC Salute to Steve Prefontaine Forest Run. We held it at the JR Alford Greenway this year, and I want to give a lot of thanks to CJ, Chris, Travis, Titus, and the entire crew with Leon County Parks & Rec. They were tremendously helpful and made the park and trail amazing for the race. As always, we had a whole bunch of volunteers making the race happen. This was the 50th anniversary of the race, which was started by Dave Rogers in 1976, a year after Pre’s death. Here we are 50 years later, and Pre is still relevant – and so is Dave.

Dave served as the starter for the race and fired Champagne at the runners with a cork popping to honor his wife Carmen to start the race. That was nothing compared to the rifles, cannons, and even a watermelon drop from a plane that he did back in the 70s (seriously). The race was special, with 13-year Prefontaine race director Jeff Nielsen acting as the lead bike and another former Pre race director, Jeff Doherty, running in the race. Jeff D. has the rare distinction of running both the 1st and the 50th anniversary race. GWTC legend Bill McGuire, who helped found the club, also ran in both the first race and the 50th race.

Bill brought printouts of the results of the first two races, and the times shocked me. On that tough course at Silver Lake, Tim Simpkins won both races in the 15s, with an amazing 15:35 in the second race. Even more amazing is that there were 244 finishers paying the outrageously high $1 entry fee that second year, with the names gathered off a sign-in guest book that Dave Rogers brought to the 50th race and had the runners from this year sign also. The part that shocked me was not just the number of runners, but the depth of speed. Today, we had one runner under 22 minutes. In 1977, there were 121. That number shocked me enough that I asked several people if the course was short (as opposed to long like today). The response from those there was a decisive no. Prefontaine just inspired an entire generation of runners.

Of course, that doesn’t mean American distance running was better in 1977. In many ways, we are living through one of the best periods American distance running has ever seen. Cole Hocker and Yared Nuguse won Olympic gold and bronze in the 1500 in Paris, while runners like Elle St. Pierre, Nikki Hiltz, Parker Valby, and Emily Sisson have shown that American women can compete with the world’s best as well. We certainly don’t need to go back 50 years to find great American runners.

So why are we still talking about Prefontaine?

I think it is because Pre’s legacy was never really about how fast he ran. His American records are long gone. There have been many American runners since then who have run faster and accomplished things internationally that Pre never did. What remains is the way he made people want to run.

Pre made running seem like something worth caring about. He raced aggressively, sometimes to his own detriment, and believed that a race should be more than simply finding the safest way to win.There was something appealing about that attitude, particularly in a sport that asks us to spend an awful lot of time doing something that is hard for no obvious reason. Charles Wesley Godwin even sings about Pre in his recent song ‘Strong’, which is about being, well, strong.

And maybe that is what those 1977 results were telling me. The remarkable thing wasn’t that Tim Simpkins ran 15:35. It was that 243 other people followed him across the finish line. Something had convinced a whole lot of ordinary people to lace up their shoes, train hard, and see how fast they could run.

Fifty years later, that part still feels familiar. Most of us aren’t chasing American records, Cole Hocker, or Elle St. Pierre. We are chasing the person in front of us, a PR, an age-group award, or maybe just the version of ourselves that ran a little (or a lot) faster a few years ago.

Dave Rogers created the Salute to Steve Prefontaine Forest Run because Pre inspired people to run. Fifty years later, Dave popped a cork, Bill McGuire crossed the finish line again, and a new group of runners added their names to that old guest book.

I can’t think of a better argument that Pre is still relevant.