Rita Radostitz’s father was late. The 16-year-old and her friend, students at Sheldon High, had plans to go to the NCAA Preparation Meet, and he was giving them a ride. They were eager to get there because they wanted to watch Steve Prefontaine. Radostitz liked the way his hair flopped when he ran fast. “He always made us think he wasn’t going to win,” she says. “But he did.”
When her father finally arrived home from work, he brought the two girls to Hayward Field. They arrived with only one race left on the program—the 5,000 meters.
The sight of Prefontaine racing at Hayward was familiar for those in Eugene, but it still generated excitement. This particular meet in May 1975 was the culmination of a series of meets that he had organized to include a contingent of Finnish track athletes in preparation for the European season later in the summer.
Tickets were still full price when they arrived, but after some debate, they decided to pay the $5 admission. The crowd of over 7,000 buzzed in anticipation of a possible world record. Radostitz and her friend walked through the gate just as the field toed the starting line in the evening warmth. Prefontaine and Frank Shorter were on it, as were University of Oregon runners Dave Taylor and Tom McChesney, and Rune Holmen of Finland.
Radostitz and her friend found a place along the fence between the Weights and Measures building and the east grandstand as the starting gun went off. As the runners took off, the girls ran up to find places to sit in the east grandstand.
At the north end of the east grandstand, about 10 rows up, sat Dennis Davis and his wife. Davis, the former North Eugene High School track coach, had coached athletes against Prefontaine in their high school days, including eventual Oregon teammate and Olympic marathoner Kenny Moore. He remembers, “It was wild—people standing and clapping from when the gun went off to the end.”
Longtime Eugene resident David Hess described it as “the usual tough Pre race.” Hess and his family were in the east grandstand, as well. “We used to pride ourselves, that’s where the hard-core track fans hung out,” he said. “We were responsible for all of that thunder on the backstretch that got people moving really fast.”
Roz Slovic was in attendance with her husband, three sons and daughter. While the family sat in the east grandstand, Roz remembers chasing around her youngest son, Mike, at the south end of the track. He was 5 years old. “People were standing and screaming and it was very exciting,” said Slovic. “I remember that even though I wasn’t paying that close attention.” Her son Scott was in the stands. A sophomore at South Eugene High School, he had grown up going to meets at Hayward Field with his friends and neighbors, such as Jeff Johnson. Even as an eighth grader, Johnson used to forge tickets to get in.
On the northwest corner and the final turn of the track, Mike Speer had come out of a weight room to stand along the fence where the Bowerman Building is now. Speer knew Prefontaine because he was fraternity brothers with University of Oregon track coach Bill Dellinger.
After winning the race and running just one second off his American record, Prefontaine visited a cocktail party for the UO team with Speer and his wife, before he continued on to Kenny Moore’s house. Later that night, Prefontaine was killed in a car accident.
The memories are etched in each person’s mind. For Pre’s people, those experiences continue to influence the way they see their community and engage with the sport of track and field.
Forty years later to the day, another 5,000 meters will be held tonight at Hayward Field. This time, the meet bears Pre’s name.
They will be there again.
Davis and his wife will be in the east grandstand, close to where they were all those years ago. While Davis likes to get up and move around, his wife is happy to sit and talk. In 40 years Davis has only missed one meet – last year’s, because he retired. He has spent the years running the shot put and even directing other meets like the Oregon State High School track meet ,which is usually held the prior weekend.
Speer has one of the coveted reserved parking spaces. He lives in Seattle now, but has only missed two track meets at Hayward in 49 years. He will watch from the Weights and Measures building. For years he ran the area, but after a stroke a few years ago, now volunteers. He chuckles while saying that there will be a lot of people in attendance who watched Pre run or who ran against him who didn’t love him then, but certainly love him now. To this day, his eyes fill with tears talking about Prefontaine.
Johnson will probably be in the east grandstand. He grew up to work for Nike and has spent the majority of his 30-year career working in Asia. True to his roots, he wears a green and yellow Prefontaine Classic shirt from 2006. After moving back to the U.S. a year and a half ago, he is excited to be back in Portland and able to make it down to Eugene for meets like the Prefontaine Classic more regularly. He’s a long way from playing in the sand underneath the grandstands as he did as a boy. He’ll enjoy tickets on Saturday from his employer this year.
Like Speer and Davis, Hess has seldom missed a meet. He runs the field communications unit and has worked every Prefontaine Classic, except for 1995 due to a cerebral hemorrhage. His favorite place to watch was out on the field stationed under the south scoreboard, where the former operations were set up. These days, he’s stationed under the west grandstand, where he will watch much of the action from the television feed. He jokes that the view is sometimes better unobstructed.
Now, Radostitz puts together the program for the Prefontaine Classic. Her daughters are adopted from Ethiopia. On Friday night, Radostitz will be with them and other Oregon families who also have adopted children from Ethiopia. They will watch from the east grandstand together—as the community celebrates an important part of its legacy to inspire and create memories for a new generation.
