As the sun goes down and the lights turn on, the crowd sits with mounting anticipation for the track events to come. 20,000 people have come to witness the world’s finest athletes compete at the Pre-Classic, in honor of a man who’s life was cut short but legacy lives on, Steve Prefontaine. There is a particular electricity that lays over Hayward Field as the scrawny distance runners complete lap, after lap, after lap. Nowhere else in the United States is the love for track and field as apparent than at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.

The legacy starts with a man by the name of Steve Prefontaine and is carried on by Oregon track legends such as Alberto Salazar and Edward Cheserek. In order to understand the atmosphere at Hayward field, one must first come to know Steve Prefontaine, the best distance runner ever in the United States. Prefontaine excelled in high school and thrived even more under Bill Bowerman’s (co-founder of Nike) coaching at the University of Oregon. Prefontaine was defeated only three times in his collegiate career (all in the mile) and won three Division I NCAA Cross Country Championships and four straight three-mile/5000-meter titles in track; Prefontaine also competed in the 1972 Olympic games, at the age of 21, in the 5k, where he finished fourth. Post collegiately, he turned pro, while running under the Oregon Track Club. It was in this one year span between his graduation and his death that Prefontaine set every American record from the 2,000-10,000 meters. Then, suddenly, in May of 1975, a car crash took the life of the greatest distance runner to walk through Hayward Field before he reached his full potential. However, Steve Prefontaine sparked the “running boom of the 70’s” and even now, forty years later, his legacy lives on at Hayward Field. The Prefontaine Classic track meet has been held every year since his death, in order to honor his life, and inspire others.

The city that lives, eats, and breathes track and field will now have the chance to host the first IAAF World Track and Field Championships on American soil in 2021. Hayward Field’s rich history and town that whole-heartedly supports the sport are the ideal atmosphere for a world championship. The biennial nine-day competition will feature the world’s finest track and field athletes and will be the largest sporting event in the world in 2021, with nearly 2,000 participants representing as many as 213 different countries from around the world. The running legacy that began with Steve Prefontaine lives on at Hayward Field.