We Are the Show

Steve Prefontaine, often called Pre, was one of America’s top runners in the mid-70s. He had a style all his own – brash, gutsy, outspoken. Unfortunately he died in a car crash at 24 – the world will never know what he might have been able to do. Even in his short career he changed running.

One of Pre’s quote is this: “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." If you’re ever seen footage of Pre racing, it’s true.

I’ve heard Michael Jordan, one of the world’s greatest basketball players ever, say something similar. That when we walks out onto a court, into a stadium, one of the things he wants to do is play as well and as hard as he can. There might be one person in the stadium whose only change to see him play was that day, and he wanted them to see what basketball could be like.

Jordan and Pre knew their talent and skills. They weren’t playing to show off their skills, they were playing to put on a show. Not a show of fancy, but of themselves, of their sport; playing to use all their skills and hours of practice to make art. When athletes like this play in this way is often when we’re most inspired and Jordan and Pre are two extraordinary examples of this.

Most of us will never have the audience or spotlight professional athletes do, yet our running can be just as much art and inspiration as Jordan or Pre. Our audience might be kids, or co-workers, or a spectator who is inspired by our efforts. I remember driving on a freeway and seeing a stream of women walking on a nearby road, it was the 3-Day walk for the Cure. I was moved by the effort these women were making, I’m sure most of them stretching themselves to walk 60 miles in 3 days. Jordan and Pre made a conscious choice of how to play. We can make a similar choice or not, but regardless what we do as athletes is often inspiring. It’s our show.