Tom Jordan > Quotes

“You have to wonder at times what you’re doing out there. Over the years, I’ve given myself a thousand reasons to keep running, but it always comes back to where it started. It comes down to self-satisfaction and a sense of achievement.”
― Tom Jordan, Pre: The Story of America's Greatest Running Legend, Steve Prefontaine

“He was called "World" by his teammates, a nickname Mac Wilkins came up with to keep Pre humble. It was short for "World Famous”
― Tom Jordan, Pre: The Story of America's Greatest Running Legend, Steve Prefontaine

“Perhaps Pre's driving was affected enough that he simply misjudged the curve and his approach speed. Perhaps, as one policeman speculated, he was reaching for a cassette tape and took his eyes off the road. Perhaps he failed to make the turn for an altogether different reason.

The result is the same.”
― Tom Jordan, Pre: The Story of America's Greatest Running Legend, Steve Prefontaine

“That's life and track though; you work hard for just a few chances”
― Tom Jordan, Pre: The Story of America's Greatest Running Legend, Steve Prefontaine

“In the never-ending struggle against boredom, Pre wanted to run new routes. "All right, you guys decide where we're going to run," he would challenge Feig and Bence when they trained together on the roads. Feig would suggest the Bike Trail or Skinner's Butte, and Pre would respond with "That's not very original; everybody does that all the time."

"So we'd end up with him going off in the lead and end up running the same old thing we'd done before," Bence says,”
― Tom Jordan, Pre: The Story of America's Greatest Running Legend, Steve Prefontaine