2019 Pre Classic Diary: Meet Director Tom Jordan supports continued distance races

Tom Jordan, 2018 Pre Classic Presser, photo by PhotoRun.net

EUGENE (USA): Distance races are likely to still feature at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene despite the IAAF deciding to cut the Diamond League programme from 32 to 24 events and delete disciplines longer than 3000m. Meetings will be able to hold other events outside of the Diamond League section which is part of the main television feed. Tom Jordan, organiser of the Prefontaine Classic, which is moving to Stanford this year, told Reuters: “When we’re back at the new Hayward Field (with the Classic) I imagine that we would have the distance night on Friday as we have had in the past that could feature a 10,000 metres, could feature a 5,000 metres, or could feature one of each for men and women. We are certainly going to play to our base and that is middle and long distance plus virtually every event.”

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There was a workout where the Oregon team was supposed to run three 1320s (1200m) in 3:20, 3:16, 3:12. Scott Daggatt, one of the few runners who could stay with Pre over the long haul, ran 3:08 on the first one. “He went with me and he was pissed,” notes Daggatt. “Then we went 3:06. On the last one, he said, ‘Goddamit, I’m going to do it to you Daggatt.’ He went 3:00 and I went 3:02.” “Pre had to be No. 1 in workouts,” says Paul Geis. “I remember another time Scott might have blown by him at one part of the workout. Three days later, Pre just obliterated him and you realized what had happened: Pre had gone home and for the next 48 hours had mentally prepared. There were many casualties in the wake of people trying to keep up with him, myself included…” #PreLives • • 📸 Rich Clarkson

A post shared by Steve Prefontaine (@prefontaine) on Mar 15, 2019 at 6:38am PDT