The Front Runner: The Life of Steve Prefontaine

In this elegant biography, Creative Nonfiction podcaster O’Meara (Six Weeks in Saratoga) chronicles the brief life of middle-distance runner Steve Prefontaine, who was 24 years old when he died in a car accident in 1975. Offering keen insight into the athlete’s formative years, O’Meara speculates that Prefontaine’s steely resolve stemmed in part from the frequent beatings he endured at the hands of his father, during which he was expected to swallow his whimpers to demonstrate toughness. After an impressive high school cross-country career, he enrolled at the University of Oregon, where he notched a string of championships that landed him on the cover of Sports Illustrated when he was only a freshman. The vivid recreations of key races highlight the combination of strategy and pure athleticism that powered Prefontaine’s success, as when O’Meara details how Prefontaine used his remarkable endurance to his advantage during a 5,000-meter Olympic trial race by gradually increasing his pace as his competitors began to flag during the final laps. (He set an American record for the event that day but went on to underperform in the 1972 Munich Olympics.) O’Meara’s loving portrait also celebrates Prefontaine’s legacy off the field, most notably his campaign against the Amateur Athletic Union’s rules disqualifying athletes who attempted to monetize their success. Nimble and comprehensive, this is a stirring tribute to a generational runner gone too soon. Agent: Susan Canavan, Waxman Literary. (May)