Steve Prefontain was born in the small town of Coos Bay, Oregon on January 25, 1951. His father was a carpenter and his mother a seamstress from Germany. He had two sisters. When Steve was in high school he was an ordinary boy wanting to play football and the traditional sports but was told he was too small for those sports. So he decided to take a running class in physical education. It was his freshman year that he decided to go out for cross country.. He was 5 ft 9 in. and wieghed 152 lbs. Steve was born with one leg longer than the other and due to this he was told to give up on his dream to become the world's fastest runner. Pre trained harder than anyone else. He lived running, breathed it. Pre's life was based around running. And that is why he is so well known today. He gave running another meaning.