I (Wayne), for the first time, spectated at The Prefontaine Classic on 21 June 1991. It was held on a Friday evening, and it was to be televised the next day by WTBS (see Reference 4).
I made plans well in advance of the meet. This included buying my ticket. When I bought the ticket, I remembered that I had previously sat in Section C of the West grandstand at Hayward Field (see note 3). This time, I decided to get even closer to the track finish line. Hence, I requested a ticket for Section B. The actual ticket stub photo is shown below. Although I didn’t know it at the time I bought the ticket, this ticket seat location put me in a good position for taking pictures with my Canon TLb film camera with 135mm Telephoto lens.
During the track meet, I personally viewed the women’s mile as one of the best races I had ever seen. It was exciting to see three women running side-by-side (in unison) on the backstretch of the final lap. From my vantage point, they appeared to be running “as one”. I used my red analog stop watch to record the winning time of the women’s mile run. It was a photo finish. After the amazing finish, I was compelled to leave my seat and walk toward the Southern [curved] section of the track. It was a surprise to me when a friend of mine [Matt] from High School days (see Reference 5) approached me, after he recognized me when I walked up the stairs of the grandstand. I had a nice discussion with him when the Men’s 2 mile event was being run. I also got the opportunity to talk to PSP (see note 4). Matt asked me about the conversation I had with PSP; I informed him that I corresponded with her via letter after the Goodwill Games were held in Seattle in 1990 (see note 4).
Matt went on to tell me that he personally knows Bill Bowerman … And I told Matt that “Truth be told … it is my hope that a movie will be made that tells the life story of Pre”.
I recorded the TBS coverage of the 1991 Prefontaine Classic on my VCR. Reference 4 issued a complaint about the TV coverage. However, when I later watched the aforementioned recording, I thought TBS did a good job of televising this meet.
Note 1: The “Sport of Track & Field" web page can be viewed by selecting Sitemap->Sport of Track & Field from menu bar at top.
Note 2: The “Oregon" web page can be viewed by selecting Sitemap->States (US)->Oregon from menu bar at top.
Note 3: Related pictures can be viewed by selecting Sitemap->Sport of Track & Field->My Photos of the NCAA Track & Field Championships - 1991 from menu bar at top.
Note 4: Related pictures can be viewed by selecting Sitemap->Sport of Track & Field->My Photos of the Goodwill Games (Part 2) from menu bar at top.
Note 5: Related pictures can be viewed by selecting Sitemap->Sport of Track & Field->My Photos of Olympics TV Coverage for Track and Field - 1992 from menu bar at top.
Note 6: The “My Photos of The Prefontaine Classic - 1996" can be viewed by selecting Sitemap->Sport of Track & Field->My Photos of The Prefontaine Classic - 1996 from menu bar at top.
References:
1. “Prefontaine Classic” Program, June 21, 1991
2. Article titled: “Women’s milers ready 'if Mary runs'", The Eugene Register Guard, published June 21, 1991
3. Article titled: “Push comes to shove in mile", The Eugene Register Guard, published June 22, 1991
4. Article titled: “Classic collision in the fast lane", The Eugene Register Guard, published June 22, 1991
5. “Almonarch '73", The Mark Morris year book, printed Spring of 1973
