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Autograph letter signed “Your Friend, Sincerely, Steve Prefontaine,” three pages, 5 x 8, March 3, [1972]. Handwritten recruiting letter by the legendary Oregon runner to Craig Virgin, in full: "Dear Craig, My coach Bill Dellinger told me about you on his return from the east. You have run some very fine times this year, keep it up my high school record is not out of your reach. About Oregon it is a very beautiful school with lots of green trees and grass. Track is a big sport in Eugene we get an average of 8,000 or more for our duel [sic] meets sometimes over 10,000. With the NCAA and the Olympic trials here I can just about state that Eugene is the track capital of the United States. You would fit in our program very nicely. There is always somebody to workout with and the competition is great. About leaving your family that will be up to you. As good as you are and as good as you can get they can watch you on T.V. Think about Oregon if you want to be a runner Oregon is the place."
Includes the original mailing envelope, hand-addressed by Prefontaine and incorporating his full name in the return address area: "Steve Prefontaine, 4501 Franklin Blvd. #17, Eugene, Oregon, 97403," pointing to the River Bank Trailer Park, where Prefontaine shared a mobile home with his close friend and fellow Oregon track teammate, Pat Tyson.
In overall fine condition, with a small tear through Prefontaine's name in the return address ("I probably opened it nervously with a kitchen knife," says Virgin).
Written just months before the 1972 U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, this remarkable letter captures Steve Prefontaine at the height of his collegiate stardom, personally recruiting one of America's most promising young distance runners to the University of Oregon. Already a national sensation for his fearless front-running style and extraordinary success under coaches Bill Bowerman and Bill Dellinger, Prefontaine would win the 5,000 meters at the Olympic Trials that July before finishing a heartbreaking fourth at the Munich Games. His enthusiastic endorsement of Oregon, particularly his declaration that "if you want to be a runner Oregon is the place," reflects both his fierce loyalty to the university and his role in establishing Eugene as America's distance-running capital.
Further, Prefontaine's prescient observation—"my high school record is not out of your reach"—would indeed come true. About a year later, on June 9, 1973, Virgin ran a national high school two-mile record of 8:40.9, breaking Prefontaine's previous mark of 8:41.5. Later, in 1979, Virgin would also break Prefontaine's American record in the 10,000 meters with a time of 27:39.4. "I was chasing his records more than anybody else," says Virgin. "He was a guy I modeled my running style after, someone I looked up to." Despite Prefontaine's encouragement, Virgin would ultimately attend the University of Illinois, becoming an NCAA cross-country champion, two-time world cross-country champion, and three-time U.S. Olympian.
Prefontaine's untimely death in a 1975 automobile accident at just 24 years old brought his extraordinary career to a tragic end, leaving a remarkably limited body of autograph material. While his signatures are themselves scarce, substantial handwritten letters are exceptionally rare, particularly examples of such length and significant athletic content. Written with the passion, enthusiasm, and fierce loyalty that defined Prefontaine, this exceptional letter is made all the more compelling by its recipient—a young runner who admired him, sought to emulate his achievements, and would ultimately surpass two of his most celebrated records.
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