"Some people create with words or with music or with a brush and paints. I like to make something beautiful when I run. I like to make people stop and say, 'I've never seen anyone run like that before.' It's more than just a race, it's a style. It's doing something better than anyone else. It's being creative." — Steve Prefontaine

In the 33 years since his death, a legend has been born. Not just a legend you remember through fables and bed time stories but a legend that will survive time, a hero that will go down in history as one of the greatest runners to ever hit the track; Steve Prefontaine.

While many people today have come to see Pre as a role model to track and field, the respect and infatuation is no more clear than in the teens that have grown up in the hometown of Prefontaine; the kids who have listened to his achievements their whole lives and have grown up in the neighborhood where Pre once lived. Every year they see the legacy of Pre grow stronger through the 10k Memorial Run; every day they dream of the time when they will run on the track where Pre first began his story. Every day they work in the hope of becoming the next Steve Prefontaine.

As one of these hundreds of teens, the story could not ring any truer in my life. I have had the fortune to be raised by one of his closest team mates as well as one of his best friends. While my mother, Fran Worthen, has created her own legacy in her life she has also raised me in the atmosphere that Pre called home. While I grew up around the track and participated in Junior Olympics my love for running only grew, and my admiration and respect for Pre grew along with it.

In Pre's quote of running being an art, my admiration and respect materialized. Words that I have never before been able to explain suddenly appeared in the perfect definition of the love in running. I may not be the best artist or singer, but I can sure run as fast as anybody out there willing to race me. While the painter feels magic with the strokes of his brush, I feel magic when I run. When the wind blows through my hair and I'm sprinting down the track I feel unstoppable; as if nothing is holding me back. My art gallery begins on the track and flows through each field event I do. For me, seeing a runner with perfect form and a runner's heart is as beautiful as a singer singing their favorite song. Running has shaped my life and it shapes me as a person. Running is what I do; it is simply who I am; it's me being creative.