Fifty years ago, runners in bold shorts, knee-high socks and headbands moved in waves along a new soft-surface course at Alton Baker Park.
They breathed life into a dusty trail of freshly laid wood chips, carrying the vivid spirit of Steve Prefontaine, America’s greatest distance runner of the era, just months after his death.
“A facility like this, one of which is available to all joggers in the Eugene community, was one of Steve Prefontaine’s dreams,” said Kenny Moore, friend and Olympian, on Sept. 1, 1975, the official opening day for Pre’s Trail…