<br />continued dedication of the Prefontaine Foundation, Oregon Track Club and Pres Peoplethe <br />aggregate of his family friends, supporters and townspeople closely tied to Prefontainefurther <br />demonstrates the intimate, meaningful relationship between those who knew and still celebrate <br />Prefontaine and his namesake trail. <br />Furthermore, historically significant as an early example of dedicated <br />running and walking trails built in the United States. The construction of the trail and its almost <br />instant popularity closely relates to the rising popularity of recreation jogging in the United <br />States. In the United State, the act of jogging as a form of exercise and recreation is closely tied <br />to Bill Bowerman, who observed hundreds of people runningnot just the athletes on a trip to <br />21 <br />New Zealand in 1963. On his return from New Zealand, the Oregon coach consulted with Dr. <br />Waldo Harris, a cardiologist, and Dr. Ralph Christensen, a general practitioner, to stimulate <br />citizen interest. Responding to a newspaper article, about twenty-five people showed up at <br />Hayward Field, on the University of Oregon campus, to learn some fundamentals of jogging. <br />One week later, about 100 interested parties attended the workshop. Popularity quickly surpassed <br />safe conditions and, subsequently, the workshops were cancelled. Instead, Bowerman and Dr. <br />Harris equally co-authored a 25-page booklet, entitled Jogging, which was based on their <br />novel research into the benefits of recreational running. A later, expanded version was published <br />and sold more than one million copies by 1977. The popularity of jogging could be witnessed on <br />22 <br />Pres trail, where, on a sunny day hundreds of joggers can be seen using the surface. The <br />popularity of jogging and dedicated, mulch-surfaced trails proliferated nationwide. <br />Soon after completing the trail, Lane County Parks Department started fielded numerous <br />rompting the department to work with <br />the Prefontaine Foundation to produce a publically- <br />23 <br /> <br />The 1979 booklet details the process of building a parcourse and provides background on Pre <br /> <br /> <br />21 John Furey, Statesman Journal (20 April, <br /> <br />1977), retrieved December 21, 2018 from Newspapers.com <br />22 <br /> <br />John Furey, 1977; Tom Cushman, Montreal, Not Eugene, Should Be On Minds of U.S. Athletes, <br />Philadelphia Daily News (Philadelphia, PA), June 19, 1976, retrieved on December 21, 2018 <br /> <br />from Newspapers.com. <br />23 <br /> <br />ty of Eugene Parks and Open <br /> <br />Space archives, 1820 Roosevelt Blvd, Eugene, OR 97402. <br />December 2018 Pres Trail-Historic Designation Page 11 <br /> <br />