<br />t the height of <br />2 <br /> Bill Dellinger, track <br />3 <br /> a great los <br />friend, family and admirers sought out avenues to <br />memorialize their track hero. Of the ideas that came forward, a jogging and parcourse facility in <br />Alton Baker Park gained popular enthusiasm. The newly-established Prefontaine Foundation <br />organized efforts to establish and build the trail. Lane County Parks and Open Space <br />Department, which managed the park, in coordination with the Prefontaine Foundation, Oregon <br />Track Club, Coach Bill Bowerman, and track athletes Geoff Hollister and Jeff Banister <br />coordinated donations, grants, and trail planning. In three months the bulk of the trail was cut <br />and new surface material placed. when some <br />500 runners participated in a memorial run dedicated to Prefontaine in addition to other <br />fundraising efforts and dedication. Final construction continued through 1976 and included <br />installing additional exercise stations (6 total). <br />The idea of an outdoor gym, known in many parts of the world as fitness trails or <br />parcourses, was born in Switzerland. A fitness trail or parcourse consists of a path or course with <br />outdoor exercise equipment or obstacles installed along its length. The original trail of this type <br />was built in 1968 near Zurich. These fitness trails received financial support from the insurance <br />company VITA (now Zurich Financial Services Group), giving the unique trails their name, Vita <br />Parcours, which they are still known by in Switzerland. By the early 1970s, there were many <br />such trails throughout Europe. Today, Switzerland boasts about 500 across the country and there <br />are an estimated 2,500 worldwide. <br />Prefontaine traveled on several occasions to compete in Europe, including during the <br />1972 Bislett Games in Oslo, Norway; the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich Germany, and the <br />1974 World Games in Helsinki, Finland followed by the July Games in Stockholm. During these <br />trips, he was able to experience the novel exercise trails. Having admired such facilities while <br />competing in Scandinavia and Europe, Prefontaine began to advocate for constructing a similar <br /> <br />2 The Capital Journal (30 May, 1975), retrieved <br /> <br />from Newspapers.com <br />3 <br /> <br />-Times (30 May 1975), <br /> <br />retrieved from Newspapers.com <br />December 2018 Pres Trail-Historic Designation Page 4 <br /> <br />