After 28 years, Saturday’s running of the Prefontaine Memorial Run proved that the event was indeed known around the world as both first-place finishers were not exactly from these parts.

Oliver Shilston of Sithians Truro in the United Kingdom finished first in the men’s category and first overall in a time of 32 minutes and 21 seconds for the challenging 10-kilometer course, while top female finisher Sanna Kullberg, who finished with a time of 38:02 hails from Helsinki, Finland.

And while both may have been born a world away, they knew what this race stood for. The event honors the memory of 1972 Olympian Steve Prefontaine, who grew up in Coos Bay and held every American record from 2 miles to 10,000 meters when he died in 1975.

“This is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time,” Shilston, the 26-year-old runner for the Cornwall Athletic Club, said at the finish line. “I’ve been on holiday in California for the past week, but I made sure I was up here for this (the race), and I also plan to go over to Eugene.”

Asked if he was aware of this history of the race, Shilston said. “Oh, of course, every distance runner in England has heard of ‘Pre.’ That’s why I wanted to run in this race and go over and see the track he ran on in Eugene,” Shilston explained. “That’s why winning this event was really quite a bonus. I was just wanting to compete and run the course.”

Kullberg, who was brought over for the race in the annual exchange program with the Lasse Viren Run in Finland, said the course was tough.

“That was one of the tougher courses I’ve ever had to run,” the 32-year-old Fin said. “I’m really happy that I did so well.”

The name Prefontaine also was familiar to Kullberg.

“We had a famous runner from Finland compete against Pre at the Munich games,” Kullberg said, referring to Viren. “So, I had always known who he was since I started running as a little girl.”

Shilston finished nine seconds in front of 2006 chamion Damian Baldovino of Lakeview. Kullberg, who finished 31st overall, was 51 seconds faster than runner-up Jill Pettibone of the Roseburg area

For the men on the local front, Southwestern Oregon Community College student Kameron Ulmer finished in third place with a time of 32:48, followed by North Bend High School standout Spenser Lynass, with a clocking of 33:04.

In the women’s division, Tracey Melgoza of Southwestern finished in 14th, with a time of 44:19, while North Bend High School senior Rachel Scavera finished in 19th place with a time of 45:08.

In all, 967 runners and walkers finished the race, which, according to Race Director Bob Huggins, was a new high for the event.

“The weather was great, we had more runners than we’ve ever had and I think this is the first time that we’ve had two Europeans finish first,” Huggins said. “It was great to hear comments from first-time runners who said this was the best race they’d been in, because of how well organized everything was.”

A big part of that organization is due to the hundreds of volunteers who helped out and could be seen lining the race course from the city center to the heralded track and the finish line at Marshfield High School. 

“It’s such a neat thing to be able to come out and help, six-year race volunteer John Kruse said. “Everyone’s really into it and we always have a lot of fun.”

Kruse’s wife Annie agreed.

“I really admire the runners that come out here and compared to what they have to do, I’d say we have it pretty easy,” she said. “I just tell them what a good job they’ve done as they cross the finish and give us their tags. That’s the easy part and it’s fun, but I confess, I do cheer a little harder for Marshfield kids.”

Another race official, Jerry Kroeger said that he’s been involved for the past 20 or so years and enjoys every minute of it.

“Everyone knows what this race is all about and who it’s honoring,” Kroeger said. “Even after all these years, Pre is still very well thought of and remembered and this event is to honor that memory and what he accomplished in his life.”

Notes: Lynass and Scavera led their North Bend teams to the titles in the high school division. The Bulldog boys had four of the top eight prep runners with Lynass first, Steven Garboden third, Trevor Berrian fifth and Sam Lynass eighth. Marshfield’s Jared Bassett was sixth overall. Scavera finished ninth among high school girls, one spot in front of Coquille’s Brandi Crisp. A total of 26 high schools were represented, though not all had complete teams. The runners-up behind North Bend were Phoenix’s boys and Roseburg’s girls.  ... In the college division, Southwestern’s men had the only complete team.Southwestern’s women finished second behind the Oregon Institute of Technology. ... In a drawing held after the race, Statia Smith of OIT won the trip to compete in the Lasse Viren run next year in Finland. ... Complete race results by age group and division can be found on-line at www.prefontainerun.com.