The film was released one day before Steve Prefontaine's 46th birthday.
In reality, Prefontaine originally tried out for both basketball and football, but had failed to make both teams, due to his short height when he was in junior high school. He eventually decided to try out for cross country after he saw some school members jog to his school's football field. Once he made the team, he literally fell in love with running track at school.
Most of the film was shot in Washington state. However, there were some scenes that were also shot in Oregon, the home state in which Steve Prefontaine grew up for most of his life.
First movie to tell the Prefontaine story. The second being Without Limits (1998) with Billy Crudup in the role.
Jared Leto had to be very involved in running and track in order to play the main role for the film.