I Was There For The Birth of Nike... With Steve Prefontaine

This is a way that the business is our American stories we tell stories about everything here on the show including your story. Seven hour American stories.com. Some of our favorite. Speaking of which A story from one of our regular contributors to a deal activity and she listens at a WHO in the morning.

A powerhouse station. One of the great stations in this country and today joy brings us the story of her great-grandmothers periwinkle quilt is joy with the story. I didn't know about the quilt top until several years after Laura Goff had died but my great-grandmother and I first and last of our family. Strand of oldest daughters ended up selling my hand on the same quilt morning shortly after the Civil War and a Guthrie County log cabin west of Monteith Lord Jordan was already a fourth-generation island but the firstborn in the state when she grew up and became a country schoolteacher. Laura bought a gold watch so she could ring the school belt called the children to class on time. Back in 1890 when Laura married Milton Sheridan shirt Goff. She had to retire from teaching. She no longer needed that gold watch. So she traded it to her father for something she needed more account Laura bore 11 children in 21 years while Sherry moved his family at least 13 times out-of-state twice seeking greener pastures. Laura agreed to move anywhere in the United States but she wanted to live for her children could be educated during that time. Five years was the longest.

They lived in anyone ice but three of Laura Goff sons were drafted during World War I she knitted socks and mittens for the Red Cross and Guthrie Center and help roll bandages.

She assisted with the births of the 10 children of her oldest daughter, who had two sets of twins when infant twins died for Minkoff in 1929 Laura made their lace and satin burial grounds. Laura Goff worked hard know how to do without could make a good meal from almost nothing, and according to her daughter could get more riding on a postcard than anyone. Probably the first woman in our family devote she wrote her daughter on October 19, 1920 Miss Gesell speaks at the Christian church at 230 tomorrow and tells the women how to vote. Think I will learn how it's done. Laura Goff was widowed in 1930 when World War II broke out two more son served in the military, as did six grandsons, three of those grandsons lost their lives when great-grandmother Laura died in 1962 I was a freshman in college. The periwinkle quilt top lay folded in a closet in the little house on N. 4th St. and Guthrie Center. No one wanted that quilt top of colorful, pointy patches, together with group octagon's withdraw seems underneath will. The angle of the diamond-shaped pieces wasn't quite right that thing would not life land.

As the quilter in the family I was offered the curiously lumpy thing.

I knew that if I adopted the quilt it would haunt me until I took the entire thing apart, but for the next four years. It lay folded in a box in West Des Moines. I finally disassembled it thread by thread my tiny star James scissors pulling out great-grandmothers neat little stitches the fabric of the octagon's was really too heavy to quilt through so I discarded them and carefully wash the rest. Not until a year later did I cut out new octagon's and recut the multicolored diamond shapes slowly. I repeat the whole top by hand which turned out largest in the original Batman that the red border which really enhance the rest of it was too short. I still had half-dozen remnants of fabric from grandma's closet. Mercy. One was that very piece of red that was just barely enough of it meant to be great grandma would've said I stitched my hand through fabrics. My great-grandmother chosen cut out and so with fingers that had learned how to sew, not that long after the Civil War fingers that were already 75 years old when I was born there was a lovely feeling of timelessness over the next two years I hand closer to spiderweb in each octagon in the course of singing birds around that cheerful red. I presented the periwinkle quilt to the third generation in this modern line of oldest daughters. My own mother. We agreed that great-grandmother Laura would have approved. Beautiful job by Monty Montgomery on the production and a special thanks to join you for the beautiful storytelling no broadcaster who started the morning and on WHO Ronald Reagan's party addresses country of the following words if we forget what we do know who your enjoying your kidney is reminding us that we need to know our family stories in order to understand our nation stories. The fact that she lost her kids to whooping cough and three war and great-grandmother traded watch Racquel was the first one in the family devote there was a time when women vote another's. No such law remarkable story about beautiful country and a beautiful family story by one of our favorite contributors during the family story or just seems to continue on our American store with her behavior. The horse around American stories everyday on the show were bringing inspiring stories from across this great country stores for big cities and small towns, but we truly can't do the show without our stories are free to listen to, but they're not free to make if you love what you hear L American stories.com and click the donate button a little before L American stories.com and you Geico asks how would you love a chance to save some money on insurance. Of course you would when it comes to great rates on insurance Geico can help like with insurance for your car, truck, motorcycle, boat and RV even help with homeowners or renters coverage class at an easy to use mobile app available 24 hour roadside assistance and more.

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Nike has employed nearly 1/2 a million people only for about west of our next storyteller Dave thence.

Thence is Nike's program director in global sourcing and manufacturing was an All-American runner on the legendary track coach at Oregon Bill Bowerman became the cofounder of my events is also the author of 1972 pre-you owe track Nike shoes in my life with them all. Let's take a listen. Hi my name Steve Vance was born in Tennessee started kindergarten Japan and I graduated from high school in Spain. I went to the University Oregon trunk track later started with Nike way I discovered running during my junior year in high school I went out for football.

Some great because all my friends were going out for football.

But at home. We never watch sports so you know is on the football team. I really don't know the rules of the strategy. So I sat on the bench the whole time the winter I went out for basketball and set the bench again and when one of the games is out of hand coach again and four times. I brought the basketball court. Four times is called for traveling looked over my coach used to shaking his head.

As luck would have it. Coach was also the track coach so we both knew from experience that I was an athlete and he treated me that way. I still came out every day and worked out guys but we had a track meet on the bulletin board was a posting of all the entries every time I look my name was never on so I missed all the track meets until the last one was a district championships. I went, my name is on the 400 m for my one lap around the track and I do know some he was hurt or injured or what, but I was take advantage of this opportunity. So the last track meet. That year the district championships. I took second in the 400 m and the coach came sprinting across the field and gave me the biggest bear hug and look me in the eyes of Beth's, Your Honor. In the spring of 1979 I was a sophomore and I had learned that my best race was a half-mile so I wondered district championships qualified me to go to Los Angeles to run in the CIF Southern section quarterfinals which were some of the best athletes not only in the intersection. In the United States. So I went to the quarterfinals.

Not expecting much, nobody's expecting much out of me and I qualified to move on to the next round, so next week was a semi finals advanced again ran fast enough to get myself into the finals and I went and I took third place and I was on cloud nine and then I found out my dad was in a transfer to Torreon Air Force Base, near Madrid, Spain. I went to school on base skull Madrid American high school and so I got to go to Germany, but we ran against all the schools in the European area in the big schools were enough England Germany in the first session, semi finals IL one and 159, which was school record in the first time ever broke two minutes and I want to coach a German school, came over and talked my coach because he didn't know who I was with this guy come from right and we talked a little bit yes to see my shoes and there were these: keyboarding leather spikes.

My mom bought for me was a freshman and they were size 11 at the time, I will were about size 8 and the coach was that you broke two minutes in the shoes and so he disappear for long came back with a pair shoes that fit by one of the other runners I try to monitor just putting no shoes on, made me feel faster.

So in the finals next day I ran three seconds faster source 156, which broke the European record and I learned the importance of a good pair shoes and running and so I had my final senior living in the barracks but the most important thing.

My senior year was trying to find a collagen United States where I could go and I'd written to Ohio State, Kansas State USC and Oregon State is accepted academically.

All schools but there was very little interest in rerunning their and perhaps most blunt letter I got was from USC coach who said your time might be pretty good in Europe but it's a dime a dozen here in Southern California but I found out one of our born counselors to the chaplain Oregon and he says have you considered Oregon. I pull out the letters and show them everything I had done to that point and go why did you pick Kansas State. I said that's where Jim Ryan went to school. Jim Ryan was my hero is a world record holder in the mile because you can go to Kansas State. He went to Kansas got the wrong school that many asked me what to do right Oregon state circuit running school is not accordance of the running school out Oregon State so I picked the wrong school and he saw the letter I got from USC, but he contacted Coach Dollinger back in Eugene and told him I was interested in going there an answer I got was that that would be fine because Bill Bowerman allowed walk-on's anybody that wanted to walk on a train with the team was fine.

You know you never knew who should be good enough to run and they said if you do really well. Maybe I'll get into a racer to but there would be no scholarship. That was fine with me because Bill Bowerman. He coached Oregon from 1948 to 1972. Bill wrote the book on jogging. He brought jogging first. Eugene spread across Oregon across United States and across the world. He's in the Hall of Fame four times per track coach and one time as an inventor. He invented the modern day athletics, so I flew space available on military flight to Dover, Delaware, and I work my way across United States and got to Eugene. I had two suitcases in my hand found a Motel 6 close to the University and daughter told me when you get to Eugene come see me in my office so there were people there already, so I didn't know if I should go and are not Bill signal me in and in his office was Jim Ryan looking in the phone book for something.

My high school hero who I wrote my term paper for was there sitting in a chair was Steve Prefontaine of the greatest American distance runner of the United States when he died 1975.

He held every American record from the 2000 m to the 10,000 there's been a book written about him documentary two different movies and in the doorway was Phil Knight, Phil Knight, who with Bill Bowerman cofounded Nike in 1964 I had my camera with me so I took a picture in the office which I have in my book and so I was just like in all of the people I've met and I shook hands with them is that she might even wash my hands after this, but the guy in the doorway that fill my time in the minute he was probably the most important person in that room because he's the one that cofounded Nike and would later change my life. I walked out of the office thinking while what I just seen the same time, those in my in over my head. Can I rise up this level. I was a walk-on who was rejected by all the other universities that written to about two weeks later, Bowerman had depression in the stance suppression meeting.

I looked around I got there and there's about 50 people in the stands, all wanting to run track and I asked someone if who's on scholarship and he said there's only three people on scholarship and it turned out to be Mark Fike.

There was Russ Francis who threw the javelin third person was at Tinker Hatfield.

Some people might recognize that name. He's world famous designer. The Zionist Nike shoes force now, but debit Bill Bowerman came out and he said statistically baseball years and he coached only three of us. Of the 50 would actually make to our senior everybody else would drop out of school with and he would be proven right. It was said to those guys cannot be me as well is only three that made our senior years. He also told us you can only do two things well and he says one of them has to be student happy good student because if you flunk out every else doesn't matter. We said the second thing based on what he observed was you could either be a good athlete or you can be set good lover can't do both. Just have to pick and I remember looking around and a few heads were looking down like separate true and he said something profoundly sad if you can find meaning in what it takes to stay on the track team will probably find meaning in another observed pastime life and that was in the movie without limits.

If you seen that you're listening to Steve Ben's told one heck of a story. Imagine being a young kid college freshman in the same room with Phil Knight and pre-Jim Ryan and Bowerman will I think most of us, which is prior leave when we come back for more of this remarkable story made pretty in the birth of Nike here on our American story that we continue here on our American stories and we been listening to Steve Ben's in the book is written 1972, three, you owe track Nike shoes in my life with them all.

Let's continue with Spence and his story like he was born on May 1, 1972 I didn't know it when I was the universe Oregon running I was on the track team and I was kind of oblivious to everything going on around me, but I gradually started to learn that the Tiger shoes I was wearing was actually blue ribbon sports shoes and blue ribbon sports was a handshake deal between Bill Bowerman, the coach and Phil Knight, the athlete in 1964. Bowerman was a was a coach but he was also experimented. He always loved problem-solving. So he's always trying to come up with stuff to make athletes better and it could be anything like you worked on track surfaces and in the course shoes and even the apparel and so people would be wearing handmade shoes that he did but he didn't have a really good business sense. Phil had that business sense. He was a athlete he was a runner. He was coached by Bowerman and so the two got together to create a new company.

At first it was blue ribbon sports and Phil had written a paper in college at Stanford University that just like cameras were very good.

Cameras were coming out of Germany and they were expensive but think they were able to get good cameras out of Japan at a much cheaper price and at the time all the shoes were the good shoes the competitive shoes were made in Germany's Adidas and puma and Phil speculated the need to make just as good shoes in Japan at a much cheaper price and so they paired up they went to Japan to find somebody to make the shoes bottom were designed by Bill Bowerman and so they were able to mass-produce good shoes for kids in high school at an affordable price and and that was the Tiger shoe but Phil picked May 1, 1972's birthday of Nike.

Nike brand was starting to evolve, but that was the day the letter he received from Japan it's the Tiger that they would no longer allow him to sell Tiger shoes in the United States. And so when most of the company at the time heard that news they thought this is the worst day of her life were all out of jobs, but Phil said no.

This is the best day of our life. No, we can create our own brand and control our own destiny. So that's when the Nike brand was born again is a little bit oblivious to the business part of it. I was just running but Carmen twice a penny where test ships in the first time, you might aware purchase is 10 shoes. Now he became a block of rooms and events where size 90 jungle yeah try these out so I was going out for 6 mile run and about 2 miles into it. My Achilles is really sore in my calf. Is it just my luck might just be testing the shoes I get her right so that the trainer and explain what was going on.

He said the mosquito shoes.

He looked at him and the government flipped the bottoms instead of the padding under the heel. He put it on the 4 foot so was every time.

It took us step is putting a strain on my Achilles and the trainer. Same you can be a guinea pig for your career tracks just a little too important. So once you take the shoes back to Bill and tell him he can't testing more and I don't want to do that first. But I waited for a week and I felt confident I went into the office and I said here's a shoes, but you think. So I got her wearing them and those will happen as it was in my Achilles and Catherine goes, that's great.

That's what I thought would happen and that was it. I think like what he's either mad scientist you know or eased testing me out, or maybe just hazing a freshman.

I do know what it was but anyway I didn't want to deal with any of that anymore. So I didn't do that but that was my lesson in he was motivated to try to find the best things to make athletes better and he wasn't afraid to fail and a lot of cut company cultures, no failures, not good this backstabbing and politics he goes into it, but Tom Clark at 91 point had had a poster in his office. That said, the company that makes the most mistakes wins problems are good. The story about the waffle iron and Bill Bowerman make consoles in his kitchen is partially true but there's a lot of truth to the fact that he was constantly looking for ways to improve performance for athletes and weight take weight out so we did that with the first understood the first time he was the waffle iron. He put some rubber or whatever in their close it and when you stuck no just kept it up and we had to that thing out so you had a couple steps before he actually figured out how to do it but the waffle iron was intriguing to him and he was trying to get that. But if you think about what waffle looks like their indentations and if you look at the outsole.

It's a mirror that goes other direction, but it was the concept that he had and then now he worked locally with rubber makers and he was able experiment with that until he got it right. But then they set sheets rubber with the waffle also. They mainly just diecut it took on about the shoes there's four of us that we want to talk to Tom Bowerman those son who lives in Eugene and housework armies to live and we told Tom first question said we got up in the morning was like for him to entity and Tom said Bill wouldn't even know with the word innovation means he was a problem solver. He said if you have a problem to solve know he would know what to do with himself. Innovation word innovation's overuse these days that even our innovation group product innovation at Nike. They took the word innovation out there title because it doesn't anything more track season started and there were nine people listed in the newspaper that can run 800 m about a half-mile back them and of the 9/2 milers with their personal best times in their how the nine I was number nine so high was the ninth person on the team going into the track season and were I did promise me you could run a few races foes get enough and appointing my first seven races there and the seniors and juniors and sophomores weren't all that excited about it and I went to the packet championships was attacking the Pac 12 Becton that I ended up taking second place at the packet championships and they made note of where the USC guy was the first USC guys look behind me to support place in 1974 I was a junior in Prefontaine by then was a good friend and teammate of mine, but he was competing on his own now the previous year he was still a university organ student having scholarship and he was on the USA national team which paid for all of his transportation room and board and so forth as he competed around Europe for the United States and he said they also gained four dollars a day for spending money. What he found out when he was running over there after while the races that he won one of the competitors suggested that they pick up their prize money and go out and have a few beers and presuppose like what prize money right all the money that came in for US athletes went to the AAU, the Federation that athletes he had to compete against in Europe were were getting prize money from the meats and their nurse governing bodies were supporting them financially and so he was past and he said why should I care about the AAU they don't care about me.

So in 1974, he decided he was in go to Europe not compete in any AAU meets and gives prize money, but he talked some of us to join them, including me, and I was kind of excited, Alec. I didn't know if I can continue my track season after a junior season but I wanted to go to Europe and compete see how I do. So I accepted that you're listening to Steve Ben's told the story of MS since the founding of Nike and it's a heck of a story about running in sports and commerce in the end this thing that well let's face it Bowerman as we already learned didn't like the word innovation and most innovators don't deserve just trying to solve a problem in the deed was a problem right in front of that had to do with his coaching and with winning then that's what he really wanted to do have an advantage over everyone in the net benefit was created.

This remarkable sneaker company. When we come back more of the story of me free and the birth of Nike were listening to author Steve Ben's ear on our American stores and we continue with our American stories in the story of Nike and how it came to be and so much more about the running world in the 1970s in its infancy that would spawn what we now know as the modern world, track and field and so much more, including marathons, which before the 70s were barely anything anyone knew about 1974 running phenom Steve three Prefontaine decides to take a stand because the amateur athletic Union, the AAU demanded that athletes who wish to remain amateur from the Olympics not be paid for appearances and track meets, even though they drew large crowds generated millions of dollars. This time he AAU was taking away the amateur status of athletes who were endorsed in any way because pretty was accepting free gear from Nike. He was subjected to the use rulings and he found himself living on food stamps spoke very publicly against the AAU and asked his friend an organ track teammate Steve Ben's to join him in Europe to race in defiance against the AAU beer again is Steve Ben's was started in Finland.

Prefontaine had to help us get into a me in the first three track meets my one and I got my prize money which was $27 at each meets. I've not had three times $27 for my first three races wasn't much but it was illegal for us against rules of NCAA and AAU European competitors picked up their prize money, but we weren't supposed to do that so I was being rebellious because a priest he was talking us and to do that were supporting them publicly thought their safety in numbers and a 1978 separate Prefontaine died, Congress passed a law that change the whole thing abolish the AAU allowed athletes to start being able to win money which change the whole sports and in a way vindicated us. In my opinion next rail tell John May 29, 1975 and anybody that knows Prefontaine history knows. He died on May 30, 1975 to this. This is the Thursday there was a track meet that evening and that pre-had invited the Finnish national team to come to Oregon to compete with the last race of the store was in a be at Hayward field and it was good to be that evening, May 29, but that pre-came and out of our apartment with Mark and I left the door unlocked and he just felt at home so you would come in and out and he insisted that we go over to his house and play space play cards because he was so hyper because he had to have a good meet that evening to people recover some of the money and he promise he was to try to break the American record in the 5000 m to get as many people in the stands as possible.

The pre-ran his race and then afterwards we went back to her dorm's chart and up.

Graduated, so he went to be with the fence at a party, went to bed that night I headed final exam the next day I knew I had to get up and study is 6 o'clock in the morning the phone rang and it was a friend who graduated the previous year and said I just heard on the radio that Prefontaine died and I was like no you can toughening up just with them all day yesterday. He was just here last night. Accounting cycle the radio station and they said it was true that he was in a single car accident and that he was dead and the I just remember taking my books and going over the student union's had to study and I remember the there's music in the background playing and I remember it was a machine or here in had hit me. See me again and them I thought about what inspired me most about him and it was reflecting back to the Europe and define the AAU and even in a track meet.

The night before he was to find AAU by putting them on. He was allowed to put on the meat they backed off the last minute, but just his rebellious spirit in all in his fight for justice. I wanted to be that I want to live that and so that became a part of who who I was, who I am and Phil Knight later said if Nike could have the personality of any human being, the personality he'd want is that of state. Prefontaine is place called Pres rock imaging which is where Prefontaine died for his car flipped and killed him. And people will go to Pres rock to honor and they leave stuff they make shoes and clothing and all those kinds of things. He was 24 years old when he died, it was 1975 and people still go to the rock and kids are still inspired by him and when I've been up there sometimes of talk to people. For example, one time I talked to husband wife were coaching in the Midwest somewhere and I said what is it about pre-did your athletes love which inspires them the most and she said it's pretty sweet so blue-collar work so hard he was so competitive. The kids just believe that they do the same thing enough that they work hard and do what they have to do that they can excel as well. And you know it's not his accomplishments. The people admire him for although he had every American record from 2000 m up to 10,000 m it's not accomplishments that the people talk about. It's how he lived his life and how he competed in many times runners lead runners will just sit back until the last half lab to Canon when the race cream want to go out in front ever. Every place he ran he called the performance and he was doing for the people in the stands and he would say if you ran the back just kick at the last 200 m.

That's chicken.

He just did not believe that that was a right quick way to run a race.

The only way to really run races in the front flat out as hard as you go in my session can't every time, but also also one of the things that Coach Dollinger, Bill Dollinger, who was the assistant coach for the runners at the University of Oregon. He said one thing he noticed about pre-is he never missed a workout. He never missed a race he was there all the time and pre-confided there were times he wasn't feeling good but he wouldn't tell anybody he would go out there and run anyway so it's just it's just that honorable competitive hard-working ethic. I think this is what young people today look up to one of when I started with Nike.

To me it was just a bunch of runners getting together and moving in the next part of her life and I was transferred out what was I going to do is teaching and coaching and maybe I could've done that for my whole life. But I was looking for that job that inspired me that comes meaningful to me purposeful to me and I didn't know Mikey was in a be it. But when the company started on BRS started importing tigers choose from Japan fill places first-order to Japan for 300 pair shoes so that was 1964 Tiger shoes and then you know maybe I don't know where we got up to about a million. I am really only talking about footwear. That's what I'm experience and we talk and perish.

And when I told Mike that backup and I told my mother is working for Nike and she asked me what's Nike and I told her about Bill Darman, Phil Knight will make shoes for runners and stuff. She says you went to college and Mattel my friends that your shoe salesman or whatever you know and she's wanted to work for company. The next something that a lot of people will buy right that's what she was thinking back then.

That's why we were all thinking no was a small market but because of jogging in particular runners and average everyday people started getting ready she is to run in because now restart job just wasn't for lead runners, and people were wearing the knockdown walk around and because they were comfortable and lightweight soap wouldn't start wanting to change world just trying to prove performance for runners.

But the thing was taking off so when people find out that it was a group of runners that started this company that's the culture that we have to make sense no one can imagine bunch of football players getting together doing this are basketball players. Whatever but a bunch of runners.

We pulled it off and so the culture that we have as a company comes from that I'm now settled down and beaver. Jordan had lived in my house for over 30 years.

I adopted a girl in Taiwan when we were there we adopted a girl in Korea where their data center United States back to Korea.

My younger sister born in Korea and they've all grown up here in this house. Now I have four grandchildren ages 0 to 4 and six there over here all the time talk so there's a big group of four kids in this four grandchildren and looking back on a career that is been incredibly rewarding in being a part and I never claimed to be Phil Knight or anything major. I mean, I was just a guy get the job done a math nerd. There was excited about being a part of brimstone about part of the money culture and when you have an opportunity to do something bigger than yourself and generally enjoy working with people. It's a pretty rewarding experience, and that's where I am right now my life is a terrific job in the storytelling and production by Greg Kegler and special thanks Steve Ben's author of 1972. Three. You owe track Nike shoes in my life with them all go to a bookstore and buy this book forever.

You get your books online, Phil Knight, the founder all the way through.

We love founders here of the show. The story of Nike here on our American stories