This story was originally posted in 2015 because Jeff Benjamin took his family to NIKE headquarters. I report on this day, the fifty-first anniversary of Steve Prefontaine’s death.
NIKE: and: Steve Prefontaine linked by heritage and spirit. Phil Knight, co-founder of NIKE: With Bill Bowermannoted that Steve Prefontaine was part of the brand’s iconography.
The NIKE campus was recently renamed in Phil Knight’s honor. We thought this might be a good time to give our readers an insight Phillip Knight Campus.
The Benjamin family with the Steve Prefontaine statue (Rosanne, Amanda, Brianna, Jeff)
Jeff Benjamin has been writing for me for twenty-five years. A keen sports watcher, Jeff gives us some that most people will never see. Jeff is a fan, a runner, and a writer.
He has been quite excited about this story all summer. I got a few notes from Jeff asking when I was planning the story.
I have to admit, I’ve been to the Nike campus probably fifty times, and Jeff’s reverence and observations remind me of how special the campus really is.
Nice to see Cindy Poore-Jensen, who I remember in Cinderellas in the mid-1970s, and Margot Fleming, Tom Fleming’s daughter, on campus.
The plaques are fascinating to me and Jeff’s photos of them add to the tour.
Enjoy!
A visit to Phil Knight’s Swoosh Kingdom
By Jeff Benjamin
When a family vacation cruise to Alaska ends in Seattle for 3 days, what else is there to do but visit the Nike Campus headquarters, located approximately 2 hours away in Beaverton, Oregon? So we just did (excuse the pun) and it sure didn’t disappoint. While the company started in the late 60s as Blue Ribbon Sports, but later became Nike in 1971, Nike’s World Campus headquarters, or as I like to call it, “The House that Phil Built,” was established in 1990 with eight buildings in October 1990, costing about $147 million. It has now expanded to much more.
The address, One Bowerman Drive, is named for the late University of Oregon coach and company co-founder Bill Bowerman. The campus is now a 213-acre campus. The company’s buildings are named after some of the company’s great athletes: Michael Jordan, Mike Schmidt, John McEnroe and Dan Fouts. But the runners are not left out. After all, Nike wouldn’t have started without them. Buildings named after Joan Benoit, Alberto Salazar and Steve Prefontaine also grace the campus.
As one enters the campus, the reserved parking spaces list a who’s who of Nike sports; Galen Rupp and even Kenicia Bekele have reserved spots.
Seb Coe Plaque (some of Nike’s top iconic athletes have plaques on campus)If you notice, the word “Campus” is constantly used when visiting Nike’s headquarters. “Phil Knight wanted to create a college campus feel here, where everyone feels like they’re part of the same team,” said our tour guide Cindy Poore-Jensen, who welcomed us to the Steve Prefonein Building, which houses a 10-foot statue of the late Oregon star.
Roseanne, Amanda, Cindy Poore-Jensen (Nike Tour Director), Brianna, Jeff at Nike CampusPerhaps Poore-Jensen’s name rings a bell. Cindy Poore was a 1976 Olympian who qualified for the Games in both the 800 and 1,500 meters, competing against contemporaries Ian Merrill and her San Jose Cindergals teammate Francie Lario. He also won the 1,500 trials, coming from behind to pass everyone else to set an American record in 4:07.32. “I’ve always thought it would be a great idea for Nike to create a tourism experience, and I’m very fortunate to be one of the tour guides,” said the 1977 US 800m champion.
Just like her run, Cindy did not disappoint as she factually and inspiringly covered all aspects of Nike’s history, including Knight, Bowerman, Hollister, Johnson and of course Steve Prefontaine.
Steve Prefontaine memorabilia
Inside Nike’s Steve Prefontaine building is a museum that showcases all the vintage pictures of Nike’s early development.
Alex Salazar and Jeff Benjamin
Most enjoyable were all the artifacts and memorabilia on display from the late 1960s, when Knight’s company was renamed Blue Ribbon Sports in the 1970s, morphing into Nike (since I don’t want to give away the entire store in this piece, you’ll have to ask how the attendant or Poor-J is doing!).
The museum houses a replica of the back of the car used by Knight and Hollister, where they sold their original shoes from the back of the trunk. Nike’s first shoe, which was a clutch spike; Jackets, spikes and singlets worn by the late Prefontaine occupying 2 display cases.
The original waffle iron used by Bowerman to create the shoe’s bottom (“The family found it in the backyard, in some junk, when he died in 1999,” said Poore-Jensen.) and the story of Phil Knight, a pretty good runner (4:10 miles) who, thanks to qualities of intelligence and determination apparently developed by his running, would rise to the occasion. sports around the world.
It also helped that he had a very supportive coach, even in his post-college venture to start Nike. “Coach Bowerman agreed to help Phil financially, and he and Phil secured everything with a handshake,” Poore-Jensen said. “Coach Bowerman and Phil never signed a contract.”
Michael Johnson statue and Jeff (note the golden shoes)After the tour, we walked around the campus. Visiting either the Alberto Salazar or Joan Benoit buildings, visitors were able to see large tributes to each of them in their respective buildings, as well as memorabilia cases, including Salazar’s 3 victories in the New York Marathon and Benoit’s victories in Boston, Chicago, and especially the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Marathon.
Margot Fleming with the Benjamin family (Brianna, Margot, Roseanne, Amanda, Jeff)It was also great to see some old friends on our travels through campus, including Nike employees Shawn Schmidt and Global DTC Running Service/Experience Manager Margot Fleming (whose father, Tom Fleming, was a 2:12 marathoner and won 2 New York City Marathons, who went on to coach the 1996 Olympic Marathon and 1996 Prince’s Marathon runner. Joe LeMay), along with local Beaverton competitor and coach and fan Dave Ross.
Jeff Benjamin and David Ross
Ross is a familiar face throughout Oregon and the running world, and one of the 2016 post-Olympic trials taking place in the area will be his July 11 wedding to fiancé Stephanie Lowe.thon the day following the end of the proceedings. Many are invited and many attend. After all, what would a Nike Oregon wedding be without Alan Webb’s family? “ Alan’s wife, Julia, is one of Steph’s bridesmaids, and their daughter, Joanie, is one of our flower girls,” Ross said.
Doug Padilla, Nike iconBesides walking over the “Michael Johnson Track” (yes, the Johnson statue is filled with gold flecks to signify his 1996 Olympic 200m and 400m victories). Outside the Steve Prefontaine building, there is a map guide showing where the plaques of hundreds of Nike athletes are located.
Formatted like a true Cooperstown Hall of Fame, the plaques featured the athlete’s sculpted face as well as celebrating their accomplishments. While it was exciting for me as a Mets fan (Yeah, I know…) to see plaques saluting Dwight Gooden and Gary Carter, the runners and track and field athletes were also well represented. In short, here are some of the plaques we saw: Ingrid Christitansen, Lynn Jennings, Said Auita, Sebastian Coe, Steve Ovett, Steve Cram, Bill Bowerman, Steve Prefontaine, Doug Padilla, Carl Lewis, Mary Decker, Alberto Salazar, Joan Beif, Joan Beif, Alberto Salazar, Joan Beifno. Lindsay, Dave Moorcroft, Pat Porter, Henry Rono, Alberto Cova, Carlos Lopez, Rosa Motta, just to name a few.
At the end of this whirlwind visit, one couldn’t help but feel inspired and want to run a hard 10 miles. From its inception to the new century, Nike has become the dominant sports company on the planet, influencing every sport. But what Knight and company also did was not forget the roots from which they and their company sprang. They have ensured that the heritage of the sport is well preserved.
