1972 Book | Written by Steve Bence

Context, it’s been said, is everything. To understand the company’s start in 1964 requires understanding Knight, Bowerman, and Bill Hayward, plus the legacy of track and field in Oregon, the great athletes, and Bowerman’s tinkering that led to breakthrough innovations. Much of which I was not only an eyewitness to, but part of.

So this story is my personal addendum to that larger one. Part Nike. Part me. A tapestry of the two, really. I want to tell it not for any egocentric reason but for the sake of historic preservation. To not tell your story, it’s been said, is to let that story die—and to rob the next generation of something they might learn from. So, to that end, this is my small contribution.

It’s not a comprehensive history of Nike. It’s not me speaking for anyone else. It’s simply my prelude to life at Nike—my running career at Oregon—and the manufacturing side of Nike, particularly in the early days, that I know. Nothing more. Nothing less. Me. Forty-four years. And a company that, I couldn’t have been feeling much better about myself as an athlete or as a human being.

—Steve Bence
Beverton, Oregon
September, 2021

Endorsement for 1972

Who would have thought it would be possible to plow fresh ground amidst the larger stories of Pre, Bowerman, Knight and Nike?

But along comes Steve Bence, a former 800-meter runner who walked on at Oregon in the fall of 1971.

He competed for Bowerman, considered Pre one of his closest friends, and when his unlikely UO career came to a close, he signed on to help Nike establish its early overseas operations.

Now, a half-century later, Bence provides an insider’s view of those iconic figures and company with an authentic voice that takes readers on an emotional ride filled with rollicking tales and somber reflection.

A wonderful read that left me wanting more.

-Curtis Anderson
TrackTown USA/OTC Elite Press Officer and former sports reporter at The Register-Guard