Carrie Link

FULL CIRCLE

I'm from Eugene, Oregon. And if you've never heard of it, that's OK, you've been affected by it. I. Promise.

In 1971 a man named Bill Bowerman, while coaching a bunch of runners at the University of Oregon, decided he could improve upon the shoes the runners were wearing. He grabbed his wife's waffle iron and made the first NIKE. Green and yellow, U of O colors, go Ducks! The rest, as they say, is history.

Eugene remains the running capital of the world.

I am not a runner.

My husband was. He ran and was wicked good in high school, still holds two school records 30 years later, even after everything was converted into metric. His records can't be touched.

STM, my husband, ran himself to a full scholarship at Boise State University, and did well. He really wanted to run for the Ducks, though. All really good runners seek a spot on the U of O track team. A guy named Phil Knight ran there. Some kid called Steve Prefontaine, Alberto Salazaar, Mary Decker Slaney, maybe you've heard of them? Research the history of track and you'll find these names in every case.

Finally, after two years as a Bronco, STM abandoned his full scholarship and decided to transfer to U of O. He could run for the team, but not on a scholarship. He would have to run (100 miles a week) and work, and go to school. But he did. And he was amazing.

We were two people living in Eugene at the same time, but we didn't meet there. It wasn't until I had graduated from the U of O's rival state school, Oregon State (go Beavers! Yes, I said Beavers. I know, I know, believe me, I know, and to make matters worse, their colors are black and orange) and got a job in Portland, that we met.

Little ol' me, with not a BIT of sports interest or ability, got her first job out of college working at NIKE. (That's a whole other blog posting.) At that time NIKE had many buildings all over Beaverton, Oregon, not the "Campus" they have now. I got put into a building for "Footwear" and so did STM. Neither of us had a job remotely related to footwear, but we had a more Universal "job" - meeting each other, I guess.

We met, we dated, we both left NIKE, and here we are today.

Tomorrow, we are invited to be guests at the NIKE Employee Store. My old boss still loves me (Hi, Janell!) and lets me "in" once a year. STM and I are going to shop for ourselves. We are going to spiff ourselves up with current NIKE fashion. Imagine that. We are going to buy a thing or two for the kiddies, too, but mostly, we are going to walk through the door of our past, together, before we walk out the door to our future, together. For better or for worse. For richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health. We've had the worse, the poor and the sickness. We're thinking 2008 might be our year for better, richer and healthier, in all the "right" ways.

Go, Links! Our colors are True and Blue.