Visit to Nike World HQ

I like to consider myself a loyal and devoted Asics person. But yesterday I found myself at Death Star, the Nike World Campus in Beaverton Oregon.

Years ago, when I was growing up in nearby Seattle and Nike was a small renegade company I was the company's biggest fan, and wore the original Pegasus, Equator, Cortez, and Waffle racer. But over the years the company's emphasis on marketing over product development, the ubiquity of the produce (12 million shoes sold last year in Japan alone), and the general arrogance of the Nike brand image has turned me anti-Nike. Especially after learning how Nike got its start by stealing Asic's product design, patenting the design in the US, and then turning around and filing a lawsuit against Asics.

Despite these strong feelings, I am willing to sell out on my beliefs at a cheap price -- 50% employee discount on the new Nike Air Equalon at the Nike Employee Store.

I must admit the Equalon's feel pretty good. I went for a test run around the Nike campus. The Nike campus is a pretty competitive corporate jogging trail. I was running at a reasonably good pace, but two female MBA-type marketing staff overtook me by the Alberto Salazar building.

The Nike workplace is amazing with a soft woodchip running trail meandering around the 178 acre site. The campus has an artificial lake at its center surrounded by buildings named after Nike athletes like Lance Armstrong, Mia Hamm etc. At the entrance is a museum with Steve Prefontaine's old shoes and jersey.

Of course I hope to get Ascis (or if necessary Saucony or Adidas) for my next racing flats.