by Lucas Smith

Created on: February 03, 2007

Success is a difficult aspect to define when one looks back on a career. Did he make enough money? Did he spend enough time in his position? Was he an accurate role model for young children? What influence he had on in his selective field? Bill Bowerman was a successful man. He left a lasting legacy in the 1960s and 1970s that still model the way people coach and run today.

The Shoe
All distance runners desire a lightweight sole that give performance as well as least possible weight to carry around. Today, many distance runners own racing shoes or in runners' terms, spikes. However, most runners take for granted the work that went into the "modern spikes" many years ago.
Bowerman created the first waffle soled running shoes. The name "Waffle" sole comes from the way in which he created that sole. Not many know the story or the origin of the famous sole.
Bill Bowerman was eating breakfast one morning in 1971 when his wife, Barbara, opened the waffle iron to pour another serving.He constantly looked for ways to help his athletes improve. Then it hit him. If he mixed synthetic rubber, poured it into the back of the waffle iron and let it cool, he could make a better sole for a running shoe. It took some grunting and wrenching with pliers to get the rubber off But when he finally did, he'd come up with the first lightweight outsole, the Waffle sole, which revolutionized the running shoe (Striving To Be The Best paras. 1-3).
Not only does the Waffle sole help runners, but it has also helps many other people. The article Striving To Be The Best said, "Today, every athletic shoemaker uses a waffle sole or some variation on everything from running to hiking shoes."(Para. 3) The affect of Bowerman's Waffle sole is seen throughout society. According to sneakerhead.com famous Nike shoes such as Waffle Racer, Air Force One, Air Max 93, Max 95, and Air Max 97 use Bowerman's waffle sole (History of Nike para. 3).
To Bowerman, the shoe was all about the weight. He constantly made changes in his shoes and had his athletes try them out. Some important changes in shoes he made were the creation of a wedged heel, the cushioned mid-sole, and nylon uppers so his athletes would perform better and stay prone to injury longer.
Bowerman would not have started making innovations in shoe technology if it was not for one of his athletes, Phil Knight. Knight was a business major at the University of Oregon. He along with Bowerman shared "a dissatisfaction with the clumsiness of American

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