- RR Auction is pleased to present an exceptional collection of early Nike memorabilia and historic running artifacts from the personal collection of Craig Virgin, one of America’s greatest distance runners and a pioneering figure in Nike’s formative years. Highlighting the selection is an extraordinary pair of handmade 1972 Nike prototype racing spikes, created by company co-founder Bill Bowerman and orthotics specialist Dennis Vixie and worn by the 16-year-old Virgin in international competition against the Soviet Union. Captured in the photograph used for Nike’s first-ever advertising poster, these historic shoes represent a remarkable link to the launch of one of the world’s most recognizable athletic shoe and apparel brands. Accompanied by Virgin’s original USA warm-up suit, meet program, and the landmark promotional poster, the archive documents a pivotal moment in Nike’s emergence from a fledgling footwear company into a major force in competitive athletics. Other highlights include an exceptionally rare three-page handwritten letter from legendary runner Steve Prefontaine, personally recruiting Virgin to the University of Oregon in 1972; several pairs of Virgin’s high school-worn Onitsuka Tiger racing shoes dating to the Blue Ribbon Sports Tiger distribution era; and scarce original Nike advertising materials from the early 1970s. Among these are an early investor relations brochure chronicling Nike’s remarkable first year, rare promotional posters featuring Prefontaine and other pioneering Nike athletes, and a striking 1976 Olympic Trials poster celebrating the company’s sweep of the men’s 10,000-meter qualifying positions. Together, these remarkable artifacts offer collectors a unique opportunity to explore the intertwined histories of American distance running and the rise of Nike, preserving the people, performances, and innovations that helped transform the athletic footwear industry.
This is a timed auction.
