Duck, do you remember any of the group from the original Eugene Running Company (over on Willamette). The only name I can recall is Tom McChesney. The owner formed a track club for a brief time before he went on to Avia.
Duck, do you remember any of the group from the original Eugene Running Company (over on Willamette). The only name I can recall is Tom McChesney. The owner formed a track club for a brief time before he went on to Avia.
pre841 wrote:
Duck, do you remember any of the group from the original Eugene Running Company (over on Willamette). The only name I can recall is Tom McChesney. The owner formed a track club for a brief time before he went on to Avia.
Hey J,
I remember the ERC, but only the name. I must have run by it a thousand times, of course, but can't pull a visual. I may have known about the club, but if so, it is lost in the chasm of a memories from a very busy college time in my life! --As I know you can imagine!
As you also know, I remember Tom McChesney very well, he was a true gentleman... There are just no words to describe what a high quality individual he was.
I think the store was between 27th and 29th on Willamette. It was just a small place on the south side of town. It was just up the street from Amazon trail. In the late 70s and early 80s running stores were all over the place. I think Clancy Devery also ran for us for a while.
...you note the shoes were hard, but weren't almost all midsoles on running shoes 'back in the day' stiff and hard?
The exception perhaps being the Nike 'Kenya Red' and 'Finland Blue'! Granted the shoes had a marshmellow midsole and flimsy heel counter at best, but hey, at least they were more cushy than the Adidas SL 72 and the ugly SL 76!
...and by the way, I do have a question for the Oregon buffs-If Nike shoes were so great, why did Pre were an Adidas spike in the 5,000m final in Munich?
...'things that make you hmmmm.'
Nathan Jessup wrote:
...you note the shoes were hard, but weren't almost all midsoles on running shoes 'back in the day' stiff and hard?
The exception perhaps being the Nike 'Kenya Red' and 'Finland Blue'! Granted the shoes had a marshmellow midsole and flimsy heel counter at best, but hey, at least they were more cushy than the Adidas SL 72 and the ugly SL 76!
...and by the way, I do have a question for the Oregon buffs-If Nike shoes were so great, why did Pre were an Adidas spike in the 5,000m final in Munich?
...'things that make you hmmmm.'
You nailed it; that was what was so remarkable about how bad Osaga's were. They were even harder than the rubber/midsole of the shoes of the day.
Here's the deal, I was 19 when I got my first Osaga's. I had run in high school mostly on trails. So my body was pretty resilient, uninjured, in etc. I few steps in those things and I was like "no way." I gave them away to someone (poor sod). Got the cantilever ones a few years later...think I had a couple pair, gave one away, tried running in the others...they did pick up gravel like glue, lol. But the cushion concept was brilliant.
...Kenya Red's and Finland Blues, were my fave until the the Waffle Trainer came out. Then a bunch of custom shoes from Dr. Vixey, and then the Nike Tailwind, one of the best rides in a shoe I have ever experienced. After that it was the Air Structure and that lineage. Didn't need the structure, just liked the ride. Tried the popular Pegasus once...hated them. I suspect my foot is different that the average person who makes certain training shoes popular that I've never liked...
Man, the rubber in those first Osaga's had less give and return that something made out of erasure rubber.
PS...
I don't remember Nike making spikes in 1972.
Either that or they were not good enough yet; or the US Oly Team was obligated to wear Adidas, or Bowerman was not egotistical enough to risk Pre running in spikes he didn't favor.
Venture department store sold them at one time bought a pair was probably around 1981 0r 82. Loved th shoe was black and grey and had a waffle tread
I like these shoes bought a pair at Venture department store in the late 80's they were black and grey with bent arrows on sides wish i had a pair now they were great shoes.
I recall a young marathoner who worked at the Athletic Dept, with the name Lionel Ortega. He was a great guy and understood runners new to the game. I believe that Nike promoted him to charge up some new operations in Mexico. Wouldn't be surprised that he did very well in life. Does anybody here know him?
I recall Lionel winning the Western Hemipshere (Culver City)Marathon back in the mid to late 70s. I saw him run well at the 1979 OTC marathon, but I don't recollect him going much faster after that.
I stand by these comments...they were like lead.
The cantilever shoe was not much better...and picked up and carried pebbles as you ran...
you obviously know more about it than me, but like you said, the fit of the early nikes was incredible, and yeah, the quality control wasn't always there, but the fit was uncanny for me. especially w/ the elites, waffle line, etc. Flexible, light, etc. I miss the total slip-lasting they used - very few use it today.
I remember getting a pair of these around 1980 (I was about 10 at the time)... They were the light blue ones with the red logo that someone else mentioned earlier. I wasn't a runner or anything, just a kid with a pair of sneakers. The thing I remember best about them was that I wore them in little league. The league we were in did not allow cleats, so many kids were wearing sneakers with no treads at all and would often fall down while rounding the bases. The Osagas' soles were covered in these little rubber wedge-shaped treads that had great grip around the basepaths. They did pick up all sorts of mud and dirt, and they wore out very quickly from what I remember.
Hi TonyK
I have been searching for info on the KT26 with regard to Osaga & Avia shoes.
I am the sport footwear product manager for Dunlop/Slazenger footwear in Australia.
Dunlop adopted the KT26 & released it in 1978/79 & it became the #1 selling running shoe is Aus. The Dunlop KT26 is still onsale today & has sold more than 7 million pairs (not bad given there are only 21 million Australians).
Dunlop's tag line has been 'for the human race' so it appears they picked up more than just the KT26.
I am looking for Osaga KT26 photos, old shoes, adverts etc. Anything you have would be most appreciated + I have happy to purchase these items from you.
Please contact me direct on:
Thanks,
Dan
Dear Runners,
I just spotted this forum this evening..9-1-2011
Some interesting dialogue regarding Osaga....and my old
store in Eugene.....The Original Running Company on South
Willamette. You may or may not know that during the filming of "Personal Best".....The Athletic Dept., Sugar Pine Ridge, and The Running Company were used in some of the filming.
All three ended up on the editors floor....and did not make it into the film.
Robert Gray....who had been the head coach of Track City Track Club...was asked to help me start the store.
He later opened his own store called "Feets" at the 5th St. Market.
Some of my employees besides Tommy McChesney...who later moved to Southern California to work with Avia.....included
Howard Banich (former discus thrower for the ducks..who went on to work at Nike...Paul Thatcher who ran briefly for The Running Company Track Club,The Oregon Track Club, and did some writing for Track & Field News...and Bob Peterson who
played quarterback for the Ducks one year before blowing out
his knee...He worked for Avia in Portland also.
It was a great time to be in Eugene.....but we shut it down when my partners/cofounders at Avia decided not to keep it going as a test marketing retail outlet for Avia.
The three cofounders of Avia were:
Jerry Stubblefield.....the inventor of the Cantilevered outsole....originally with Osaga.....and former Discus thrower at U.of O. under coach Bowerman.
Richard Kriss....The Chief Financial Officer of Osaga....
and me....Bill Toney...The owner/founder of T.R.C. in Eugene.
After leaving Avia....I moved to Southern Cal briefly to work for a large Chinese/Taiwan Shoe Manufacturer.
Then moved to St.Louis to work for Rawlings Sporting Goods for several years.....trying to put them back into the athletic footwear business....
Then went to work at Washington University in St.Louis at
The Center for the Study of American Business. (C.S.A.B.)
as their Associate Director.
Now I live on a small farm an hour from the arch....and
nursing arthritic knees and ankles.....and not able to run.
I will be happy to answer other questions regarding Osaga,
The Running Company of Eugene....or other items of interest.
Keep Running!
B.T.
Hi,
I have just redeveloped the Dunlop KT26 (OSAGA KT26) shoe & the new KT26 shoe range will be in Australian stores from July 2012 (women's & youth from August 2012).
I have also created a Dunlop OSAGA KT26 design which is yet to be taken up by a suitable retail partner.
Photos on the new design shoes can be found at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kt26/
Also there is a Facebook group called the Dunlop KT26 Appreciation Society
I'd love your feedback or any further OSAGA / KT26 information you have.
-
Dan
email:
Hi everyone,
I found this forum about Osaga sport shoes and I can see it is a bit old but still I will come up with my story.
I am based in Brussels, Belgium and I started to run in Jan 2013, initially as a hobby. I entered in an outlet shop and I found these shoes. Because I was't sure if I will carry on with sport (because here is raining most of the time) I bought these shoes. Sorry for the experts, I just didn't went to a sport shop to buy adequate shoes fit for my kind of feet, etc.
I tried these shoes and I felt good with them. They are white with grey.The net in the front is practical for air permitting.
After a while I took sport seriously and in only 5 months of training I signed for half marathon called 20 km of Bruxelles.
The recommendations for the marathon were to use the shoes you are normally using for training. So I did. Therefore, I run with these Osaga sport shoes. Not too bad.
I finished the 20 k in 2:03' for the first time in my life. I am 44 .
That's my story about Osaga sport shoes.
:-)
P.S. I still have them.
Maggie, great story. Thanks for sharing and JUST DO IT, with those Osaga's.
Maggie, great story. Thanks for sharing and JUST DO IT, with those Osaga's.
[quote]a Duck wrote:
Here are my memories of Osaga running shoes.
1. They gave a pair to many of the volunteers who worked the 1976 Trials.
2. The shoes looked well designed, but were executed in poor leadlike materials, and hurt my feet like hell. So I wore custom Nikes (from Dr. Dennis Vixey (sp?)) during the trials and got crap from my crew chief, but the shoes hurt my feet, legs, everything. I had run in Tigers, Lydiards, Puma's, NB, Nike, just about everything. Osaga's were the only shoe, before or since, that I could not take a step in without feeling like I was wearing the crappiest materials on my feet. I gave my pair away. The funny thing is, the first time I met Bowerman, I was wearing custom experimental Nikes, that he did not make, and he did a double take!
(Nikes at the time, to me, felt great, but often poorly made/assembled. They had some quality control troubles in the early years under the Nike name; but the local store (Athletic Department) always gave you a new pair when you brought in a pair that was peeling apart.)
3. I was given a pair of the fist cantilever Osaga shoes...loved the idea...but again THEY SUCKED.
4. Osaga gave the Oregon team travel gear bags for their spring trip in 1979. Found mine in a box a year ago, but the nylon and rubber in the bag was dissolving...so sadly I threw it away.
Wish now I'd kept all the Nike prototype shoes and other artifacts of the day, but back then they were old smelly running shoes and the Parent's wanted their storage space back -- I am sure many a post college runner has that story!
20 years later I see the stuff going for 500 a pair in Japan.
I still have a pair of waffle racers from 1980, unused.
I have always thought that the Osaga sponsorship of the old Hayward Field score board was a Dellinger way to get back at Bowerman for their falling out. On the other hand, Bowerman did not allow Dellinger access to contributing to Nike.
As for Salazar, I never saw him in Osaga, that I can remember. (Believe me the team consensus was that Osaga's shoes SUCKED -- and from my experience they were the worst shoes I ever set foot in, sadly, cos we could have gotten a ton of them for free, lol). But, Salazar, before Nike, used to wear New Balance a lot. He'd rotate in different brands and shoes. He was very democratic.
There is a picture of Salazar in the 1979-80 U of O Yearbook "Oregana" lounging in the EMU in a pair of Converse running shoes. Don't know if he trained in them, though.