{"id":20658,"date":"2018-12-26T11:57:53","date_gmt":"2018-12-26T11:57:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jackdogwelch.com\/?p=20658"},"modified":"2024-07-21T15:25:18","modified_gmt":"2024-07-21T15:25:18","slug":"nike-dons-a-new-hat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jackdogwelch.com\/?p=20658","title":{"rendered":"Nike Dons A New Hat"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

From <\/em>City Sports, a feisty publication out of San Francisco. July 1980. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One column illustrated by the cover of our promotional issue. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photo of my size-thirteen foot actually splashing a red Nike shoe into a Portland puddle. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Caption: The wet foot on <\/em>Running‘s promo cover may portend a dousing in the crowded market. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

No byline. And another thing, no mention of<\/em> Running’s Editor & Publisher. – JDW<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"\/<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Don’t look now, folks: a new running magazine is on its way. Just what you always needed right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This one’s called Running. <\/em> It’s not new; for years this small Oregon publication has had a reputation as a “thinking man’s running magazine.” Then last April, Nike, the big running shoe manufacturer, bought lock, stock and barrel, and this September it begins bi-monthly publication with a glossy new look and a high-powered staff, aiming to compete with the major running slicks in what already seems to be an overcrowded field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Runner’s World<\/em> editor and publisher Bob Anderson has charged that Nike’s purchase of Running\u00a0<\/em>was\u00a0“the\u00a0major\u00a0reason” for pulling its advertising from his magazine. (City Sports<\/em>, June). Nike denies this, of course. But the question still looms: what is a running shoe company doing in the publishing business?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We felt there was a place for a magazine to serve the desires of the serious runner, as opposed to the beginner,” said public affairs director Tim Renn on the phone from the company’s headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon. He added the magazine is mainly shooting for runners “at the top of the heap” and that it could “build goodwill” for the parent company if done well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next logical question is, what hand will Nike play in editorial? Renn assured me there will be “complete editorial independence.” Other shoe companies will be asked to advertise, and the only edge given to Nike is a permanent home on the back page. [Nike had already locked in the back cover a year or two earlier. – ed.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Running won’t be a house organ,” Renn insisted. “The kind of people we’re trying to appeal to would see right through that and you couldn’t sign the authors we’re going after if that were the case.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the authors on tap for the debut issue is Ken Kesey of One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest<\/em> fame. Also impressive is the presence of running wag Joe Henderson, dubbed “editor at large” of Running. <\/em> Ironically, the executive editor is Paul Perry, a former managing editor at Runner’s World.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what sort of magazine will Running<\/em> be? Hard to say at this point. A singularly unimpressive promotional issue was distributed this spring, and if that’s any indication, Running – and Nike – has a lot to learn about publishing. But perhaps it’s not fair to judge them on something that was evidently thrown together at the last minute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We’ll just have to wait for the real thing this fall. <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Tim Renn was Nike’s first Director of Public Relations. I was his successor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Found this interesting article Mr. Renn wrote some six years later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CONFRONTATION FITS NIKE LIKE AN OLD SHOE<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/news\/ct-xpm-1990-08-19-9003090352-story.html<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From City Sports, a feisty publication out of San Francisco. July 1980. One column illustrated by the cover of our promotional issue. Photo of my size-thirteen foot actually splashing a red Nike shoe into a Portland puddle. Caption: The wet foot on Running‘s promo cover may portend a dousing in the crowded market.  No byline….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-running-free"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":20524,"url":"https:\/\/www.jackdogwelch.com\/?p=20524","url_meta":{"origin":20658,"position":0},"title":"Way Off And Running","author":"JDW","date":"December 23, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Salem, Oregon, was still a small town in the late 1970s and they were often desperate for business news.\u00a0 The Sunday Statesman-Journal published (8\/17\/80) a piece titled \"Jack Welch Is Off... And Running.\"\u00a0-\u00a0JDW By John Dillin Dr. E.C. Frederick checks my vital signs after marathon PR Eugene - Jack Welch,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Running Free"","block_context":{"text":"Running Free","link":"https:\/\/www.jackdogwelch.com\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.jackdogwelch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Welch-painedface.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.jackdogwelch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Welch-painedface.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.jackdogwelch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Welch-painedface.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.jackdogwelch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Welch-painedface.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.jackdogwelch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Welch-painedface.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.jackdogwelch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Welch-painedface.jpeg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":18384,"url":"https:\/\/www.jackdogwelch.com\/?p=18384","url_meta":{"origin":20658,"position":1},"title":"Dear Runner","author":"JDW","date":"June 30, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"There was the original Running magazine and then there was Running magazine after Nike bought it. In between there were two promotional pieces.\u00a0 One by the original Running crew, one by the expanded team with Nike. One not, one slick. The \"original\" was a four-color, fourteen-page mini-Running.\u00a0 Featuring two articles\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Running Free"","block_context":{"text":"Running Free","link":"https:\/\/www.jackdogwelch.com\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.jackdogwelch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Untitled001-6-e1417640189318-1024x878.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.jackdogwelch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Untitled001-6-e1417640189318-1024x878.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.jackdogwelch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Untitled001-6-e1417640189318-1024x878.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.jackdogwelch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Untitled001-6-e1417640189318-1024x878.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":20695,"url":"https:\/\/www.jackdogwelch.com\/?p=20695","url_meta":{"origin":20658,"position":2},"title":"Running Magazines Facing Their Own Race Now","author":"JDW","date":"December 27, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Greenberg Gannett News Service June 19, 1980 Another clip. Same article, different periodical, different title - Magazine Publishers Put On Their Fightin' Shoes. Forget \"The Empire Strikes Back.\" We've got Magazine Wars. Jack Welch, taking a few good swipes at Runner's World, said, \"It'll be a cold day\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Running Free"","block_context":{"text":"Running Free","link":"https:\/\/www.jackdogwelch.com\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/vjpGA0hps_A\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":18396,"url":"https:\/\/www.jackdogwelch.com\/?p=18396","url_meta":{"origin":20658,"position":3},"title":"RUNNING Magazine: Another Part of the Memoir","author":"JDW","date":"July 1, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Running as a philosophy has long defined my life.\u00a0 Running as a magazine played an important role. Here's the lead article in the Business & Finance section of the Register-Guard (Eugene, Oregon).\u00a0 August 31, 1980.\u00a0 Another studly black-and-photo of me - long hair, weird arm carriage and a black \"Rumming\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Running Free"","block_context":{"text":"Running Free","link":"https:\/\/www.jackdogwelch.com\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.jackdogwelch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/image-29.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":62948,"url":"https:\/\/www.jackdogwelch.com\/?p=62948","url_meta":{"origin":20658,"position":4},"title":"RUNNING, Vol. 3 No.1 Dec. 77-Jan. 78","author":"JDW","date":"August 2, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Let me bring to your attention to the increased cover price. The additional twenty-five cents is our response to a number of running stores who requested a larger retail margin. The extra quarter is being passed on directly to those stores, and RUNNING's income will not be affected.\" - From\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Running Free"","block_context":{"text":"Running Free","link":"https:\/\/www.jackdogwelch.com\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.jackdogwelch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/20250726_140654-scaled-e1753553762393.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.jackdogwelch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/20250726_140654-scaled-e1753553762393.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.jackdogwelch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/20250726_140654-scaled-e1753553762393.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.jackdogwelch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/20250726_140654-scaled-e1753553762393.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.jackdogwelch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/20250726_140654-scaled-e1753553762393.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.jackdogwelch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/20250726_140654-scaled-e1753553762393.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":18045,"url":"https:\/\/www.jackdogwelch.com\/?p=18045","url_meta":{"origin":20658,"position":5},"title":"My First Appearance In Sports Illustrated","author":"JDW","date":"June 10, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Truth.\u00a0 My first appearance in Sports Illustrated, I was in the February 13, 1984 edition. Newsstand price $1.95. Big white headline on the front cover: HERE COMES THE SUN. Sub-title: Paula Porizkova Is In The Pink In Aruba. Yeah, that's right - the wildly popular swimsuit issue. That's how I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Running Free"","block_context":{"text":"Running Free","link":"https:\/\/www.jackdogwelch.com\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jackdogwelch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jackdogwelch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jackdogwelch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jackdogwelch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jackdogwelch.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20658"}],"version-history":[{"count":33,"href":"https:\/\/www.jackdogwelch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20658\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57752,"href":"https:\/\/www.jackdogwelch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20658\/revisions\/57752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jackdogwelch.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jackdogwelch.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jackdogwelch.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}