Jahan's Christmas Gift

Elaine Price gave an autographed book to Jahan for Christmas. Elaine helped me with what to say ...

1956 Our Move to Japan

Family photo as we moved to Tokyo, Japan
(left to right) brother Randy, mother Joan, dad Steve Jr, and me

I was born in Tennessee, started kindergarten in Japan, and graduated high school in Spain. I lived in ten cities and three countries over those years, and I was in different high schools my sophomore, junior, and senior years.

Ah, the life of an Air Force kid.

1970 Spikes Two Sizes Too Big

My mother bought a pair of  size 11 Wilson red leather spikes, several sizes too big,
but my mother was happy that there was plenty of room for my feet to grow.

The meet drew athletes from all the military base schools in Europe; the biggest schools were in Germany and England. In the prelims alone, I realized how good the competition was. I had to run a school-record 1:59.2 just to advance to the finals, the lone member of our team to get past the semis.

A coach from one of the larger schools in Germany told my coach how impressed he’d been with my effort. Then he saw my spikes.

“You ran under two minutes in those?”

1971 Bill Dellinger's Office

In Bill Dellinger's Office, left to right,
Bill Dellinger (face blocked), Jim Ryun, Phil Knight, Steve Prefontaine

Once I’d found my Dunn Hall dorm and unpacked, I headed out on campus to take some photos to send back to my parents. Not only did I feel like a tourist, I was acting like one. The Oregon basketball team played in McArthur Court, an aging, ivy-clad arena that dated to 1926. Next to “Mac Court,” I discovered, were the shoe-box-sized offices of all the university’s athletic coaches, including the man I was supposed to check in with, Dellinger.

His door was open. Dellinger, it turned out, wasn’t alone. He’d been chatting with three others, two of whom I’d seen in magazines and newspapers. I tried not to gawk but it was like a folk-music fan suddenly seeing Bob Dylan and Joan Baez. There sat Prefontaine and Ryun, along with some other guy, a little older, who did not appear to be cut from quite the same athletic cloth as the other two.

1973 Indoor Track Season

1000 yards Indoor Race (this in Seattle), left-to-right,
Hailu Ebba (OSU), Dale Scott (WSU), Greg Gibson (UW), Steve Bence, Art Sandison

I had a great indoor season, even if it was short: only eight days. I placed second at the Portland Invitational meet in a 1,000-yard race that I should have won. On the 165-yard plywood track, with less than two laps to go, I let Washington’s Greg Gibson and Oregon State’s Clay Lowery pass me. It was a tactical blunder. I wasn’t tired at the end, I just wasn’t sure of the pace for a distance that I’d only run once before, and didn’t push the pace at a critical moment when I had the lead.

With the steeply banked corners that kill momentum, it had been almost impossible for me to pass that late in the race. I got beyond Lowery, but not Gibson, finishing in 2:10.7, a tenth of a second behind the Husky. It was a UO indoor school record.

1973 Track Program Cover with Pre

I was especially reenergized for the 1973 track season
when I found myself sharing the cover of a track program with Prefontaine

As my 1972 track season came to end, I qualified and ran in the Olympic Trials. Midway through my first qualifying heat I was gassed. I realized that the clock had struck midnight and Cinderella’s time at the ball was over. The season had just gone on too long; this six-month stretch was twice as long as my high school seasons. I had nothing left in the tank.

Storytelling

I am adding pictures here.

In front of Feng Tay factory, (left to right)
CH Wang, Ron Nelson, Phil Knight, Steve Bence, Del Hayes

The year 1978 was a turning point for Nike manufacturing.

“Our factories in Taiwan and Korea are humming along,” Phil said at the time. “Industry watchers point to our new factories, and our sales, and say we are unstoppable.” Phil and his leadership were delighted with how everything was going.

1980 Bringing Lynn Home In Taiwan

As we walked in the front door—me carrying a box of supplies,
and Mary carrying the baby—Woody had his camera and caught the moment

The Bences and Woodmans got into a routine of playing mahjong Sunday afternoons at our house, with gin and tonics. During one such sesson, the phone rang, a rare occurrence. Mary answered; it was a fellow American acquaintance. “The priest wants to meet with Steve and me,” she said. “They don’t have a phone at the church.”

“You two must be in deep trouble,” Woody joked. “You better go; we’ll wait here until you get back.”

1986 The Most Romantic Thing I Did

Two hours after leaving Mary’s hospital room on my mission,
I returned with a bottle of gin, a gift, in hand.

A co-worker asked what had been the most romantic thing I’d ever done for Mary. I didn’t have an answer.

So that evening I asked her, “What’s the most romantic thing I’ve ever done for you?”

“You?” She laughed. “I don’t know. The first thing that comes to mind is when you went to get me a sandwich when I was in the Busan Hospital.”

1998 Tom Cruise - Movie Premiere

Tom Cruise at the August 1998 Without Limits movie premiere in Eugene, Oregon
Mary and Cory Bence, on the left, "photo bombed" the picture

In late August 1998, a premiere for Without Limits was held in Eugene, delayed a year to distance itself from the other Prefontaine movie, which released in 1997; Warner Brothers wanted to wait for its own moment in the sun. Cruise was greeted by swarms of screaming fans.

On September 8, 1998, the main premiere was set for the Mann Theater in Los Angeles; Marckx, Mary, and I packed our formal wear and flew to L.A. There was a large turnout, including many celebrities we recognized: Jenna Elfmann, Cuba Gooding Jr, and Kevin Bacon. We were invited to the party afterwards, for which we decided to arrive fashionably late and disappear into the crowd to people-watch.

As we checked in at the desk, hoping our names were actually on the list, a support staff member recognized Marckx.

#1 New Book Release for Track & Field

Ha! The final version will be available on September 15. This version (don't order yet!) is the "proof" so there will be many final edits before next week.

Note this category is  > Sports and Outdoors > Other Team Sports > Track and Field.

1972 - The Book

I've written a book which will be available soon.

More info as I go through the process.