Athletics West

Athletics West (frequently abbreviated in results as AW) was an American running team formed in 1977 by Bill Bowerman, Phil Knight and Geoff Hollister.

During the 1970s, a definitive running program for young athletes to continue competing outside of college did not exist in the United States (U.S.). The formation and success of Athletics West, together with the success and popularity of American runners like Craig Virgin (charter member), Steve Prefontaine, Frank Shorter and Bill Rodgers, helped inspire the 1970s running boom. Bowerman helped to popularize the concept of jogging in the U.S. by publishing Jogging in 1966, after meeting Arthur Lydiard in New Zealand in 1962.

In 1977 infrastructure and support was absent from the Amateur Athletic Union, the predecessor to USA Track and Field. Because of the demands for amateurism, young American runners needed to finance their own training and travel for competition. While scholastic and collegiate competitions took better care of student athletes, post-collegiate athletes were on their own, a demand was immensely challenging.

Bowerman and Knight, who were runners themselves, recognized the situation that their sport existed in, so they decided to take the meager profits from their fledgling Nike company to try to reignite competitive running in the U.S. They recruited Harry Johnson, a high school coach who was known for his warden-like demeanor and rigorous training tactics. Johnson was the winningest coach in Oregon high school history, with the attainment of 25 state titles in his career. Johnson's first acquisition was Craig Virgin, a young Illinois, U.S.

Virgin was joined by a team of gifted athletes, including Jim Crawford, an Army vet who specialized in the 1500 meters; Phil Kane, an accounting major and powerhouse in the 1,500-meter event; seminary student and marathoner Jeff Wells; Doug Brown; George Malley; and Mike Manke. (Mac Wilkins and shot putter Al Feuerbach signed on shortly thereafter.)

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