Geoff Hollister, Nike Track Legend, Is Dead

Runnerspace is reporting that he died today following a long battle with cancer.

Geoff Hollister–the running community legend and original Nike men who led the shoe-maker to sponsor races and set up running clubs such as Athletics West, the current Nike-sponsored Oregon Project and the two Oregon Track Club Elite groups is dead.

At this time, the exact cause of death is not know.

He admitted several years ago that he was fighting cancer. On Saturday athletes led by Galen Rupp, Matthew Centrowitz, Mo Farah and Ciaran O’Lionaird donned a special tribute singlet at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in honor of the former Nike executive.

Hollister got into early at Nike. He was a small-town Oregon farm boy who went on to the now-legendary University of Oregon to run for coach Bill Bowerman, the man behind Nike.

The former University of Oregon track athlete became a driving influence in leading Nike as a worldwide leader in sports equipment and apparel.