About a dozen pairs of Moon Shoes were Handmade in 1972 by Geoff Hollister under the direction of Bill Bowerman. The shoes were given out to athletes competing in the Marathon at the 1972 Olympic Trials. The pair in this auction was worn by Number 26 Bruce Mortenson. Bruce finished the race in 2 hours and 36 minutes. It was just 1 of the 64 marathons that Mortenson has run during his career, which is why Alberto Salazar nicknamed him "The Marathon Man". Bruce Mortenson has been running for more than 50 years and has logged more than 175,000 miles. Bruce started running in 1959 in high school for Coach Roy Griak. He attended college at the University Of Oregon where he was coached by Bill Bowerman. Bowerman handmade shoes for Bruce and his teammates! Mortenson was given this pair of Moon Shoes by Geoff Hollister at the Blue Ribbon Sports Store on 855 Olive in Eugene, Oregon. Bruce actually ran that store for a short while with hurdler Bob Blum when Hollister entered the Navy. While working at the store, Bruce got to know Phil Knight quite well. The two of them would pack up Onitsuka Tiger shoes into their cars and sell them to athletes at high schools and colleges. I asked Bruce to tell me about his Moon Shoes and here is what he said... "The Moon Shoes were definitely different than the Tigers I had been wearing. More cushioning was the main difference. The Waffle Soles had a different feel as I felt quite a bit higher off the ground. I wore them in several races but as shoes continued to improve I put them in a box and they sat in my basement until about ten years ago I let a friend of mine display them at his store Twin Cities Running Company. I am not sure why I kept them as I had gotten rid of all my other shoes but I suspect it was because they were unique and were part of the 72 Trials."
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