The Nike Moon Shoe
Mark Covert’s Moon Shoe
The Waffle Sole was Nike’s first innovation and Mark Covert’s Nike Moon Shoe was the first Nike Waffle to ever cross a finish line. Ten pairs of these Moon Shoes were handmade by Geoff Hollister and given out to athletes who were competing in the Marathon. Five athletes wore them. Mark Covert was the first one who crossed the finish line and successfully completed the race. He finished seventh with a time of 2 hours and 23 minutes.
What is a Moon Shoe?
The first Nike Waffles were officially called Waffle Racing Flats. They were nicknamed Moon Shoes because the Waffle impressions they left in the dirt resembled the marks left on the Moon by the Apollo Astronauts. The shoes debuted in 1972. Astronauts walked on the Moon in 1969.
The Roots Of Nike
The Moon Shoe is featured on Page 1 of Irreverence Justified. It is listed as Innovation Zero on Nike’s Timeline in the The Geneology of Speed. The Moon Shoe is enshrined in Prefontaine Hall at Nike World Headquarters. Wherever you look, the Moon Shoe is where it all started at Nike. Experience the Roots of Nike and story of the Moon Shoe.
The Shoezeum Moon Shoe Collection
Meet Mark Covert
Meet running icon and legend Mark Covert. Mark was the first person to cross a finish line wearing Nike Waffles. He is a legend in the running community. In addition to his iconic run in the 1972 Olympic Trials, Mark ran every single day for 45 years straight and logged more than 160,000 miles. He even has an event named after him, the Mark Covert Classic.
