Business: March 2007 Archives

The waffle, with its elegant and demanding little troughs, is the brainchild of the Belgians. However, that does not prevent our home turf -- the presently sunny hamlet of Portland, Oregon -- from having its own page in the grand history of the waffle. After all, it is here that Bill Bowerman ruined his wife's waffle iron by pouring rubber into it, inventing the first lightweight Nike running shoe. It is in this state that young Steve Prefontaine set the American record for a 5000 meter race wearing waffles on the soles of his feet. A noble lineage, indeed. However, friends, Portland's association with waffle greatness does not end with Pre's violent, breakfast-unrelated, death. A new page has been written.