The heart and soul of Nike, Geoff Hollister was the company's third employee.

Hollister fought a long battle against cancer and died in 2012 at age 66.

This "Ten Thousand Thanks, Geoff" flyer was issued in his honor at the 2012 Prefontaine Classic's Hollister Night at Hayward - June 1, 2012.

The "ten thousand" is in reference to the vast number of thanks that justifiably came his way, as well as to the distance being run that night.

The 10,000m men's race served as Kenya's Olympic Trials race.

In 2004 I met with Geoff Hollister and Nelson Farris and together we reviewed my shoe collection, pair-by-pair. To close our meeting, I read my story "Steve," which moved Hollister tremendously and brought him to tears. It was an honor and a privilege to have an hour with these two stalwarts of the Nike Company.