A look inside Nike headquarters

We were invited to check out the sprawling Nike campus in Beaverton, Ore. Here’s what we saw.

The main entrance

Prefontaine's Hall: All the major buildings, with the exception of the Nike Sports Center, are named after athletes that have had a long relationship with Nike. Steve Prefontaine has a hall, which basically acts as a shrine to the legacy of perhaps their most important athlete.

Nike's lake - The headquarters is constructed on marsh land, but the lake that sits at the centre of the 22-building campus is actually man-made.

The Tiger Woods building - Even after Woods's major scandal, Nike stood by the athlete. His building is one of the most prominent structures on the campus.

The Courtyard at Jerry Rice and Mia Hamm - There is an Italian influenced courtyard where employees hang out and eat lunch.

Celebrating legends - The buildings are adorned with plaques listing their finest sponsorship relationships and the athlete's achievements.

Flanagan's flag - Marathoner Shalane Flanagan is one of many athletes featured around the campus on these larger-than-life flags.

Strange statues everywhere - The campus features these somewhat eerie bronzed, life-like statues of people hanging out, enjoying the man-made lake. Neat, but also sort of creepy.

Pre's training log - A sample of one of Steve Prefontaine's actual training diaries. Also, a letter from the Amateur Athletic Union scolding Prefontaine for his behaviour in and after the 1972 Olympics in Munich.

Alberto's Athletes - Alberto Salazar is one of the most powerful people at Nike, coaching their top distance athletes. This hall features two of those runners, including Mary Cain and Mo Farah.

A map of Campus - HQ now has 22 buildings, all named after Nike's major athletes. Here is a legend indicating the eight major structures of the campus.

Selling shoes out of the back of a van - Phil Knight started Nike by selling shoes out of a back of a van at track meets. That original sales approach is lovingly reconstructed here.

Yet another bronzed statue

The Athletics facility - This photo was taken from the Tiger Woods building. Woods once bet Phil Knight that he could drive a golf ball hard enough to shatter those windows.

More bronzed statues - As mentioned before, there are multiple statues along the lake on campus.

Mo's flag - The great British distance runner has become one of Nike's most high profile athletes.

Nike's man-made lake - The centre of campus features a pristine lake, the aptly named Lake Nike, with feeder streams where Canadian geese and ducks reside.

Wood chipped trail system - Groundskeepers maintain a soft, chipped trail that circles the campus for runners.

The Japanese garden - The first major outside investor for the company was a Japanese businessman. They honour this with a Japanese-style garden, including a bamboo patch.

Prefontaine Memorabilia - Traces of Steve Prefontaine's legacy can be found all around campus. These relics from his days as a runner at Oregon University are behind glass in a small museum dedicated to the early days of the company.

An early prototype - Bowerman constantly fussed with his early prototypes. He had his runners at Oregon run in them until they bled. Literally.

The original waffle iron - Incased in glass, this is apparently the original waffle iron that Bill Bowerman used to create the first pairs of Nike soles. Bowerman's son found the iron in their backyard several years later and brought it in to Nike.

The Bowerman legacy - Coach Bill Bowerman is certainly the "Father" in the Nike trinity, with Phl Knight as the "Son" and Prefontaine as, of course, the "Holy Ghost."

Jogging! - One of the major reasons why Nike has become the running juggernaut that it is today is because Bowerman actually brought the jogging craze to America.

A visual early history - A long-time employee walks us through Nike's early history.

The first contract - Here are the two letters, dated 1964, between Knight and Bowerman that forged their Nike partnership.

Ranaldo field - A view of the vast multi-purpose field named after Brazilian soccer legend Ranaldo. Here, an employee is doing grass strides.

Michael Johnson statue - A statue of the the 400m world record holder at the track named after him.

Jerry Schumaker (centre right), a coach to some of the best runners in the world.

Tegenkamp! - Two-time Olympian Matt Tegenkamp was kicking around to walk us through a track workout.

A sand trap - Tiger Wood is still one of Nike's most celebrated athletes. An entire building is named after him, and there's this nice putting green and sand trap constructed, just in case he needs to practice his short game during a visit.

Beach volleyball - Nike HQ provides facilities for just about every sport. It was too chilly for beach volleyball the day we visited.

Ranaldo's statue - A statue of the great soccer player oversees the field named after him.

The climbing gym - At the end of the hall in their sports complex there is a nice climbing gym. The guy is trying to figure out how to get to the top.

Another stunning view - One of the many lovely views of Lake Nike.