Walt Stack (September 28, 1908 – January 19, 1995) was a hod carrier by trade and an

icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic Church, Catholic, and Lutheranism, Lutheran churches. The most common subjects include Jesus, Mary, mother of ...

of the

San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

running Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion by which humans and other animals move quickly on foot. Running is a gait with an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This is in contrast to walkin ...

community. Stack ran approximately in his lifetime. Even in his 70s and 80s, Stack ran many more

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

s and

ultramarathon An ultramarathon is a footrace longer than the traditional marathon distance of . The sport of running ultramarathons is called ultra running or ultra distance running. Various distances, surfaces, and formats are raced competitively, from the ...

s than all but a few of his running peers. Stack was featured in Nike's first "

Just Do It ''Just Do It '' is a trademark of shoe company Nike. The tagline was coined in 1988 at an advertising agency meeting. The founder of the Wieden+Kennedy agency, Dan Wieden, credits the inspiration for his "Just Do It" Nike slogan to a death r ...

" advertisement that debuted on July 1, 1988, when he was still running at 80 years of age.

Early life

Walter stack was born in 1908 and grew up in poverty. As a teenager, he lied about his age to join the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

. After being discharged in 1926, Stack began sailing from

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...

, and became radicalized. He was a member of the

Industrial Workers of the World The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), whose members are nicknamed "Wobblies", is an international labor union founded in Chicago, United States in 1905. The nickname's origin is uncertain. Its ideology combines general unionism with indu ...

from 1927-1931.

Communist Party

Stack joined the Communist Party and Marine Workers Industrial Union in the early 1930's. To avoid serving a prison sentence for his actions during a strike, Stack fled from Baltimore to

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

and arrived at the end of the 1934 West Coast Waterfront Strike. He moved to

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

after a beef related to redbaiting and continued going to sea, working as a marine firefighter. When the Communist Party began to abandon

dual unionism Dual unionism is the development of a union or political organization parallel to and within an existing labor union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization ...

, he joined the Marine Firemen's Union. Stack was an open communist and a top recruiter for the Communist Party in California. In the 1950's during the Korean War, he was screened by the Coast Guard and was unable to continue sailing. He later found work in construction.

Dolphin South End Running Club

In the 1960s, Stack was a member of San Francisco's Dolphin Club. Circa 1965/1966, Stack invited members of the South End Rowing Club to meet with him and another Dolphin Club member regarding the formation of a

running club A running club, is an eclectic institution specialising in running and oriented towards the sport and recreation of running or track and field. The club may train for and compete in cross country, road running, fell running, track and field som ...

that would include women and children for the first time. This club would become known as the

Dolphin South End Running Club The Dolphin South End Runners (DSE) is the oldest and largest running club in San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Fr ...

(DSE), San Francisco's oldest running club and among the oldest in the United States. In his role as club sage, Stack exhorted his flock to "Start slow... and taper off." The message conveyed both his

wisdom Wisdom, also known as sapience, is the ability to apply knowledge, experience, and good judgment to navigate life’s complexities. It is often associated with insight, discernment, and ethics in decision-making. Throughout history, wisdom ha ...

and a sense of enthusiasm for middle and back of the pack

fun run A fun run is a friendly race that involves either road running or cross country running with participants taking part for their own enjoyment rather than competition. A fun run will usually be held to raise funds for a charity, with sponsors prov ...

ners, and the slogan has been emblazoned on all the club's jerseys ever since. At the DSE races, which have taken place nearly every weekend in and around San Francisco since the 1970s, Walt was usually the master of ceremonies and presenter of ribbons to the top finishers. Stack organized the first

Double Dipsea The Dipsea Race is a trail running event in California, United States. It is the oldest cross-country trail running event and one of the oldest Running, foot races of any kind in the United States. The 7.5 mile (12 km) long Dipsea Race ha ...

race in 1970, and it is today officially named the "Walt Stack Double Dipsea".

''I'm going to do this 'til I get planted''

For 27 years, from 1966 until 1993, Stack persisted in covering a set training route. His highly visible training routine made him a San Francisco institution. "I'm going to do this 'til I get planted," Stack decreed. Starting on his bike, he would ride six hilly miles from his

Potrero Hill Potrero Hill is a residential neighborhood in San Francisco, California. It is known for being one of the sunniest neighborhoods in the city and having view of the skyline, Sutro Tower, Twin Peaks, and the bay. A working-class neighborhood unt ...

home to Fisherman's Wharf. Once there, he'd strip off his shirt, displaying tattoos of peacocks, wild horses, and bathing beauties across his chest, and then proceed to run a route over the

Golden Gate Bridge The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean in California, United States. The structure links San Francisco—the northern tip of the San Francisco Peni ...

Sausalito Sausalito (Spanish for "small willow grove") is a city in Marin County, California, United States, located southeast of Marin City, south-southeast of San Rafael, and about north of San Francisco from the Golden Gate Bridge. Sausalito's p ...

and back, after which he would take a one-mile (1.6 km) swim in the currents of the

San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay (Chochenyo language, Chochenyo: 'ommu) is a large tidal estuary in the United States, U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the cities of San Francisco, California, San ...

near

Alcatraz Island Alcatraz Island () is a small island about 1.25 miles offshore from San Francisco in San Francisco Bay, California, near the Golden Gate, Golden Gate Strait. The island was developed in the mid-19th century with facilities for a Alcatraz Isla ...

. He trained on the course and competed in the venerable (first run in 1905) and arduous

Dipsea race The Dipsea Race is a trail running event in California, United States. It is the oldest cross-country trail running event and one of the oldest Running, foot races of any kind in the United States. The 7.5 mile (12 km) long Dipsea Race ha ...

. When the Dipsea was over, Stack would turn around and run the course in reverse, known as the Double Dipsea. It is probably noteworthy that Stack could claim that he was the only actual 'prisoner' of Alcatraz Island to have made a successful swim from Alcatraz to the shores of Fisherman's Wharf — Stack was a prisoner on Alcatraz for a six-month period sentenced to hard labor while a youth for having gone Absent Without Leave (AWOL) in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. He had in fact swum the distance many times in his later years, as a participant in sanctioned Alcatraz swims which have become quite popular. He often swam year round in those cold Bay waters. ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

'' once sent a writer to do a story on Stack.The Old Man and the Bay
''

'', Dan Levin, December 15, 1975. Retrieved July 8, 2020. The reporter followed him around for a week, getting to know his habits and training routine. The writer, so impressed at how Walt almost invariably ran eight and a half minute miles - regardless of the distance - came to the conclusion that "Walt Stack's pace is so steady, if he fell out of an airplane he probably would fall at the speed of 8.5 minutes per mile." Stack is the ''cause célèbre'' of many fascinating anecdotes during the course of his life and running career. He was long a card-carrying, dues paying member of the Communist Party. In 1982 he participated in the

Ironman Triathlon An Ironman Triathlon is one of a series of long-distance triathlon races organized by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC), consisting of a swim, a bicycle ride and a marathon run completed in that order, a total of . It is widely consid ...

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, and he holds the event record for most time taken to finish, in dead last place. Surviving the ocean swim rather effortlessly, Stack commenced the long bike ride on his single speed granny-basket bike, and finished the marathon run early the next morning, but not before stopping in for a full waffle breakfast prior to finishing. Stack finished in the record-breaking time of just over 26 hours. Officials implemented a cut-off time in subsequent years. In the summer of 1977, Richard Thalheimer (of

The Sharper Image Sharper Image is an American brand that offers consumers home electronics, air purifiers, gifts, and other lifestyle products through its website, catalog, and third-party retailers. The brand is owned by ThreeSixty Group, with the U.S. catalog a ...

fame), chose Stack to be the

poster boy A poster child (sometimes poster boy or poster girl) is, according to the original meaning of the term, a child afflicted by some disease or deformity whose picture is used on posters or other media as part of a campaign to raise money or enlis ...

for the Realtime Watch, which Thalheimer promoted as the first affordable, waterproof, and shock-resistant chronograph that could be reliably used by joggers. Thalheimer took out an ad in ''

Runner's World ''Runner's World'' is a global magazine and website for runners of all abilities. It has additionally developed experiential formats, including a digital membership program, called Runner's World+. It is published by Hearst in Easton, Pennsylva ...

'' featuring his friend Walt Stack, and sold thousands of the watches at $69 apiece, earning $1.5 million using Stack's image. Stack also was an unofficial finisher of the hundred mile long

Western States Endurance Run The Western States Endurance Run, known commonly as the Western States 100 or Western States, is a 100.2-mile (161 km) ultramarathon that takes place on California's Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada Mountains trails each year on the last ...

, completing the run in 38 hours and 47 minutes, but not making the cut-off time.

References

External links