Walt Stack was a hod carrier by trade and an icon

Icon

An icon is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, from Eastern Christianity and in certain Eastern Catholic churches...

 of the San Francisco, California

San Francisco, California

San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...

, running

Running

Running is a means of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. It is simply defined in athletics terms as a gait in which at regular points during the running cycle both feet are off the ground...

 community by popular acclaim. Stack ran approximately 62000 miles (99,779.1 km) in his lifetime. Even in his 70s and 80s, Stack ran many more marathons and 50 miles (80.5 km) ultramarathon

Ultramarathon

An ultramarathon is any sporting event involving running longer than the traditional marathon length of .There are two types of ultramarathon events: those that cover a specified distance, and events that take place during specified time...

s than all but a few of his running peers.

Stack was featured in Nike's

Nike, Inc.

Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...

 first "Just Do It" advertisement that debuted on July 1, 1988. See the commercial
In the 1960s, Stack was a member of San Francisco's Dolphin Club.