Local Running Stores

Andrew A.

Pacer
What is the LRS scene where you live? Are there strong, welcoming retail centers with strong customer service that support the local running community, including race organization or sponsorship? Is it a barren wasteland? Somewhere in between?

In Boulder, we have a wealth of choices ranging from the granddaddy (now corporate chain owned) Boulder Running Co. to in-state chain Runners Roost to start-ups Go Far and In Motion. Just up the road, in Longmont, we also have the intriguing model of Shoes & Brews. I have shopped them all through the years, with varying experiences. Rent in Boulder is at ridiculous levels, though not quite up with San Francisco or Manhattan just yet. It seems fascinating to me that (so far) the local population manages to support four distinct retail entities aimed at the running shoe buying public. The big box sporting goods stores have all been run out of town, so really they are competing with each other, Amazon, Holabird and RW at this point. Given the COVID impacts on top of rising rent and an increasing shift to online retail, I am uncertain all of them will survive the coming 18 months. None of them sponsored local races this summer, that I'm aware of, so that is likely not a good sign.
 

imnothammer

Moderator
Fleet Feet and Sound Runner are the running-specific chains in my immediate area. They have decent selections and great staff, as well as some good turn outs for their community runs.

I also live about an hour and half away from NYC by train so the sky is the limit if I am really hunting down something particular. During the craze I was able to track down a pair of 4%'s in my size by calling every Nike store in Manhattan and begging them to hold one for me.

Shoes & Brews sounds right up my alley... I wish their 800M challenge (the time of your 800 is the price of your beer) existed when I was in college...
 
Last edited:
We have a Premium Outlets Mall in my town and it attacks people from 100 miles away (even from Canada).

It has Adidas, Asics, New Balance, Nike, Saucony stores. There are other sporting goods stores in this mall but I don't necessarily associate them with running. I don't associate these kinds of stores with supporting running - they are just retailers.

There is a Fleet Feet in the city to the north and a running store (single store, not a chain) in the city to the south and these do support local running.
 
Fitness Sports in Clive Iowa (next to Des Moines) is the go to place for central Iowa running gear, information, race schedules, and expert advice. I started running in 1976 and Steve Bobenhouse would be out setting off the gun at most races in the area. He established Fitness Sports in 1984. The central Iowa place to go for running.
 
Fitness Sports will always hold a place in my heart for hosting a comprehensive Lydiard guide on their website, which helped guide my training understanding for the better part of a decade. :D
When I was back in Iowa 2 years ago I stopped in at the new Fitness Sports building in Clive. Steve's wife happen to be there and she went to the back room and got me a free Fitness Sports shirt. In the 70's and 80's I was never quite fast enough to run on the Fitness Sports team so 40 years later they gave me an honorary shirt. I was touched. The running community is the best.
 

Tom

JV
We have a Premium Outlets Mall in my town and it attacks people from 100 miles away (even from Canada).

It has Adidas, Asics, New Balance, Nike, Saucony stores. There are other sporting goods stores in this mall but I don't necessarily associate them with running. I don't associate these kinds of stores with supporting running - they are just retailers.

There is a Fleet Feet in the city to the north and a running store (single store, not a chain) in the city to the south and these do support local running.
SD? Sounds exactly like the running store scene here, but I haven’t heard the Canadian piece.
 
Top