Not being a huge fan of online shopping, and not really knowing WHAT I needed, I started to visit our local running stores. Our stores here in Grande Prairie soon became my favourite places to shop (and dream) about new running gear.
Soon the staff at Walk Run and More knew me by name and became accustomed to my many questions about interesting things in the store. When I wore out my first pair of tennis shoes that I had been training in, they helped me determine what type of shoe worked best for my gait. Then it was a search to find a shoe that fit my wide feet without causing me discomfort on long runs. When we found the best choice for me, I proudly purchased the shoes and I went home to wear them around the house. Then it was a visit to the indoor track to see how it felt to run in them. They were a perfect fit!!
I often returned to the store; looking for new shoes and running accessories as I switched from road running to trail running. The staff knew what shoes worked for me while running on pavement, so they knew what to recommend for trail shoes. Then it was on to hydration packs, and then the problem of me being an "excessive sweater" and sweat running off my bald head and into my eyes....
Who knew Halo makes a very effective headband to help bald guys like me with "sweat management"?? On one of my visits to the store to look for a hat or buff, one of the staff recommended the headband. I purchased the 1980's looking headband and took it for a test run on a sunny day. It was AMAZING how well it worked!! Aside from the odd looking strip of pail skin around my head that was in the shade of the headband, surrounded by the rest of my head which was a golden glow; I fell in love with the headband!! When discussing my odd tan lines with Jenn, she recommended a similar headband by Headsweats that had a built in mesh buff to cover the top of my bald head and prevent the odd tanning pattern. This one worked much better, with only one tan line, rather than two!!
Just last week, I was getting my gear ready for a 5PM start of a trail marathon. I was all dressed, ready to run, then got my pack ready. After filling the water bladder, I hung the pack on the back of a dining room chair while I refilled my bag of salt tabs and filled a pocket with dates for a snack on the trail.
That was when I noticed water, steadily dripping from my pack onto the floor!!! A quick inspection proved that the quick-connect valve in my water hose had failed. Every time a little pressure was applied on the pack water POURED out of the valve!!! This would never work!! My pack would be empty by the time I got to the start line!! With race start time less than 2 hrs away, I hurriedly called my "runners hotline" and was soon talking to Lisa who owns Walk Run and More. After explaining my "leaking issues" to her, she assured me that she had a replacement valve for me; sitting on the front counter at the store.
The store location was only a small detour on my route to the race. As I leapt from my truck and sprinted across the parking lot, dressed in full running gear of fluorescent green knee-high compression socks, running shorts, tight tee shirt, and my brightly patterned Headsweats buff - my leaking hydration pack left an evidence trail as I entered the store; proving that I was in distress and needed a little help!!! Im sure other customers in the store questioned my sanity when I handed Lisa my pack that was now soaking wet and only half full of water.
In order to prevent more of a disturbance in the store, Lisa directed me to a table in the shipping receiving area in the back of the store where she helped me replace the faulty quick-connect valve. If the race had already started, we would have won a prize for the fastest person in and out of the transition area!!
As I tried to pay her for the part, she chased me out the front door, and said "You have a race to run, pay me some other time!!"
Needless to say, this experience was just the beginning of a very eventful evening of running a trail marathon (which will be detailed in another blog). I learned many things in that race, but perhaps the most valuable was the importance of building relationships with our local retailers, and supporting the people in our community that make a difference to so many people.
Next time you are needing to replace your worn out pair of shoes, or just wanting to shop for your next running accessory; consider shopping local. Think of the impact these local stores have on our running community, how these stores support their staff who are also members of our run groups....and you never know when you will be entertained by some bald guy in bright green, knee high socks sprinting across the parking lot, dragging a leaking backpack....you sure won't see THAT on Amazon!!!
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