Portlands newest running store

So, Road Runner Sports has openned a store in Tualatin. I happened to notice this the other day when I went to lunch with a collegue in Tualatin. It caught my eye because Kristin has ordered from their catalog, and I loved their catalog.
Saturday, Kristin and I decided to go check out the store and see what it was like, and it is closer than Fit Right Northwest for us.
So, we get there, and it is completely different than the other running stores. The first thing we noticed, this store has a huge selection from a very wide range of companies. What impressed me the most is they had clothing from Zoot, those clothes look so comfortable, and they are definately high end.

Kristin was excited because her shoes were $40 less than they are at Fit Right Northwest.

So, we were just wandering around, and this really nice lady who worked there came up to us and started talking to us. I am not sure how it all happened, but I started talking about some of my running issues, but not expecting to actually buy shoes, I didn't bring my running shoes. I was talking about how I am pushing off during my stride and how it doesn't feel right and maybe my shoes are worn out. Wendi, the lady helping us, informed me that I should never feel that I have to force my foot in to a certain position while running. She then asked if we had time to do a fit analysis. Okay, this story is getting long, sorry.

So, we had some time and decided to see if their system could see if maybe I was in the wrong shoe. So, we went through this really cool process that included me walking on this analysis machine to figure out the pressure points in my feet, arch type, roll off, etc. then them doing a slow motion analysis of my run on the treadmill, and analyzing the way my ankle rolled.

We found that my ankle was rolling out, and my Brooks Beasts also are designed to force this, so it was a double whammy. I had been fitted by another, very reputable store, and it looks like they were wrong and they need this high tech stuff too. Wendi probably spent 30 to 40 minutes just analyzing my feet and stride.

So, they determined I need to be in a neutral shoe. Holy cow, they now have me trying on shoes, I wasn't expecting this.... So, Wendi, who Kristin and I have absolutely fell in love with by this point, went in the back room to find me some shoes. She comes out with four pairs to start with, and that was all the more she could fit in one load. I probably had her running all over getting shoes of different sizes, etc. and she never acted like we were causing her any problem. She seemed very happy to help! Absolutely great service! After trying on a countless number of shoes, and trying to avoid the Nike's cause their old stuff sucked. Well, turns out, Nike has done a complete revamp of how they build running shoes, and they are really good. I ended up thinking I needing a 12.5 and they only had a 12 and 13. So, Wendi ordered me a pair of shoes from another store and they showed up 3 biz days later, which I was happy with, considering the shipping was free.

So, I get the shoes, and it turns out the 12.5's don't fit me quite right either and the 13's are too big.
So, I took the shoes back, and another gentleman, Greg, helped me find another pair of shoes that fit me, but we had to do a lot of digging and it ended up being in an unlikely shoe, the Mizuno. Greg, was also just as kind and cool as Wendi, and I think I have a new running store.

So, I finally get my first run in this neutral shoe, which is a complete swing from Motion Control. All I can say is Road Runner Sport has it right, so it seems anyways. Look out Portland Running Stores! We have a chain (which usually means crappy service) that has figured out how to hire great people, train the right fitting techniques (technology helps a lot I am sure, but I only care about the result) and gives me a great price. Now only if Performance Bikes could figure this out!

Okay, this post turned out extremely long, but I had an experiance with a company that I felt was far above anything I had ever experianced, so I thought I would pass it along.