208 North Main Street (540) 552-9339 Blacksburg, VA
• Wednesday runs and walks at 5:00 PM @ Runabout Sports. Earn the 100 mile club shirt. Most people run and walk 3-6 miles. Come join the fun! We continue to have 20-40 people showing up.
* January 19th: Team in Training Spring Session Meeting: Get coaching, help people and get the chance to run a marathon in Alaska, San Diego (Rock & Roll), and Nashville. Meeting at 6:30 at Blacksburg Library.
• Feb 7th: Groundhog Scurry: Blacksburg to Christiansburg via Huckleberry Trail; 5.76 miles and 2 mile race. 10:15 AM (2 mile) and 11:00 AM for 5.76 miler: go to www.runaboutsports.com/groundhogscurry.html
• February 28th at 1:00 PM is the Blacksburg Classic 10 miler and 5K. Blacksburg Striders Event. http://civic.bev.net/striders/classic.html
HAPPY NEW YEAR! I love new years because it allows a clean slate. A chance to achieve the goals that where elusive in 2003 and a time to reflect.
This year was a challenging year. It started off with classes and the continue struggle to get the store opened. Dealing with rejections from banks, tests and projects for classes, and running poorly (too much stress I suppose). Then First National Bank’s Matt Martin called me to say they approved the loan (my mom was visiting at the time which made it even better!). I finished finals during renovations, did a million things and on May 19th Runabout Sports opened!
Each day had its highs and lows. The customers liked the store and our customer service, my employees where unbelievable. Quick learners and they truly cared about the customer. However, in those first weeks we where going out of business. We simply didn’t have enough customers.
Then a small miracle happened. The Roanoke Times Current Section did an article (by Greg Esposito) on us about the store and our unique approach to fitting customers. The article came out on a Sunday and immediately the store had its best day of the week. That week did better than the previous three weeks combined. I was able to hire back my laid off employees, get some needed sleep, and do the things a good running and soccer store does for the community. The clinics, the people we help get rid of frustrating injuries, coaching, and helping in our small way to assist Americans to be more fit and fight the number one killer in the U.S.; heart disease.
Runabout 2004 GOALS:
We made it through 2003 and are looking forward to a better 2004. We have ambitious goals: Creating a winter race series: Frosty 5K, Groundhog Scurry 5.76 miler, Blacksburg Classic (a Blacksburg Striders Event) and a race on March 20th (1st day of Spring!) revolving around a Spring theme or Leprechauns (St. Pat's day)- 4 miler.
In late April, the VT Rec department and Runabout are working on something big, more details to come. We will continue with the Fall X-C running series that is FREE for age 12 and under and only $2.00 for those over 12. A great, healthy family event that's every Monday at 6:00 PM for seven weeks starting in September. We also are looking at putting on a trail race perhaps on the old Beauty Loop (about 10.5 miles) and a shorter course at Pandapas. Last and not least, increasing the Wednesday night run participation! Our record was 49 people in 2003.
To go along with our amazing customer service, Runabout BEATS all with their NEW shoe card. Buy five pairs and the sixth is FREE! That is 20% OFF. No one beats that deal. It’s our way of thanking you for supporting us. Anyone can be on your shoe card so this especially helps families. That’s everyday, all year on all shoes. We also will match any price you find elsewhere on same model in catalogs and other retail stores. Great service, great price!
I want to thank the community for allowing Runabout Sports to serve you. Your support and constant referrals to friends and family members have allowed us to survive. I, Scott, Kim, Dave, Karly, Jess and Kirsten THANK YOU!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!