Meet the Crew: Sean

Today we met up with Sean, an enthusiastic runner who is currently training for his 11th marathon. Sean used to come to join our weekly fun runs when he was in high school and now he leads them! Join him every Saturday morning at our Marina location to log in some miles around the Bay.

What is your favorite running route in the city, why?

I love running down into the Presidio and out along the Marina Green and Crissy Field. There are so many great views, especially on clear days. You also always get a great hill workout if you come back up Divisadero. The corner of Broadway and Divisadero is one of my favorite panoramic views in the city. The view from the top is worth the climb!

What is your current/favorite running shoe, why?

I love running in the Brooks Launch 2. It fits my foot like a glove and it’s lightweight while still providing enough support and cushioning for long runs. On the days where I want a little less shoe on my foot for tempo runs, I love the Adidas Boston. The snugness of the upper paired with the responsiveness of the Boost makes it feel like a fast shoe, perfect for those quicker runs.
Are you training for anything at the moment, which race?

I’m currently training for the Los Angeles Marathon on February 14th. In my last marathon up in Portland, I hit my first ever qualifying time for the Boston Marathon (3:04:36), so I’m hoping to shave some more time off on the downhill course in Los Angeles. I’m shooting for a time of around 3:02, but if everything goes perfectly, I’m really hoping to run my first sub-three hour marathon. It will be an exciting weekend, with the US Olympic Marathon Trials the day before, so I’m hoping that watching the fastest marathoners in the country provides me with some inspiration and good mojo for my own race!

What got you in to running?

When I moved to San Francisco in high school, I saw that my new school had a cross country team. My sister ran in high school, so I figured it’d be a great way to try out running and make some new friends. To this day, I consider it one of the best decisions of my life. Working here at Fleet Feet San Francisco is extra special for me because it was at our Chestnut Street store that I was fit for my first ever pair of running shoes back in 2007, so you could say that now, the shoe is on the other foot. (See what I did there?)
What is your favorite restaurant in the city, why?

Oh man, I have to pick just one? In that case, I’m going to have to give that honor to Tacolicious right here on Chestnut Street. Their tacos are incredible, and they always have a taco of the week to try. Last time I went, I mixed it up between steak and grilled salmon. The margaritas are on point, as well, which is a must when chowing down mouth-watering tacos.

What is your favorite thing to do on your day off?

As cliche as it sounds, I love to just get out and explore the city. Being able to call San Francisco home is such a blessing as I get to live in one of the most unique and diverse cities in the world. I’ve also found that running in different neighborhoods is a great way to discover new places in the city that I didn’t know of before. I went running at Lands End the other week on my day off and definitely stopped a few times to take in the views.

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Meet the Crew: Keaton

Today we talked with Keaton, our manager for our new SOMA location on Mission & 4th Street. Keaton is a recent graduate of the University of San Francisco and has challenged himself with many races in the past. He has coached our San Francisco Marathon Training Program and is now leading our Thursday night fun runs which include a night of running towards different breweries in the city and ending the workout with a nice cold beer! 

What is your favorite running route in San Francisco?

My favorite running route in the city is through Golden Gate park to the beach and back from my house in the Inner Richmond. I like it so much because the park is one of my favorite areas in the city, it’s relatively flat, and it’s a great 6-mile loop.

What is your favorite running shoe?

My current favorite running shoe is the Mizuno Inspire 11. The new update makes it a little different than the previous editions, but it is still my favorite running shoe at the moment because of how stiff it can be. A close second would be the Asics Kayano 22, followed by the Nike Odyssey.

Are you training for anything at the moment?

I am currently training for my Thursday runs at our SOMA store: Blood, Sweat & Beers!

What got you into running?

My mom got me into running when I was in the 8th grade, starting with 5k and 10k’s. I did my first half marathon my freshmen year of high school and loved it. It’s a great mental sport, and a great way to meditate or just have “me” time 🙂 

What is your favorite restaurant in San Francisco?

I don’t have a favorite restaurant in the city because there are so many places I would immediately say yes to going to for the night. But if I have to choose, I would say Brenda’s French Soul Food in the morning/afternoon or YakiniQ at night.

What is your favorite thing to do on your day off?

My favorite thing to do on my day off… Boy what a question. The sheer possibilities are truly limitless. I would have to say my favorite thing to do on my day off is having an absolutely open day to do whatever I want. If that means staying in and getting laundry done, or playing Xbox, or watching Netflix, or going to the park because it’s sunny, or running over to Land’s End, relaxing on Baker’s Beach, the taste of salt with the crunch of sand in my mouth. Those are the days I long for, the days of reading any book I desire, falling into another world head first with no intention of leaving.

Meet the Crew: Dan

This week we interviewed the General Manager of Fleet Feet Sports San Francisco, Dan! Dan is very passionate about helping people out with all their running needs. He has just finished the New York Marathon and loves to challenge himself. He enjoys running all over the bay so he can eat as much pizza from Hole in the Wall as possible. Dan will be leading his weekly lunchtime fun runs at our Fleet Feet Sports SOMA location so don’t forget to stop by and chat with him!

1. What is your favorite running route in the city?

My favorite place to run in the city is the Presidio. It’s where I lived when I first moved to the city and it still feels like home.
2. What is your current/favorite running shoe?

My favorite running shoe is the Mizuno Inspire 11 because it got me to the finish line at the New York City Marathon.

3. Are you training for anything at the moment, which race?

I just finished a race and I don’t have anything else on my schedule yet, I’d like to take part in a team relay or an ultra in the next few years.
4. What got you in to running?

I grew up in England and they have a really strong grassroots running culture that got me into the sport and I stuck with it through high school and college.

5. What is your favorite restaurant in the city, why?

House of Prime Rib because they give you second servings.
6. What is your favorite thing to do on your day off? 

I like to get across one of the bridges and be outdoors as much as possible.

Nike Women’s Half Marathon 2015

This past weekend over 20,000 women conquered the hills of San Francisco for the Nike Women’s Half Marathon. We cheered on many of our friends who were participating in the race, especially our staff members and all of our training group participants who we have been coaching since this Summer. When it finally came to race day, everyone was feeling strong and motivated. It was a much anticipated morning and a finish to be very proud of.

Last Sunday was a beautiful day in the city, not a cloud in the sky nor fog to hinder the breathtaking views along the course. Before sunrise, race participants filed onto the starting line alongside Union Square where the race commenced up Post Street.

As the minutes ticked on towards the 6:30am start time, music and cheers exhilarated the crowd. Once the starting pistol fired, thousands raced out of Downtown to begin the course through the Tenderloin and on towards the Richmond. At every corner, a singing choir, drummers, San Francisco residents and volunteers were awaiting to cheer on the massive group as they scaled Golden Gate Park out towards the Avenues.

The natural lighting was especially beautiful. As the sun rose, the pink hues of the sky illuminated the neighborhood as the group swept through the rolling hills of the Richmond on towards the Presidio. Neighborhood residents woke up early in the morning to watch the event and to support all the runners before they conquered the hardest part, Lincoln hill.

The tenth mile is the most infamous of the most recent Nike Women’s Half Marathon course. Many dread the tenth mile, but it was definitely the most dense in cheerleaders. Music blasting, inspiring posters, and hundreds of enthused spectators helped everyone conquer what they have all been training for. Lincoln is a steep and lengthy hill, that winds all the way up to a gorgeous view of famous San Francisco landmark, the Golden Gate Bridge. As opposed to previous years, the fog did not obstruct the inspiring view up ahead that encouraged each participant to power through.

Our staff members conquering the Nike Women’s Half Marathon.

After Lincoln, it’s all downhill for the eleventh mile that leads out to a fast and flat finish through Crissy Fields and onto the Marina Green. The morning sun illuminates the city skyline as you wind your way past the Warming Hut and out along the Bay. The finish through the large expanse of Marina Boulevard allows for a huge crowd to meet you at the finish line. The cheers and excitement lift you through the very last part of the course and before you know it, you’re passing right through the finisher’s shoot on towards the chocolate milk and foil blankets leading you to your much deserved medal, the coveted Tiffany’s necklace! There’s really nothing like a little blue box to congratulate you at the end of your run.

The Nike Women’s Half Marathon is a special race, bringing women from all over the country, even all over the world, to experience the beautiful landscape of our city and to finally conquer what they have spent months training for. It’s an empowering experience bringing elite athletes, habitual racers, new runners and walkers all in one space to cheer each other on. As a participant, you feel truly celebrated and even among the thousands of others in the race, very special! Congratulations to everyone who crossed the finish line last week, it is a great achievement to be greatly proud of. We hope to experience it all again with you next year!

Fleet Feet Sports San Francisco SOMA Grand Opening Party

This past weekend was definitely one to remember! The Nike Women’s Half Marathon was held in San Francisco Sunday morning and on top of that, Friday was the Grand Opening of our new Fleet Feet Sports SOMA location on 4th and Mission Street.

To celebrate these big events, our new store held quite the celebration! Our 4,500 sq/ft store held vendors of the brands we proudly carry, our training program participants, beloved customers who have supported us throughout the years, our hardworking staff, friends, family and even professional athlete Jordan Hasay! Instead of the usual running outfit, everyone was dressed to the nines with hors d’oeuvres & champagne in hand.

As guests filed through the revolving doors they were greeted with a Nike canvas tote bag and a custom Fleet Feet Sports San Francisco shirt. The celebratory atmosphere was ignited by DJ Ken Fusion and a photo booth corner where guests could pose in their cool Nike kicks. As everyone filed in and got the full tour of the new store, owner Brett took the stage and dedicated a toast to everyone who helped with the development of Fleet Feet Sports SOMA. After raising our special edition Nike Women’s champagne glasses to the toast, mingling, dancing and eating continued!

The new space is decked out with all your running amenities. As you approach the register, you are welcomed with a beautiful map of San Francisco on a background of chalk board paint where all of our future running events and courses will be displayed! We now have four fitting rooms and an entire section dedicated to sports bras and running accessories, including massage tools, nutrition and insoles for your shoes. You can also find lockers in this section where anyone can store their gear safely as they run around the city during store hours. We have an expansive floor filled with various apparel including Under Armour, Nike, Oiselle and Patagonia. Last but certainly not least…the heart of our store…the shoe auditorium! Each shoe is displayed on our beautifully constructed shoe wall where customers can ogle at all of the options.

San Francisco is filled with an enthusiastic running community and we are so excited to be able to spread our love of running to the heart of the city. We have been anticipating the opening of this new location and cannot wait for you to come on by. Stop by the store to chat about all your running needs and keep up to date with all of our events so you can run with us!

Meet the Crew: Adam

This time around we met up with Adam, our accessory buyer as well as our Under Armour Brand Ambassador here at the store. Adam has been working at Fleet Feet San Francisco for a little over a year now and has a great passion for running. He is currently also one of the coaches for our Nike Women’s Half Marathon Program and a former team member of University of San Francisco’s track and cross country team. Come by the store and say hello!

1. What is your favorite running route in the city?

Out of the various routes in the city that I enjoy, my favorite is the “Lands-End Loop.” It starts at University of San Francisco then cruises down to the beach via canopied trails in Golden Gate Park, passes the Sutro Bath Ruins, ventures through Lands End where you can catch a glimpse of the Golden Gate Bridge, climbs through the secluded Presidio and returns to city blocks that all make an 11-mile loop. This path allows me to start downhill through familiar trails, to see the beach on a flat stretch and then climb up hills along a range of cliffs. It’s a tour of the city with both easy and challenging options.

2. What is your current/favorite running shoe?

I typically enjoy a Mizuno Wave Rider but right now my current favorite pair are the Nike Lunartempos. Both Nike and Mizuno offer me a lightweight feel with just a bit of cushioning for a springy stride. I’ve found good success in the LunarTempo and have been able to put a surprisingly high number of miles into each pair I’ve had.

3. Are you training for anything at the moment?

Currently, I’m not training for anything major, but I run consistently in case a certain race catches my eye. I may end up doing a race or two during the holiday season. I typically enjoy sticking to a 5k, 8k or 10k on the roads for a race situation as opposed to half or full marathons. I also help out with our shop’s Nike Women’s Half-Marathon training crew, so I guess you could say I’m training to help this large group achieve their goals and have fun along the way!

4. What got you in to running?

I ran my first road race when I was five years old in my hometown of Redondo Beach, California. Since then I’ve always enjoyed being active and testing my limits with how fast I could go. When I was in elementary school, running events were held every week. Students could rack up miles on the track and every accumulated 25 miles we would get rewarded with prizes. This harvested a competitive edge amongst me and my friends which carried into middle-school, high-school and even college where I continued to run competitively while building strong relationships with teammates and coaches. I really enjoy the skill sets and strengths that running can teach people.

5. What is your favorite restaurant in the city, why?

Adam after a long day’s work.

My favorite spot is Umami in The Marina (not to be mistaken with Umami Burger). It’s hard to choose as I’ve got so many places I’d love to share here, but for me Umami has overall the top food items and vibes I enjoy. It can be a busy spot but for good reason as they have some of the best ribs I’ve ever had, incredible sushi rolls and they mix some smooth cocktails as well. It’s worth the trip if you haven’t been.

6. What is your favorite thing to do on your day off?

On my days off I find myself running, playing soccer, exploring new music selections and exploring San Francisco with friends. I enjoy being around people and soaking up the sun at a park if the weather permits. I also try to stay productive and get some chores done around the house.

NWSF Last Hill Run

Last week, our Nike Women’s Half Marathon Training Group conquered their last hill workout before the big day! The team has been training since the beginning of this summer and have made a ton of progress. For the last hill workout, our coaches led the team to the infamous Lyon Street Steps. The challenge was to get in as many repeats up the staircase in 30 minutes!! It was a challenge, but a challenged that was surely conquered with upcoming race in mind.   

For all the competitors that ran the race last year, they know the Lincoln hill near the Presidio is the one to train for. This weekend race is much anticipated and our coaches are proud to say that our ladies are ready to cross the finish line. Good luck to everyone running the Nike Women’s Half Marathon and we’ll see you when it’s all over!

2015 Shake Out Run

We are so excited to celebrate the Grand Opening of our new store location. We have been preparing for many many months now and definitely have grown as a team! Along with the excitement of our new additional store location, the 2015 Nike Women’s Half Marathon is taking place this weekend. Our training program has been preparing this whole season and the big race is finally approaching.

We have a lot to celebrate.

So in honor of this huge weekend, we are holding a Shake Out Run to invite the public to join in on the party! Here you will be with able to join other Bay Area runners and take advantage of all the new perks our SOMA location has to offer.

If you are signed up for the race this weekend, you are able to meet with our training program coaches to hear all exclusive insider details about what is to be expected.

If you are here just to visit the store, free bags of Philz Coffee Beans and a chance to meet new running buddies will be awaiting.

In any case, you will be able to see the new store that is three times the size of our Chestnut Street location!! New product is up like Under Armour and Oiselle apparel, we have lockers for people to store their things after work when they want to go for an evening run and an interactive map where you can share your favorite running routes around the city.

The event is free and open to the public. All you need to do is RSVP at the link. Along with this, is a complimentary bag of specialized Philz coffee beans.

SIGN UP HERE

Reach the Beach Run with New Balance

This past weekend our store’s shoe buyer, Mecque, was invited to join New Balance on a trip to the East Coast where she visited New Balance headquarters in Boston and ran a race in New Hampshire! The race was the New Balance Reach the Beach Relay that was a 200 mile relay race from Bretton Woods to Hampton Beach. Reach the beach is the oldest and longest running relay in the United States. Her team consisted of 12 people packed in to two vans that ran for 24 hours!

How was the Reach the Beach Relay?

My legs were 3.3 miles, 9.1 miles, and 4.1 miles. The 9.1 mile leg had 702 ft of climbing, and was definitely the most challenging, but most rewarding leg of the race. I had 15 kills (runners passed) and conquered every single hill (no walking up). My right foot fell asleep around mile
3, but my team met up with me, gave me water, and that solved my problem. My biggest victory was averaging a 9:02″ pace the entire time.

What was the route for the race?

Our race started in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire near Mount Washington in the White Mountains. From there it wound down through Carrol, Laconia, Tamworth, and a bunch of other small towns. We slept in a campground for 2 hours under the stars and started up again at 4:45 am on Saturday morning. Our first runner had 20 minutes to wake up and get ready to run.

Day 2, we ran through Candia, Danville, Kingston and finally ended at Hampton Beach around 12:30 pm. We were the first New Balance team to finish and placed 21st overall.

What was New Balance headquarters like?

We toured the new Corp headquarters in Brighton, MA. It had a museum of all the shoes release by NB and the history of the brand. Afterwards, we headed to the New Balance and took a tour of the innovation lab and factory floor. It takes 9 minutes for the entire floor to make a case of shoes and the process is crazy fast! Each day they focus on a different shoe.

Meet the Crew: Jessica

The crew at Fleet Feet Sports SF are unique individuals who love to share their enthusiasm of living in the city and helping out the running community of San Francisco.

Today, we talked to Jessica, our Bra Buyer and Apparel Merchandiser who is responsible for organizing all the store’s clothes. She is also currently helping to coach the Nike Women’s Half Marathon Training Group here at the store. She moved to San Francisco just a little over a year ago from Oregon and has fallen in love with the city’s beautiful California landscape ever since!

What is your favorite running spot in the city?

My favorite running route is a 10-miler from my doorstep. It winds through the Sunset, Stern Grove, around Lake Merced, next to the Zoo, and down Great Highway, ending on a trail through Golden Gate Park. It’s simple, never crowded, and so beautiful! (Okay, and pretty flat!)

What shoe are you running in these days?

My current favorite shoe is the New Balance Fresh Foam Zante. It is everything I want a running shoe to be: light, quick, fits my foot well, and looks cool, too. It has a pretty fitted arch that supports my foot better than a lot of shoes in the neutral, lightweight category.

Are you training for any races at the moment?

I am currently training for the Nike Women’s Half Marathon, and am helping coach a great group of women achieve their goals with that race. Down the line, I have the California International Marathon lined up for December, which will be my fifth marathon.

Jess running the San Francisco Marathon!

What got you interested in running?

I actually started running in middle school to stay in shape for soccer. As I got older, I grew more serious with my running and it became more of a lifestyle rather than a “sport” to me. I also had a pretty awesome high school track coach that I attribute a lot of this change in mindset to.

Where’s your favorite place to grub in the city?

Geez that is tough! I place equal value in an overstuffed breakfast burrito as I do with a fancy dinner spot and a view, so for this reason I am going to say I can’t answer. SF offers many great places depending on my mood and hunger status.

What does a day off of work look like for you?

I love exploring SF on my days off, especially the outdoors. Usually there is always something my friends and I want to do, whether it’s a sunrise bike ride to Hawk’s Hill or laying out at Ocean Beach. And of course there is always food involved, too!!!