Friday, May 22, 2009
How to help the Larsen family
Since it has happened, all we have been able to think is "how can we help" and we have heard that from some of you as well. So we wanted to let you know how we can all help to support the Larsen family:
Celebrate his Life: Steve's Memorial Service is Saturday, May 23rd at 1 pm at Les Schwab Amphitheater. Many people are planning to meet at Drake park at 12:30 and run or bike to the service.
Contribute to the Steve Larsen Memorial Fund that will go to the Larsen family. This fund is set up at Umpqua Bank. You can drop a check off at any Umpqua bank branch, at Fleet Feet Bend or at Footzone or you can mail a check to:
Steve Larsen Memorial Fund
Umpqua Bank
390 SW Century Drive Suite 100
Bend OR 97702
Hopefully, you will also be able to contribute online in a few days if you check this site: http://www.rememberstevelarsen.com/
Or, if you prefer, Katie Caba is kindly organizing dinners for the family. You can donate money that will be used to purchase gift cards at dinner places for the family. (Also by dropping off a check at Fleet Feet or Footzone.) If you want to donate a home-cooked dinner, contact us and we can put you in touch with the right people.
Finally, next Friday afternoon (May 29th) at 4:30pm there is an exhibition steeplechase, the only non-high school event open to the public, being held at Summit High School as part of the Oregon Elite Championship Meet. They are asking for a $5 minimum donation as a fundraiser for the family of Steve Larsen.
Steve brought so much to our community. We want to rally around the Larsen family so that they know they are not alone.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
My time with Steve Larsen
Monday, May 11, 2009
Lots Going On!

Saturday, April 11, 2009
1 Year in the Books
It's equally fun to look back at the moment as we seem to have really gained some major momentum over the last few months. We've been busy and our programs have just been a ton of fun. In short, I feel very lucky. Lucky that people like to support the store and even more lucky to truly, truly love what I do. It never feels like work and I look forward to heading to work every single day. Sure, we had a lot of challenges to overcome during our first year but it makes it much more satisfying to now look back.
Moving forward, our mission is the same. We want to define what a true walking and running specialty store is supposed to be about. It is all we do and is our one and only focus. We want to help people achieve their goals with fitness. No fluff here. We love to talk biomechanics, shoes, nutrition, and technical clothing. It keeps things simple not to muddy the water for us and our customers know what to expect from us. We may not be who you want to come to for a fashion consult, but you'd be hard pressed to find a group of employees that has more real world experience in the world of road and trail running. It's not a hobby for us, it's a lifestyle.
Anyway, I just wanted to thank everyone for supporting and believing in our cause and we will work harder than ever to keep you in the right shoes and on the path toward better fitness.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
"No Boundaries" begins!!!
We had a really exciting day last Saturday. It was the kickoff of our first training program, "No Boundaries". After lots of 'stressing out' about the details, the event went seamlessly and we had an absolute blast with our 60+ participants. One of my favorite things about owning a Fleet Feet Store store is getting people excited about running and walking! We had seven very experienced coaches and were inspired by the stories of our participants. From recently battling cancer to struggling to lose weight, to just not knowing where to begin with running, we heard it all. It was inspiring! For our first week, we ran and walked a full mile and everyone came back excited to do it again this weekend. All in all, just a fantastic day. We can't wait to do it again this weekend with our walkers and runners set to tackle 1.5 miles out there!
We feel lucky to have such a fun, outgoing, and excited group to work with! Our end goal is to finish the Heaven Can Wait 5K Walk/Run. What a great event to support and to train for!
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Fleet Feet Bend Invades Hawaii!
Sean, en route to the Sun.
Up next was the St. Paddy's Day Run 'til You're Green 5k, also on Maui. Dave, Gina, and Sean all showed up in their green for this warm rain-drenched race. Gina ran to a p.r. of 25:26, good for 7th girl and 1st in her age group. Dave rocked to a p.r., too, in 20:48, good for 4th in the old man's age group. Sean finished in 17:12 for 3rd overall.
Dave and Gina, pre-St. Paddy's Day run.
Sean and Dave, hanging out in front of the bag piper dude.
While Dave flew back to the cold of central Oregon, Gina and Sean continued their vacation on the Big Island. On March 20, they found themselves at the starting line of the uber-low-key Friendship 5k. Gina ran strong and steady through the humidity, and despite a small detour near the finish, she won in 25:30. Sean took off fast and strong, determined to run sub-17. When he got to where he thought the turn around was, there was no cone or person there, nor any runner anywhere in site behind him. So he went a little further. Still no turn around or runners. Oops. So he re-traced back to where he started seeing runners again, got back on course, and rallied for 2nd place in 18:57 on his 3.5 mile 5k. (Sorry, no pictures from this one.)
Fleet Feet's Hawaiian grand finale was the Big Island International Marathon in Hilo on March 22. Through the early start, humidity, tough first 10 miles, rain, wind, and sun, Gina was able to p.r. in a smokin' 4:15:32, good for 2nd in her age group (which was worth a gift certificate for some tasty Hawaiian candy). Sean planned on starting easy and finishing strong...however, the opposite proved true. Still, he was happy to finish his Hawaiian running vacation with a 2:56:52, good for 3rd overall (he won a gift certificate for some tasty candy, too).Gina finishes her p.r. marathon.
Sean, wishing the finish line was 4 miles closer.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Here comes No Boundaries...
Tomorrow those folks will be running 1 mile out there on roads and around Drake Park. We have 60+ signed up so we have a real nice, fun class set for everyone. With some of the most experienced runners in Bend as coaches, our "newbies" will be in good hands. I'm sure it'll be a little chaotic as we dive into our first training program but we just can't wait. We've met a lot of the folks as they've come in for last minute advice and asked us to check out to see if their shoes are "run worthy". Its been a blast and I can't wait to wake up tomorrow morning!
We'll also be starting our 1/2 marathon program (we are the official training program for the Pacific Crest Marathon) on April 5th and we will have an informational meeting this coming Tuesday at 6 PM. If you want more info on the program, click here.
So come on in, meet some of the coaches, and get ready for Pacific Crest 1/2 Marathon with us.