Family connections run through Episode 10 of Slingin’ Shoes which features interviews with Genie Beaver of West Stride in Atlanta and one of the founders of Altra, Brian Beckstead who remains an ambassador for the brand. Genie has a powerful co...

Hear the story of how slinging bottles of Black Velvet in 7-11 led to Harry Chandler joining the run specialty business and ascending to leadership roles at Charlotte Running Company, the Running Industry Association, and the Running Industry D...

Episode 8 Under is a special golf celebration where we discuss The Skechers World Champions Cup, an international team competition featuring senior golfers from Europe, Asia and the United States.  Our guests include PGA Golfer Peter Jacob...

How much bigger can run specialty get?We entertain two points of view. Industry analyst Matt Powell of Spurwink River caused a ruckus recently with comments on LinkedIn saying the run channel was not growing because it caters only to “el...

On this episode, Christi Beth Adams of Fleet Feet Nashville shares her journey from employee to owner of six stores. She takes us through the tears and triumphs of her 19 years in the business and talks about what could be next for her. We are ...

Every run store owner will tell you how crucial their employees are to their success. That begs the question then, how do you attract good employees and retain them? Kris Hartner, owner of Naperville Running helps us attack the thorny issue of ...

The conversations on Slingin’ Shoes Episode 5 run the gamut from the deeply personal to the outer limits of Artificial Intelligence. Co-host Chris Farley shares a story of a random encounter with a shopper that resonated deeply with him. Steve ...

On Episode 4, Mark and Chris analyze the annual Best Stores list: what well known stores didn’t make it, what’s the deal behind one of the Best Stores conspiracy theories and how did the list grow from 50 to 60+ stores.We also discuss th...

On Episode 3, we take a deep dive with Bob Dyer and Jennifer Henderson, who share the story of their hands-on approach to opening a run store in the competitive market of Saint Louis. The couple shares both the personal and business issues they...

On Episode 2, we’re Slingin’ Shoes across the USA, starting with Jenni Peters from Varsity Sports in Baton Rouge, LA who discusses her real estate strategy and how she is rolling up her sleeves to help her community develop a trail network. The...

Josh Levinson, founder of CEO of Charm City Run, with 8 stores in the Baltimore area, pulls back the curtain on a topic many store owners think about but don’t always act on: succession planning. Josh discusses what steps he has taken to sel...

Welcome to Episode Zero of Slingin’ Shoes!Slingin’ Shoes is a new podcast that will be co-hosted by Mark Sullivan, founder of The Running Event, and Chris Farley, owner of Pacers Running. In this introductory episode, the two discuss wha...