Marathon Sports

Marathon Sports

As many of us here in Boston have been doing lately, I’ve been strolling down Boylston Street every day since it reopened after being closed for over a week due to the investigation of the bombings at the Boston Marathon this past April 15th. Supporting the businesses there by buying some items or grabbing a bite to eat every outing, after a short stop at City Sports yesterday (Friday, April 26), I headed up Boylston Street to Marathon Sports – the site of the first blast on marathon day.

A note about Marathon Sports. I’ve been shopping at Marathon Sports (Cambridge and then Boston locations) since the early 90’s. Must have bought my first dozen pairs of running shoes there, not to mention running shorts, shirts, socks, and accessories like compression calf sleeves, an armband case for my cell phone, etc. I remember one of my first visits – a sales associate setting me up with a pair of Asics Gel-Lyte Ultras (my very first pair of Asics) – and I then went on to buy 3 more pairs of that very same shoe from them. It was the beginning of a great relationship. They hook me up with sweet kicks, I run and wear them out. And repeat.

Before everything was published on the internet, we runners actually visited the shops more often to chat with the sales staff and learn about running and the latest shoes. I remember visiting the shop even just to pick up their annual 12-month wall calendar which previewed a year’s worth of races – there just weren’t as many ways to find out about races back then.

So fast forward from those days in the past to this Friday.

How often do you walk into a retail business and find the owner arranging product on the shelves? Well, that’s exactly what I observed this past Friday. I had recalled briefly meeting the owner Colin years ago (he did not remember me, nor did I expect him to) and I was happy to see him on the sales floor and very happy to see the shop so crowded. As I was browsing, I turned and nodded to him: “It’s good to be back, huh?” and we went on to chat for a couple minutes.

Many will have read reports of how the Marathon Sports staff came quickly to the aid of many of the victims from the first blast and how the store itself was used to bring in people from off the sidewalk and treat them before moving them along to the hospitals. We said simultaneously of our running community: “we’re all one family” – at which point he excused himself for a moment, presumably to tend to the store, but then returned quickly with a Marathon Sports shop branded t-shirt in hand, extending it to me and offering it “I’d like you to have this”, noting a t-shirt from a competing shop (City Sports) I happened to be wearing. Oops. After a chuckle and an exchange with me completely caught off guard “no way, really… I can’t accept that as a gift… that’s so kind… thank you…” – I put the shirt on immediately saying “I’ll wear it with great pride.” As I went to check out with another item I’d selected, Colin was at the register and I attempted again saying “I know you extended this as a gift, and I really appreciate that but I’d really like to support the shop –it is ok if I paid for it?” – he wouldn’t hear of it and said it was a personal gift “it’s from me to you”. After me trying again “Please?” and “Are you sure?” – he insisted and I could tell in his eyes that him giving me that shirt meant 100x more to him than my receiving it. I relented with a very appreciative handshake.

 


I walked into the store wearing what’s on the left (Red Sox cap showing my Boston love and a City Sports New York t-shirt (the only thing I have that actually says “New York”) to express being thankful that the two bombing suspects weren’t able to continue their violence down in NYC as they seemed to have planned) – and then departed the shop wearing my new Marathon Sports t-shirt (courtesy of Colin P.).

There's plenty of miles in me to wear both t-shirts happily and to continue supporting both shops.

By the way, the back of the Marathon Sports t-shirt reads: “keeping your life in motion”.

Couldn’t be more true.