Toro Talk

December 28, 2010

Little Ole Savannah

Well it’s a few days before we turn the corner and sprint away from 2010 and run to 2011; and what a year it was. Savannah certainly has seen its growth in running and fitness the last few years and all of you play a huge role on the growth of running. I think the experts said a while back that running is still big, but the running boom has ended; well I guess those experts haven’t spent any time in the little ole town called Savannah! A friend of mine, Sue Adler from the Savannah Komen Group and I were sitting at the front of the store the other day talking about the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, and she looked over at the area that we keep our race info and she said, “I remember when you first opened you had about 4 race fliers in that space; now there isn’t room for one more!” And she’s right, even though we could make room for more. In 2010 out of 52 Saturdays in the year we took up 33 of those Saturdays and a couple of Sundays, and a few days where we had two events in one day. Amazing for little ole Savannah.

And so what does 2011 hold for running and fitness in Savannah? Let me tell you!! All of those 33 weeks are taken up again and we have another 10 new events coming from folks who want to put on running and or fitness events, incredible for little ole Savannah. And of course the talk of the year in 2011 running in Savannah will be the 1st Annual Savannah Rock 'n' Roll Marathon and Half Marathon coming in November of 2011. This event is expecting crowds of 20,000 from all over the world to come here to enjoy and run in little ole Savannah. The Savannah Rock 'n' Roll Marathon and Half Marathon will have a huge impact on our local events. It already had an impact on the bridge run selling out 4 days before the event, and has already had an impact on the Critz Tybee Half Marathon and 5K, as it is already half way to being sold out. The Savannah Rock and Roll Marathon will have tremendous impact on our economy, and we will have arrived onto the US running scene, (who needs hills) we have little ole Savannah.

What else should you look forward to in 2011? Let me tell you!! Fleet Feet Savannah will be introducing a state of the art fitting system that will analyze your running and walking gait, indoors or outdoors. Oh yes...the same great service, we will still be using same Fleet Feet FITLOSOPHY system, but the new analysis machine will allow us to help you get the most for your money, and the best fit possible. We should be ready to roll with this system sometime in January, stay tuned for further details to follow. It’s going to be cool.

Also if you have not heard yet, Fleet Feet Savannah has hired a full time personal trainer named Lydia Depue. Lydia has already had a huge impact on our business as she has already kicked off one of two No Boundaries groups that we will have for the year, and she is also already offering individual fitness assessments. Because of Lydia, look for Fleet Feet Boot Camp to happen soon, Fleet Feet Yoga for Runners, and the most exciting news of all, as if the other stuff wasn’t fun and exciting enough... Fleet Feet Sports Savannah, in conjunction with our training program called Toro’s C.R.E.W. Collaborative-Relationships-Empowering-Workouts, will be conducting Half Marathon and Marathon pre training boot camp, No Boundaries - a 5K training program for beginners, Half Marathon training, and Marathon training. Not bad for a little running store in little ole Savannah.

2011 promises to be a good year for running and fitness in Savannah and The Low Country; over 40 events, the 1st Annual Savannah Rock 'n' Roll Marathon and Half Marathon, another sold out bridge run, a soon to be sold out Critz Tybee Run. Nothing could be finer, than that little ole town called Savannah. Happy New Years Everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!    

Robert Espinoza

"Keep Your Chin Up for Strength, and Down For Prayer"

Fleet Feet Sports Savannah