Alameda Runners – Get After It!

Shopping for running gear can be aggravating.  There are so many choices that you never know if it is worth the money for that small upgrade.  Several years ago, I was having knee pain from my IT band so I kept buying softer and softer shoes.  The more I spent for the soft shoes, the worse the pain became.  I went to Road Runner Sports to have my feet measured and my gait analyzed.  It turns out; I have high arches and a neutral gait which need additional support and firm cushioning.  It cost a little more for the shoes but they give you three options and you find the one you like best.  I paid about $150 for the first pair of shoes then waited for them to go on sale at Sports Authority and bought 5 pair.

I love Road Runner Sports.  They have great gear that is always of the highest quality.  I went there today (Sunday) to get some shoes for my son.  There were some workers at the shoe area helping customers and a lot of customers sitting around.  I asked a clerk how to buy shoes and I was told to sign in and it will be about a 20 minute wait.  I must be spoiled by being able to go to Sports Basement and try on my own shoes but I don’t like to wait 20 minutes to have a shoe salesman call my name.  Lombardi Sports on Polk Street in SF has store people wait on you and I never have to wait 20 minutes there.  If I do have to wait a long time, they have cool stuff to look at, while I wait.  Road Runner failed my patience test but they are a good store and worth wait if you need a gait analysis.

In the same plaza as Road Runner Sports, there is an REI.  Since I am a triathlete, REI is not really my type of store but I like it there anyway.  We went in looking for running shoes and wound up buying 2 bicycle helmets and some bike gloves.  They had Lance Armstrong Giro helmets on sale for $26 and I just had to buy the matching gloves for $25.  It is a good thing they did not have the cycle kit to match.

The next stop on the shopping trip was the good old Exchange on Coast Guard Island in Alameda.  They are a good consistent store that usually sells all sporting goods at 20% off list.  I bought 2 shirts and 2 pair of running shorts for about $100.  All of this shopping made us hungry so we went to lunch.  We went shopping for running shoes, spent about $250 and came home with no shoes.

My little story took us to a few stores in the San Francisco Bay area.  They are all good stores with their own strengths and weaknesses.

Road Runner Sports – As the name suggests, they are a running store.  They have good customer service and great products.  You usually have to pay list price for stuff.

REI – All around outdoors store.  Cater to high end customers who go to national parks.  They have a pretty good bike selection and a lot of that outdoors survival stuff.  They also have lots of cool lectures and classes.

Lombardi Sports – A great sporting goods store that is surviving on Polk Street.  The area is getting better all of the time as the time as gentrification heads south.  The developers would love to tear that place down and build some condos.

Coast Guard Exchange – No customer service, consistent discounts, quality products and no taxes.  I point this out because there are a lot of discount stores that have good stuff without the brand name for about half of what you would pay at a high end sporting good store.