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Scroll Down to See the Best Running Stores in the U.S. for 2025. Did Your Local Shop Make the List?
As runners, it’s easy to buy running shoes and gear online, sometimes to our own demise. In this day and age, you can do a quick Google search, visit Amazon, or point your browser to any number of online stores and find whatever you want when it comes to running shoes, apparel, socks, watches, and nutritional supplements.
Sometimes you can find something available at a discount or get a good price on closeout gear, not to mention receive the enticement of free next-day shipping. But sometimes the shoes don’t fit or feel right, you don’t like how a pair of shorts fits, and the color of whatever you bought just isn’t what you expected. So then you pack it up and send it back.
That’s what the modern world of shopping and consumerism have become, but let me tell you there’s a whole different scenario that plays out everyday at your local running store. I’m not going to tell you where to spend your money, but I will say that you’ll get more bang for your buck if you shop at a local running speciality shop.
The list of the Best Running Stores of 2025 was just announced by a running trade show organization, highlighting 65 of premier running shops around the U.S. The process to determine the best stores started with nominations for more than 270 unique stores in 45 states. Next, store owners and managers were interviewed and secret shopping evaluations were conducted to understand which stores are providing the best customer service and retail experiences across the country.
The Running Store of the Year will be announced on December 4 at The Running Event trade show in San Antonio. You can visit these top stores or the local shops in your region and benefit from these six things you’ll encounter shopping at your local running store.
Whether you’ve lived in a community for a long time or have just arrived (or are just visiting), no one knows more about running in that place than the staff at the local running store. Need info about local routes for your next long run? Interested in learning about the best local trails? Want to join a morning running group? Need a recommendation for a physical therapist? Just ask. They also can point you to local races, long run meet-ups, local coaches, and more.
“One of my favorite things in the whole world is when someone comes in looking to do some kind of adventure run and we just break out a map and start talking to them about it,” says Brion After, the owner of Independence Run and Hike in Carbondale, Colorado (pictured below), which made this year’s list of best running shops. “That’s the kind of thing that makes this really fun.”
“I always tell everybody we’re selling customer service at these stores. We’re not selling products, because you can buy a Brooks running shoe or a Hoka running shoe almost anywhere,” he adds. “But what we’re providing is the service of knowledge and information and all of that, and that’s the fun part to me. That’s really why we do this.”
Not only do running stores have all of the latest shoes from a wide range of brands, but they also have expert shoe-fitters on their staff who can help you go through a try-on process to determine which shoes are best for your feet and running gait. If you haven’t run in a lot of shoes in the past year or so, you might be amazed at how different a lot of shoes fit, feel, and ride. If you go through that process at your local running shop when you’re looking for your next pair of training shoes or racing super shoes, I guarantee you’ll be introduced to a lot of great models you never considered.
While some stores follow a standardized shoe-fitting process, for other shops it is unique to the type of shop, the location, and the experience of the staff.
“We take pride in getting people into the right shoes, but we don’t have a really rigidly structured process,” says Vince Sherry, owner of Run Flagstaff in Arizona. “We hire people and train them to be very, very good, and then they interact with the customer in the way that they see fit to do so. The first thing that we do is sit down with the customer and just listen, and that’s very important.
“One of the things that’s really unique about our store is that you’ve got a 50/50 shot of being a road runner or a trail runner. So the first question that we ask is: what surfaces do you run on? And the way you fit someone for trail shoes is nothing like you fit someone for road shoes. So that experience could be completely dictated by the terrain before you ever even get to things like gait analysis and foot structure. It’s not really a standard big city process, but we think that is what’s best for our store.”
If you’re looking for shoes at bargain prices from your local store, be sure to ask about closeout shoes the store still has in stock. Chances are that they have a lot of great shoes from last year that will fit you (and your budget!) that are either on a sale table or on shelves in the back shop.
I’ve lived in the running mecca of Boulder, Colorado, for a long time and have plenty of favorite places to run, but I have to admit that some of my best runs every year are the ones from the local running shops—InMotion Running, Runners Roost, and Fleet Feet. Those runs are usually easy-paced 3- to 5-mile jaunts on roads or trails, but what makes those runs great is that they subtly and easily foster interaction with other local runners I don’t know or haven’t run with before (or recently).
Those runs spur conversations, lead to weekend long run plans, open the door for new training partners, and generally spark inspiration for my own running. And as an added bonus, those runs often include shoe demoes, post-run food and beverages, and sometimes a panel discussion or a running film. Every time I go to local running store runs, it’s never about the running, but always about the community vibe.
Since the end of the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been a lot of discussion about the need for “a third space” for people to engage in—a social environment distinct from home and work/school, where people can gather, relax, and engage in meaningful interactions and conversations.
Your local running store offers that kind of space because it promotes a sense of community and belonging by providing a neutral, accessible, and comfortable setting for talking with others, and not just about running. That’s most evident at fun runs and group training runs, but it can also come from hanging out while browsing for shoes and chatting about everything from local trails to the local road construction to the weekend weather forecast.
“It might be coming to a workout class or a weekly group run, or just seeing the same people at local races,” says Brittany Katz, owner of Terra Running Company in Cleveland, Tennessee, which is also on this year’s list of best shops. “It’s about creating that space where people are known or maybe that someone notices if you’re missing. I think that’s vital for a community, especially post-COVID, because people are looking to create that community around themselves. We have seen success in putting our time and energy into those experiences. And of course, people get to know our employees and trust us, and when they have a question, ultimately our hope is we’re the store they come to. But that’s secondary to actually creating community however we can.”
Running stores are immersed in the fabric of the local running scene, but the influence and investment of those shops go much deeper into the local community. Local shops organize and sponsor local running races, support local school programs, offer training groups for local or regional races, and even support local elite runners training for big goals. But those shops also provide connections to the local medical community (podiatrists, physical therapists, nutritionists, and other sports medicine doctors) to help solve running injuries and provide solutions to other challenges.
“We’re in a relatively small town and we serve the running community, but it’s important for us to be a good resource for quality footwear and all of the problem-solving products that go along with that for everyone—for people training for a marathon to people who on their feet all day at a distribution center or a warehouse. We have really worked hard and not being intimidating for all of the people in our community and kind of thinking outside the box in terms of how we can help people.”
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I always tell people that the majority of what you’ll get from going to your local running story doesn’t come by way of transactional experiences. Yes, you might buy shoes, some new socks, or a bunch of gels, but really what you’ll be getting is a big dose of inspiration infused with great customer service and a local community vibe.
That inspo comes in a variety of ways—learning about new local races, getting connected to new training partners, being encouraged to sign up for a trail races—but mostly it comes from engaging with the staff and other customers about your running experiences, interests, and needs.
“It’s great to have people on staff that are great runners because then they can relate to the customer’s running better and address their needs, but the most important thing is to have people who can listen to customers and engage with them and what they want to talk about,” After says. “You are like a bartender in some ways. You’re the one who gets some of the good stories about their success or some of the sob stories—the person who could finish a race or how a race didn’t go as planned. So having people who are friendly and easy to talk to, that’s what’s going to help your store the most, and how a store can be of the best service to a runner.”
Senior editor Brian Metzler has wear-tested more than 2,500 running shoes and is the author of “Kicksology: The Hype, Science, Culture and Cool of Running Shoes” (2019) and “Trail Running Illustrated” (2019). He has raced just about every distance from 100 meters to 100 miles, but he’s most eager to share stories about his experiences pack burro racing in Colorado.
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