Nick Stanko and Ian Forsyth, who opened Ann Arbor Running Company, look like runners. Strung together from bone and muscle, as if nature just forgot to add the fat, they both say they try to run about seventy miles a week. “I try to get out there for an hour or so every day. It’s like brushing my teeth,” says Stanko.
Both ran cross-country and other track events for U-M. They met at a running camp in the Irish Hills years ago and remained friends and colleagues in the running profession. They’re good enough to have developed sponsorship relationships, Stanko with Brooks and Forsyth with Mizuno, meaning they get free shoes and other perks. (Stanko’s U-M degree is in ceramics, Forsyth’s is in English and history.)
The impetus for starting their own store came when Randy Step and Steve Angerman sold their chain of Running Fit stores to a larger outfit, RSG. Forsyth had worked at Running Fit for years, most recently as warehouse manager. He couldn’t see himself fitting into the corporate structure, so he called Stanko, who was teaching high school art in Haslett, and they decided there was room in town for another small, independent running store. They’re starting with five brands they like, only one of them–New Balance–known much outside the serious running world. The others are, of course, their sponsors Brooks and Mizuno and Saucony and Asics. “We’re not selling shoes you can find at Kohl’s or even Dick’s,” says Forsyth.
Is there all that much difference between the brands? “The right shoe will keep you from getting hurt,” says Stanko. “A high school athlete can run in a lot of different shoes. As you get older, the options begin to narrow.” In addition to shoes, they sell some clothing; accessories like lights, watches, and compression socks; and several T-shirts they designed. One features a pair of running shoes dangling over a power line. “It’s something you see all the time when you’re running,” says Stanko, but he has no more idea than anyone else why people throw shoes over power lines.
Ann Arbor Running Company, 2755 Oak Valley, 662-2400. Mon.-Fri. 10 a.m.-7 p.m., Sat. 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Sun. noon-5 p.m. annarborrunningcompany.com
