Sunday was a special day in my running world. I drove to Shepherdstown, West Virginia to meet Dr. Mark Cucuzzella at his store Two Rivers Treads (www.trtreads.com). The drive was magnificent. The rolling hills of West Virginia were all green with old and new homes. I love this part of America and getting away from the city. Here there are no honking cars, drivers crossing four lanes of traffic to make an exit. I drove on a two lane road with the feel of being on a roller coaster as I navigated the winding road. As I pulled into town and parked I noticed the town had old stores, shops with crafts and the walkways were still made of brick. Mark’s store is not that big, and if you don’t look closely you could walk right past it. The store itself gave you the feel of being in a home, two men greeted me and were most helpful. We started to talk about the different shoes and I gave them a bit of my background before Mark walked in with his two children.
Mark was so down to earth, greeting me with a smile. After a few minutes, we got right down to the heart of our meeting time...running tips. He had just returned from San Diego, so I was just thankful that he took time out of his schedule to see me. We started to chat and he gave me some tips for running better, his style of running and what it had done for him over the years. He had me do some drills right there in the store, even while other customers were browsing....another down to earth aspect of his store. After 45 minutes we had discussed everything I came for and with that he departed with his family. I then looked at several different types of shoes and finished by selecting the Merrell Master Barefoot. As I departed the store for home I felt humbled that Mark would take time out of his busy schedule to meet with me personally…that is the type of guy he is.
No comments:
Post a Comment