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Free program at Rec Center to help runners find correct pair of shoes
By Justin Goble
The Jackson County Recreation Department will hold a free athletic shoe fitting and expo Sunday, Aug. 26, at 2 p.m. in the Recreation Center in Cullowhee.
The program will be presented by Scott Socha, a certified pedorthist who owns Foot RX, a new running store in Asheville.
After a brief lecture on the importance of proper shoe fit, Socha will individually observe and videotape people running on one of the recreation department’s treadmills barefoot. Then he will analyze the tape to see what shoes will work best for each runner.
According to organizer Jenifer Pressley, the opportunity to hold such a program in the recreation center came about by chance.
“I approached the people at Foot RX after prowling around the Internet one day trying to find health education stuff for the recreation building,” she said. “I just stumbled across their site. Since I’m a runner, I tend to get drawn into these things. I saw that they offered this program free of charge and thought it would be something good to put on here.”
From there, Pressley said she contacted Socha to see if he would be able to do a program in Jackson County.
“At first, Scott was a little lukewarm about it,” Pressley said. “The fact that we’re an hour outside of Asheville threw him off a bit. They do programs like this for organizations and running groups in that area. But he didn’t realize there are no running stores between here and Asheville. There’s no one locally who can offer this kind of service,
“It helps that we have our own equipment here,” she said. “They usually haul a treadmill on a trailer for these programs. But we have all of that right here.”
While the right pair of shoes are important to keep people from sustaining injuries while running, Pressley said many runners don’t spend the time trying to find the best pair.
“I don’t think people realize how big of a deal shoes are until they’ve been injured or had to deal with pain in their legs,” Pressley said. “They can make a huge difference. Some people are lucky, and they find the one pair of shoes that work well for them. Others have to try and try to find a pair of shoes that will let them run without pain in their legs. Hopefully this program will make it a lot easier for people here to find a good pair of shoes.”
The results are worth the effort, Pressley said. While paying a visit to Foot RX, Socha took the chance to observe her running habits and recommend shoes.
Pressley said she can already tell the difference.
“They recommended a pair of shoes I’m in love with,” Pressley said. “Another place recommended shoes that they thought were really good, but they didn’t work well for me. It’s made a huge difference when I run. It’s a really great service, and I think it will help a lot of runners in this area.”
To register for the expo, call at 293-3053.
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