Today we’d like to introduce you to Golden Harper.
Hi Golden, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I started working at Runner’s Corner when my dad Hawk and his buddes first opened in 1991—I was 9 years old. I also ran my first Marathon later that year as a 10 year old, setting the Utah Record at 3:08:05, I set a U.S. National Best the next year for 11 year old’s at 2:57, and a World Best for 12 year old’s the following year at 3:45:34.
By the time I was looking in to going to college, I had begun managing at Runner’s Corner and became painfully aware that the only training we got was from the brands we sell. And that’s not really training…it’s propaganda. I felt like we did all the things shoe companies told us to, but people still came back with the same injuries repeatedly. Clearly what we were doing wasn’t working as well as I would’ve liked.
Wanting to be able to help our customers better, I essentially invented my own “running injury and chronic foot condition” major between 7 years at BYU and BYU-Hawaii. Since half of our customers are people with foot pain and not runners—spending time in Hawaii was an experience I needed. It was there that I saw first hand how people that don’t wear modern shoes have much healthier feet—even when those people are very large, have flat feet, pronate like crazy, etc.
Research has shown time and time again that:
1) Feet come widest at the tips of the toes (Mostly square shaped) and are NOT shaped like 99% of modern shoes (triangular/tapered/pointy)
and
2) Your feet deform to be shaped like the shoes you wear, and the more they do, the more foot problems you have
At the same time, I was doing a LOT of barefoot running on the beach and went undefeated in Collegiate Cross Country races until the final race of the season my senior year. I had been trained extensively and done a lot of research on the benefits of efficient, low impact, running technique.
Going back to managing Runner’s Corner armed with a lot of research and real-world experience was great, aside from the fact that nobody made shoes that matched what research seemed to recommend. People are least likely to be injured in a shoe that doesn’t deform that foot out of its natural position—yet every shoe on the market had a tapered toe box and an elevated heel—features that disrupt natural running and walking gait and cause the majority of chronic foot pain.
At Runner’s Corner, I started making the world’s first cushioned zero drop (no elevated heel) shoes with a foot-shaped toe box by modifying existing styles in a toaster oven originally, and then with the help of Village Shoemaker here in Orem. We initially did this after watching our customers run in the Vibram Five Fingers barefoot style shoes and then seeing how those same people ran inefficiently and with much higher impact in the traditional running shoes we were selling them. My dad famously said something along the lines of “We teach people how to protect their bodies once, but the shoes undo that every time they go out the door. It’s not a fair fight.” I had the idea to modify some of our best selling shoes by expanding the toe box and cutting the heavy, elevated heels out to make them level and weight balanced from heel to forefoot.
We sold about 1000 pair of modified shoes in the first year and sent out in-depth surveys with most of them. We found that we had around a 90+% improvement rate with the following:
-Knee pain
-Shin Splints
-Heel pain/Plantar Fasciopathies
-Lower back pain
-Neuromas and other forefoot pain
-Running technique improvement
Our work at Runner’s Corner was instrumental in changing the footwear industry and launching many brands of foot-shaped and/or zero drop/lower drop shoes. Brands like Altra, Topo, and Lems are among our best-sellers.
For runners, we love to do a running gait and technique analysis and teach you how to run more efficiently and injury free, along with helping you find shoes that will make that easier as well.
For those with foot pain, we do an extensive Restorative Foot Care business where we help people restore their feet back to their natural position and condition. If you have chronic foot pain and have been told you need surgery, come see the alternatives we can offer you that will likely leave you much better off in the future.
Furthermore, Runner’s Corner carries the largest selection of running gear in the state, to complement our extensive collection of natural footwear for walking, hiking, and casual use.
I also founded P.R. Gear foot health and running improvement accessories to fill needs that weren’t commercially available to help people to get strong, healthy, pain free feet and learn to run better, faster, and injury free.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It’s never a smooth road! A couple of years in, all the original owners besides Hawk decided to cut their losses and leave. My dad had a dream of working in something he was passionate about, and being able to have his kids work along side him and learn hard work and real life lessons along the way. He bet on himself and the business was put on the same mortgage with our home, so if the store failed, we would likely lose our home.
On my journey, traditional shoe companies did everything in their power and spent millions of dollars to cover up the truth I was bringing to light about the damaging effects of elevated heels and tapered toe boxes in shoes. I nearly went bankrupt dozens of times trying to get this information and healthy, natural footwear out to the masses. It’s still a battle today, as legacy brands have 100x more money to convince people that their products are the best.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Runner’s Corner / P.R. Gear?
Covered a lot of Runner’s Corner’s ‘About’ in the previous section. Runer’s Corner is very different from other shoe stores in that we specialize in taking a more natural approach, seeking to build healthy feet and bodies from the ground up. While most other stores often focus on “support” and other things that may feel good now, they often leave people weaker and worse off in the future. In simple terms, most shoe stores offer band-aids while we focus on solving the root cause. While we still offer those band-aids to those who want them, we prefer to go deeper than that. We do restorative foot care and running technique feedback like no other running store in the country. We’re very proud of the way we run business in the best interest of the customer, instead of the bottom line. Since the business has never been focused on making money first, this allows us to carry a broader selection than other stores and do things other stores aren’t willing to do. In our minds, often the best sale is a bit of education, not something we can sell you. Our staff are more advisors than they are sales people. In our mind, if we can get you healthy and moving more naturally, you’re going to be outside working out more and buying more gear anyway. So it’s in our best interest to get you healthy and moving naturally.
P.R. Gear specializes in foot health and running improvement accessories. We make a very simple running technique improvement tool called the FloatRun Harness that is hands down the fastest, easiest way to permanently adopt faster, more efficient, lower impact running technique. Our average reviewer claims to be around 30 seconds faster per mile when using the harness!
We also make fingerless Trail Gloves, and developed both Bridge Soles met pads and Correct Toes Sport as solutions for common chronic foot conditions like Plantar Fasciopathies, Nueromas, Bunions, etc. These products (& their accompanying education) allow you to restore natural foot function and get out of the cycle of surgeries and/or overbuilt orthotics that weaken your feet an often leave your foot worse off in the future.
How do you think about happiness?
Life is full of happiness everywhere. I especially love climbing big, fairly technical mountains—spending time on top of the world—and then recklessly bombing down as fast as possible. It’s more x-games sport than running, but I love the adrenaline rush.
I find the greatest satisfaction in helping other people. My extensive education, training, and experience mostly allows me to do this personally and by training our staff to help people to:
1) Learn to run faster, better, and injury free by teaching them efficient, low impact running technique
2) Overcome injury by helping people fix their muscle imbalances by focusing on natural surfaces and movements
3) Rebuild their feet and body from the ground up by restoring their feet to the natural position and function
Pricing:
- FloatRun Harness: $11.99
- Bridge Soles: $19.99
- Correct Toes Sport $29.99
- Basic Technique Analysis at Runner’s Corner: Free
- Restorative Foot Care Session at Runner’s Corner: Free
Contact Info:
- Website: www.RunnersCorner.com and www.PRGear.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/runnerscornerutah/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/runnerscorner
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/goldenharper
