Road Runner Sports

I went in this week to cash in my mothers day gift from my amazing husband. I was greeted by a very busy store but still very pleasent crew. Talia the store manager was amazing. Pleasent and patient with me as my measurements are not easy to find comfort. It does take time to get fitted and able to be comfortable with the right sneaker. We became VIP members. I’ve been trying out my new sneakers for the past couple of days and so far I am happy. I will definitely go back and visit Talia and her staff again. Thank you Talia! You Rock!

I went because I liked the idea of being fitted for my running sneaker. I am fairly new to running and wanted to be sure I was wearing a good shoe. Anyway, I had no idea that when Ii was being fitted for an insole that this was NOT part of the sneaker price. The person who fitted me, neglected to mention the $ 70 price. Even after I felt that I was tricked, duped, sold something I would probably have declined, I decided to give it a fair shot. If it helped then fine. Did it help? NO, NO, NO! I have never experienced pain in my arches until I was duped into buying this garbage. 10 minutes into a run and I have to stop to pull these things out of my shoes. Buyer beware. To put it mildly, shady sales practice does not make a happy customer.
EDIT TO ADD: I should have read the reviews here before I walked into this place. Apparently I DID NOT have to buy those insoles that day. Nice job Road Runner, I feel like a fool. Scammed. You should have said something. Now.

People who check out your running gait are simply awesome. They explain and take the time to help you understand — and they seem to be runners which helps — whether you are just starting out or are a serious runner. (Brendan is truly awesome).
Service to actually try on shoes is very mixed — and in some cases truly awful. Some of the people really know shoes. Others simply don’t and don’t spend the time to understand whether they fit or not. If it doesn’t work change sale reps. Store can get very busy at times so time your visit.

I have problem feet and i walk a lot so getting new shoes is a big deal. My daughter told me about roadrunners and it sounded like a good idea. Boy! Was it ever! From actually observing how you walk they make an excellent evaluation of which kind of shoes/​inserts will benefit you the most. I knew what kinds of issues i have but actually seeing how i walk made a huge impact on me. The salesperson i had, sarah, was enormously helpful and was not letting me get just any sneakers. She spent a lot of time explaining exactly why she brought out the shoes she did and carefully checked the fit of all of them. She encouraged me to spend as much time as i needed walking with them in the store. The ones i bought felt amazing from the second i put them on. I bought two pair, one because they felt so great and the other to improve my actual walking and balance. I would definitely make them my shoe store to go to. Cant find service like this any more!

Nice and well equipped shop. But they also go above and beyond by hosting a Spartan workout tour stop. I respect the added commitment to fitness.

I had a great experience at the PARAMUS location! and just to clear up some of the other reviews i read, they have 4 shoe dog and 4 treadmill stations.
From what it looked like to me is that you could spend as much time as youd like on the treadmill in which ever shoe you’d like.
And yes if you walk into the stores and they are busy it will take a little for them to get to you but they made that clear to me, which was fine and made sense cause they can only do so much at once.
Justine was my sales girl and she was great, she listened to everything i said and she made some great points and explained to me a lot, and me not being a foot expert she got me up to date on the human foot! it was nice to find someone who actually knew there job!
she cheked my foot print out, had me RUN on the treadmil not WALK and we watched the video to see where my problems were. she picked out some shoes for me based on what i told her earlier. she molded me some insoles and i tried it again and all i can say is WOW! it feels like i need to learn how to walk again they feel so good! the pain ive been experiencing while running for the past year has been unreal. ive asked my friends who are runners about it ive tried the insoles from dr scholls ive bought new shoes again and again and again. ive had my calves taped, i wear compression shocks, i ice my calves and ankles after a run and nothing! it always hurt. the morning after i bought my insole from Road runners i went to the gym to try them out and i had instant relief! i could not believe how much better my feet ankle and calves felt! i felt like Forest Gump breaking out of his braces!
i hands down would recommend this place to anyone who is into feeling good and being healthy. a trainer at my gym who recommended me to go to this place told me that your best investment is in the proper shoe when training and he wasnt kidding! im so happy that went here cause the pain is gone in one try!!!
oh and as for the price (again with the best investment for health starts with your feet) you get what you pay for!!!

I can’t say enough nice things about my experience here. Beth could not have been any more personable, knowledgeable, and inspiring. Really appreciated her help!

Coming here was the best decision I made last year. I’m not a runner but I was desperate for a pair of sneakers that I could walk around in for long periods of time without developing foot pain or feeling like my calves were tightening up. I was a little doubtful at first about the usefulness of the evaluation done on site but it revealed that I have high arches, which I always suspected, and need support. The insoles, also fabricated on site, have made all the difference. And now all I want to do is live in my sneakers.

I wish I can remember the name of the woman who did my shoedog fitting because she is my new hero. I had a bad car accident twelve years ago, and after the three surgeries I had from my leg injury, I thought I was done with running forever. Every time I ran any distance, I’d have pain. I could only go short distances if I didn’t want to spend my next day limping. As a result of this injury, I favored the other leg for years, resulting in a meniscal tear and large cyst. I had the cyst drained recently, so I’m still recovering from it.
Well, I was fitted for orthotics that have made my comfort much better. She suggested Hoka One One shoes due to the extreme cushioning and voila. The accident injured leg had ZERO pain after my first run. Wow, I’m so happy. I might be coming back to running, and I had thought I was done forever. So happy with my experience.

I’ve been having a lot of knee pain recently which limited my ability to even walk, so my boyfriend (who bought a pair of running shoes from the store a while ago and loved them) told me to try to get insoles. When I first went to the RR I loved the whole experience of getting the custom insoles. The staff member was really nice and helpful. However, when it came to picking up a pair of shoes I really didn’t like the fact that associate didn’t ask what my budget was, so she was trying to sell the most expensive pairs first. After my bf and i picked the pair we liked, we went to checkout. I particularly told the girl at the register that we were going to pay separately. Even though we ended up paying separately, we got ONE receipt.
A few days later it dawned on my how overpriced those insoles were, considering the material they were made out of. So I found myself a much cheaper ones, but better quality at Dick’s sporting goods, and I absolutely loved them. When I was trying to return my purchase I had the same girl who checked us out in the first place servicing me. Originally I spent $ 174, but she said that my refund was only $ 166 (shoes and insoles were unworn). I dont think she had any idea what she was doing. I got all my money back, but because of two unpleasant experiences in 4 days, I wouldn’t want to go back to the store again. Shopping online it is.

This place might be pricey but the people who work here are always super helpful and happy. I seriously end up spending so much $$$ here because I enjoy shopping here.

The crew at this spot are top notch! I walked out a lot less wealthier, but it was worth it. I joined their VIP crew too. I will be back again soon…

The people who work here are very friendly and knowledgeable, and I got a great pair of running shoes that suited my needs. But I really, really don’t like the hard selling tactics.
Basically if you come here for shoes, they will also try and fit you with custom insoles. They won’t tell you that you don’t have to buy them, but you DON’T, so don’t let them talk you into it. These insoles are like $ 70, which I think is crazy. They’ll make you try any shoes on with the custom insoles. They will then try to sell you socks, braces, and a number of other running accessories. They will also repeatedly harass you about their frequent buyer program, which costs like $ 20. It saves you a lot (considering how overpriced things in this store are, especially the clothes), but they’re really aggressive about it. I felt really uncomfortable about this and even though I’m really good at being able to put my foot down and say no to this stuff, I always worry that the salespeople are punished for not being successful enough at upselling. I’d come back here but with the way they operate, it feels unnecessarily stressful.

Great place. Their 90 day exchange program is very easy to use and worth it. I can’t count how many shoes I’ve bought running dress shoes that feel great in the store but after 5 miles are killing my feet. Wish more shoe stores had this policy.

What a miserable experience, I was frustrated the minute I walked in there. First off, the place is chaos on a Saturday. I can understand that, and I would have gladly waited for assistance had there been some sort of organization or someone acknowledging my presence. I saw that there was a list for the shoe dog service but I just wanted to try on a of shoes, not use that service. When I finally flagged someone down (as not a single person acknowledged me for over 20 minutes) I tried on the pair of shoes and made my way to the register. I had a coupon that they had emailed me, however even with the printed email, they couldn’t locate my membership. If i’m not a member, why am I getting coupons in the mail? After 10 minutes at the register I paid the non member price (she didn’t use my coupon) and left extremely aggravated. I will not be going there, and will suggest other specialized local running stores to family and other runners.

Updating a review because I bought dedicated running shoes this time around. The initial fitting and experience was awesome, but once I got a few miles in in the real world, I realized that I should’ve gone with a wider shoe.
I came in tonight 10 minutes to closing thinking it would be a quick exchange. The model shoe I had actually didn’t have an extra wide size, so I had to be fitted all over again. I told my Fit Expert, Laura, who is a doll for being so patient and helping with me, that I’d come back tomorrow since we were past closing at this point.
She insisted that we find a solution while it was convenient for me, which she did. I hope someone from corporate sees this because it’s important to give people that go above and beyond to get the recognition they deserve, ESPECIALLY when we’re almost 20 minutes past closing.
Gordon, who is always a pleasure to deal with, checked me out while Laura went to assist another customer that rolled in fairly late. Just wanted to mention that if Roadrunner Sports ever opens up a store in Hawaii, he volunteers to be the first one to head down. :-) Florida is a close second.
Stellar service, painless transaction, and really a model of what a retail environment should be like. I hope the company treats the employees as well as they treat me.
You can justify having a brick and mortar front in a digital age when your staff is this good. 10/​10, will definitely shop here again.

Honestly, not the best running specialty store I have ever been to. When they do gait analysis, they do not even ask you to run on the treadmill to check your pronation if you have any. They only ask you to walk, which really is not that helpful. Furthermore, they don’t ask you to run in different shoes to see if the various shoes fix problems in your gait. Worse, they only have one treadmill for customers to do analysis whereas other specialty shops have 3 or so. So I had to wait for 25 minutes to do a minimally helpful analysis. I spent 2.5 hours in that store and it was unnnecessary for me to be there that long.
I did end up buying from them because I was short on time, but I should have gone to Jack Rabbit in NYC. Jack Rabbit has locations in Brooklyn and Manhattan, which can be quite a drive, but it is totally worth it. They do all the aforementioned processes that Road Runner fails to do. As well, the staff is wayyyy less pushy than Road Runner, who try to upsell you and keep trying to get you to join their VIP program. I find such marketing techniques a huge turnoff.
Happy running to you all!

I have a half marathon that I’m training for, and my current shoes were hurting my feet. I read about Road Runner Sports in a runner’s forum, so I thought why not give it a shot.
The main reason I went there was for the foot analysis process, and it was awesome.
–First, you fill out a sheet with your info, activity level, training purposes, and areas of aches and pains and whatnot.
–After that, they measure your feet.
–Next, they make you stand on a squishy pad at a natural stance. Apparently, I put 60% of my weight on my right foot.
–Then, you run on the treadmill barefoot, not exactly comfortable, but they record the way you run, which is super informative. I have bad ankles, and the way I land on my feet imitates a near rolling outward motion that looks terrible for my joints.
–Lastly, they make a mold of your feet as a custom insole. Naomi, the Shoe Dog customer rep, kindly informed me that I didn’t have to buy them. Just to try them on with the shoes to see if it fit better. I never used an insole to improve shoe fit, but I instantly loved them. I probably could have just left with the insole.
Amanda was the shoe sales rep I was taken to, and I asked her a ton of questions about shoes and running, and she seemed more than happy to answer my schpeal. She’s a runner herself and talked a lot from her personal experience. She was incredibly patient and even brought out 8 pairs of shoes, none that I chose, but I trusted that she knew more than I did what would be best. Plus, I was more concerned with fit more than look. Though don’t be afraid to ask if you are, everyone there seemed especially friendly.
After I narrowed it down to 3 pairs of shoes, they let me run on the treadmill for a test drive. Just really great customer service points. I am really happy with my shoes.
They mentioned the VIP package, but were in no way pushy. I definitely was an easy sell after seeing the store. They sell compression sleeves, CW-​X pants, and running necessities that I don’t usually see in the sports stores in our area. I also run with my sisters regularly, so we can all benefit from the discount. After I signed up they rang a cow bell at the front of the store welcoming me to the family.
Pretty pricey. But for me, definitely worth it.

Everyone here is SO friendly and helpful. They are really knowledgeable about running, too. They spent a long time with the hubs and I helping us find just the right shoes.
The VIP club entails an annual fee ($ 20, sometimes less if it’s a special) and entitles you to 10−20% off retail price of everything. Good if you’re planning on buying a pair of shoes or a lot of gear.

This location deserves only one star. But I do love the concept RR sport and their VIP program. For an insignificant annual fee, your family get frequent discounts and coupon and best of all can try your shoes for three months no question asked. Very important for running shoes.
But the sales staffs in the location are just so bitter and borderline rude! Especially the red hair girl/​lady. She never introduced herself to me so I don’t know her name. I already did my research online so I know what I wanted to try and I know the shoes come in wide versions. All the reviews suggested to get the wide versions so I asked her for it. She said, ‘no they don’t!’. I asked her to recheck because I saw them online and she insisted they don’t. Wouldn’t even accept the fact that maybe she was wrong. So I settled with the regular size. She came out with shoes that are completely untied and soles that were out and not for the same brand!!! Of I pay for a $ 110 pair of shoes, I would want the whole thing intact. So rude, and this is not the first time either. We were here last time and had the same reaction but this time was way worse. It’s not my fault that you have to deal with feet all day long!
The manager was nice though, I purposely went to talk to the manager when i wanted to try another pair and ended up getting them. You guys have much more traffic than the New Brunswick location but I much prefer NB because the staffs there, all of them, are very nice and courteous. You can be as well, only of all of your staffs want to.