On The Run

Thank you On the Run for taking care of me and my husband’s feet. We’re both on our feet a lot due to our jobs (and chasing a 3 yr old around) and Tomek has made a point to make sure we have the right shoes for what we need in our life!

Yes! As Good as it gets!
I have been buying shoes here and at their sister store around the corner, on Irving St., for a while now, but today experience exceeded any and all expectations! I am a florist and spend days standing on my feet… as a result I have been suffering from heel pain and Plantar Fasciitis. Good quality shoes with great support became a life necessity for me in the past few years.
As I walked into On the Run today, I was greeted by one of their sales associates — Tomek. From the moment he heard about the problem with my left foot… it felt as if I walked into a different universe:) He inspected my feet, and as I pointed out to a few different models that I liked, he became a Hero of the Day for me:) Not only he was very attentive and patient, he displayed a superb care, amazing expertise and a personal touch. He suggested and installed special inserts in the boots I was purchasing for that extra needed support and cushioning to the area of my foot that bothers me the most until my feet felt absolutely comfortable.
Second pair… Dansko. I know these are warn by medical professionals 24/7…but could never find the ones that were most comfortable for me. He didn’t even need to try different options of Dansko clogs. He brought me the pair and told me that those will be the best fit for me:)
I laughed, claiming that I wanted some funky looking colors… he said that the ones he offered, will work the best. I insisted to try some others and was pleasantly shocked again:) The pair he suggested fit perfectly and the ones I wanted weren’t as comfortable:) Well… I walked out in new shoes and was carrying another pair with me:) Happy and VERY comfortable. Moreover, I went, picked up my girlfriend, brought her to the store within 2 hours and she ended up buying 3 pairs!
Bravo! Impeccable service! Thank you, Tomek! Really a great professional who knows his job and LOVES IT! I am coming back for more!!!

Great experience getting my hubby his new running shoes — William was very helpful and skilled in balancing multiple customers. A great variety of shoes with a sales team that absolutely knows what they are doing. Prices comparative to other establishments of this caliber. We will be back!

This place is excellent. The customer service is really amazing. During my first pregnancy, my foot size grew a full size so I had to get rid of my hiking boots. We were supposed to go hiking up in Muir Woods and since it’s been so rainy, the trails were super muddy. I had to get a pair for our 5 mile hike that day. And as we all know, doing a 5 mile hike without breaking in shoes is difficult. However, I went in and Harold helped me. He was so great, he helped me pick out the perfect pair of shoes and even put in insole cookies for me to make them more comfortable. I did the entire hike and didn’t even get a blister (thanks to the trail gods)! I would highly recommend you go here for your footwear needs!

I hate giving one star reviews which is why I don’t have many. I do feel this establishment deserves it and this is why. After a long day I walked in with my son looking for a pair of Danskos. I read the reviews of this store and was excited since many were glowing. As we walked in I was greeted with a quick hello. I saw the Dansko section (right by the door) and walked right over. As I stood there checking out the various styles and colors I waited patiently for a sales rep to come over for some advice and sizes. Some were busy with customers which is fine but two men stood at the cashier talking. As I stood there I waited and waited. No one came over or cared. I knew they saw me as we locked eyes right as I approached the section. After almost ten minutes of waiting I walked out. Such a shame since so many rave about the staff. Luckily I hoped over to the Haight and grabbed a pair at a different store later that day!

Dear On the Run,
If anyone happened to wonder why I just left your store without purchasing anything… It is because after walking in and being greeted by a guy who was assisting no one who asked me if I needed help to which I replied that I wanted some house shoes with arch supports, he vaguely pointed in a direction and promptly walked away leaving me to figure out where his finger was pointing and to stand there just looking at them. After having previously purchasing some not so inexpensive shoes and 2 different pairs of not inexpensive insole arch supports I specifically made a trip to your store to buy a pair of house shoes. Considering that the house slippers you sell range in price from $ 124 — $ 200 it would have been nice to have received continued assistance in choosing a pair and trying them on for size and feel. I was certainly dressed nice and was wearing the shoes you sold me before and came in specifically to purchase again from you. But after being offered assistance and then walked away from and ignored… I left.

Wow, a shoe store where they actually measure both your feet with a Brannock Device (look it up!), watch how you walk, and suggest shoes that will make your feet happy!
Maybe you can save a few dollars by buying online, but if everybody did that, then On The Run would go out of business, and there would be nobody to tell you which shoes are likely to fit your arches, accommodate your wide toes, help with your injuries, etc. The staff here are foot and shoe professionals, and I highly recommend you check them out, especially if you have special issues.

I work as a barista so I am on my feet all day. I researched Dansko clogs and decided that they might help with my sore feet, came here to try them on. I was looking at two pairs, ones with backs and ones without which were actually more expensive. The salesman recommended the less expensive ones with backs because I told him that I work in food service and he was worried about my heels getting bumped by doors and carts. He also subtly and kindly set me up with a great product to kill bacteria in my stinky shoes ($ 7). He told me he uses the same one because he hates wearing socks. I wore the shoes for about a week and still had some soreness so I went back to see if some orthodics or insoles might help. Wandering around I was nervous about the $ 60 – 100 tags I saw on many of the insoles. I spoke to a salesperson, pointed to the exact places on my foot where I was feeling pain, and he immediately set me up with some little $ 13 inserts that support just behind the ball of my foot. I also picked up a small accupressure massage ball for my soles, $ 5. I feel so much better it’s hard to imagine how much pain I was in just yesterday, I’m actually able to smile at customers again!

Expensive. But they have a big selection of socks.

The only place I buy shoes from. The man named MJ is great. Ask for him to help you. I love the orthotics and running shoes. The only thing I don’t love is that the shoes are really expensive. I usually spend $ 200 every time I go there on a pair of running shoes and inserts but it really is worth it.

I’ve been so impressed with the staff that I keep returning despite somewhat high prices. (A year ago, Tovek helped me learn about athletic shoes and how to tie them properly.). Joe, today though, stole the show! Spent so much time helping my wife and me through multiple shoe selections. He introduced me to orthotics that I’m sure will change my life! We took our time and never felt pressured. In the end we ended up spending over $ 420 but the fact that Joe would be making that commission helped ease the blow. Charming, knowledgeable, kind, tactful and with clear ambition, Joe will undoubtedly be an extraordinary shoe enterprise owner soon!

This what a shoe store should be! I’ve been coming to On The Run occasionally for running shoes for years. However, our last experience was great. Customer Service Manager William Barnes was amazingly helpful. Educational while not preachy or arrogant, he spent enough time with us to help us make the right choices. The service was excellent. We walked out with four pairs of shoes and other items without a concern. Professionals.

I love On The Run for footwear needs! The customer service is excellent and they have a great selection of products. I have purchased both sneakers and ballet flats here, both of which make my troubled feet feel like they’re walking on clouds! All of the staff are extremely knowledgeable about foot issues such as the bunions, wide feet, and high arches that I have. They measure each foot, watch you walk, and assess what activities you generally do, to determine which shoes to bring out. When you try them on, they allow you to walk outside with the shoes to get a genuine feel, and describe the benefits of each shoe in detail. They have an entire line of their own insoles (as opposed to Superfeet or other brands), and I was able to find the perfect insoles to support my arches and toe box properly. The ballet flats I purchased are Earth brand, and are cute and comfortable — a rare combination! I bought two pairs.
On The Run has a sister store around the corner called Citi Shoes which has a larger selection of fashionable comfort shoes. I found another pair of flats there with more great customer service.
It also feels great to support a local business by shopping here. I can’t recommend On The Run enough!

This place has excellent products and customer service, which I’m sure you can read about in other reviews. The fact remains that I did spend about $ 300 on orthotics and shoes recommended by sales staff that I can’t really use. I think there were a lot of factors that went into this, but On the Run did contribute in some ways.
Basically, I was wearing really bad shoes, which I knew, and went there to get some appropriate footwear. I was having pain, and the sales staff did one of their evaluations on me. They said I needed orthotics. But after buying them and breaking them in as instructed, it was clear that the orthotics were just making things worse. I went to my general practitioner and she told me to go back to OtR and see if they had different orthotics. While I was there that second time, I saw a lot of other customers getting the same evaluation I did, and being told more or less the same thing. I saw a different saleswoman that time, and she had no ideas as to why the orthotics were hurting. I bought another, different pair, but those turned out to also be painful.
I finally went to a podiatrist, who wasn’t sure I needed the orthotics, and by that time I had done further research and was also skeptical. But the shoes I bought were a whole size too big in order to accommodate the orthotics I had bought. Finally, after jury-​rigging the shoes with flat inserts to be at least temporarily serviceable, the pain started to go away pretty quickly.
I’m hardly the first person to spend a lot of money on non-​returnable footwear and especially orthotics/​inserts that turn out to be inappropriate, and there is a lot of trial and error involved in finding what works for you. But no one on the staff ever suggested that maybe I didn’t need orthotics, and it seems to me that while the sales staff has received some training on basic foot health, they don’t have any in-​depth knowledge. So if their basic approach doesn’t work for you, they can’t really offer anything more.
Still, I know this store has helped a lot of people. I would just say, go to the podiatrist first, and make sure you really need what you’re buying.

Some background: I’m rather new to running, and had just suffered an injury that we traced back to my poor choice in running shoes.
My trainer recommended On the Run to me when I was looking for new running shoes that offered better support. I went in with trepidation — I was afraid I was going to have some expensive shoe pushed on me and didn’t know enough to sift through a salesman’s marketing hogwash. It turns out my fears were completely assuaged!
I was met with a friendly clerk who took several measurements on my feet and had me walk around the store while she observed me. Based on those observations, she went to fetch four different shoes that offered varying degrees of the kind of support I needed. She took the time for me to try on each of these, and was very patient with me when I didn’t quite know what I was looking for at first. I left confident I had found the shoes I needed, and genuinely grateful to have been helped by such a knowledgable person.

Had the best shoe buying experience ever! Eric educated me on how & why my feet are bothering me. He dialed me in on a pair of inserts for my not so great sneakers, flip flops that have proper arch support, and a cute pair of wedges. I am so impressed with his wealth of knowledge and suggestions to help my achy feet!
I will def come back for sneakers too.

Over the past year, I’ve become much more focused and consistent as a runner, and since I’m logging 30+ miles running 6 days a week, I thought it would be good to have some professionals check my shoes to see if they were a good match for my routine. Reading reviews of On The Run, I decided to give them a try — and I’m glad I did.
Tomek greeted me and asked a bunch of questions about my workouts, then checked my feet and the shoes I came in wearing. First, he noted that my left foot was a touch bigger, and recommended I move up half a size to assure proper space and alignment in the shoes. Then, he recommended the shoe I’d been wearing — Asics Gel Kayano’s — and had me try on a pair of Hoka One One’s as an option and sent me off to give them a try. No upselling, no pressure for accessories — and the price on the Gel Kayano 21’s is exactly what was being charged on Amazon at the time. They didn’t have my size in stock, but were glad to order and called me just over a week later to let me know the shoes arrived.
Now — I’m a frugal guy, and typically I buy the previous generation of shoes (e.g. the Kayano 20 model) from Amazon so I pay 30% less than the current model price — but I the quality of service and insights (the half size has made for a more comfortable fit so far) made me feel okay paying full retail for the latest model.
I’m a pretty experienced runner (off and on for more than 35 years) and I found the staff at On The Run knowledgable and friendly — if you’re a new runner or a «seasoned» runner looking for good advice in a no-​pressure environment in San Francisco, I’d heartily recommend On The Run.

I was referred to on the run for some good running shoes by the UCSF orthopedic center after a knee injury, and I had the most pleasantly surprising experience!
The sales associate started off by asking me to remove my shoes and they examined my feet. She next asked me to walk back and forth across the store so they could examine the way that I walked. The sales associate explained that my feet were rolling in when I was walking and that I was also flat footed.
She next measured my feet and pulled 3 different pairs of shoes for me to try on. She tied them all for me and had me walk around the store to decide which I liked the best.
We chatted a little bit while she was tying and uniting pair after pair of shoes, and she said that she had been working there for about a year and a half but had been in specialized orthopedic shoe sales for 8 years! She explained that they have special training to be able to properly assess your needs. I was blown away!
I have never been to a store that has such great customer service. The shoes I ended up with were a little pricy, but worth every penny! I will definitely return for my next pair!

I had an awesome experience at this store. My doctor recommended this store after I had hurt my meta tarsals, and had realllllllyyyy bad running shoes back then. I couldn’t run for more than 1 – 2 days a week, and it got worse over time, where I had to completely stop running. She had also recommended the gel inserts, but I decided to just buy an Asics pair of shoes with the normal inserts that came with the shoe, and it worked out perfectly.
I love the attention to detail that was provided by the staff. Jennifer made me walk, run and really studied my feet and posture in detail before recommending a shoe. And the price was pretty decent for a good pair of running shoes. She didn’t try to up sell me on the higher priced shoes, and I walked out of the store with a happy smile.
Now, I can run continuously for 3 days a week with no issues (my muscles get tired after this, but not an issue with the shoe). It’s been 8 months with these shoes now, and I couldn’t be happier. Will definitely come back to get my second pair of shoes from here :)

This is the only shoe store that I have ever recommended people to. The sales staff are all educated in podiatry issues and they spend time with you to discuss your foot problems to get you into shoes or arch supports that work!