Phidippides Sports Center

Information may not be reliable

As many of you may have heard through the rumor mill, Ava and Charlie are leaving the world of retail after 31 years. Ava and Charlie along with Craig, who passed away two years ago, founded Phidippides Encino in 1980 and built it into the nationally recognized running and walking specialty shop that you have come to know and love. Our expertise, experience, product knowledge, problem solving ability, kindness and openness to customers of all levels of fitness has been what helped us grow and find a place in all of your hearts. We thank you for your support and loyalty.

But now it's time for other endeavors. Ava and Charlie are not "retiring" - we prefer to think of it as "advancing". We won't be leaving the area - in fact, with more free time on our hands, you'll probably be seeing more of us at the local running events than in recent memory! Our last day in the store will be October 30th, so please stop by and say hello and let us fit you for your last pair of official "Phidippides" shoes!

For the past four years, we have been trying to find the right person with the right financing to assume the mantle and continue the great traditions of Phidippides Encino. Above all, we wanted to insure that the tradition we have built would continue, and that our customers could count on our successor to offer the same expertise and service we strove to maintain.

Effective November 1st, we are confident that a fine energetic (and tall!) young man by the name of Trey Barnes will do just that, taking over as the new owner operator of our store. You will still find the same customer respect and service, along with product integrity and inventory selection that Phidippides Encino has always offered. We believe Trey, working alongside the rest of our current staff, will serve our customers well and we wish him the best. The sad part of the successful passing of the baton is that the name of our store, Phidippides Encino, will be changed to Fleet Feet Encino. We have given them a complete copy of all your customer history so they will be able to look up all your purchases to insure that you get the same quality product you are used to.

Pheidippides (the more correct, original spelling - Phillip is the modern derivative) an Athenian courier, was sent to Sparta to request help when the Persians landed at Marathon. He ran 150 miles in two days. At the conclusion of the battle, he ran the 22 mi (35 km) back to Athens, where he reportedly shouted “Rejoice! We conquer!” and then died of exhaustion.