“You have no idea how much of a difference it makes until you are fit in the right shoes.”

When Dan Cohen first walked in the doors of Rackets & Runners he’d had a host of foot problems. Born with clubfoot, he’d had procedures to correct his feet but still suffered foot pain for most of his adult life.His podiatrist prescribed orthotics, but then recommended he go to Rackets & Runners to get properly fitted for shoes.

He hasn’t bought shoes anywhere else in 15 years.

“They are so knowledgeable and are true fit experts," says Dan. "They’ve been doing this a long time and know exactly what to ask and what to recommend. They probably know more about matching feet to shoes than many people working in health care. Their knowledge is that vast.”

As a massage therapist, he refers his clients to Rackets & Runners. "A shoe that fits properly can go a long way to helping with foot, knee, hip or back pain,” he says. “I trust my client will get a shoe that works not only for their feet, but for their whole body."

"Many body issues start at the feet.”

Nadia Borean, R&R superstar fitter continues, “The shoe should be the foundation. If you build a house and the foundation is poor, there is no sense adding a second bathroom. You need to rebuild from the ground up.”

“We are now seeing more bells and whistles in shoe fitting— apps and digitized gait analysis— but often it is just simply knowing the right questions to ask. Are you having any pain right now?  Do you have any lower body discomfort such as pain in feet, knees, hips, and/or lower back?  Do you wear orthotics?  And combine that with our detailed knowledge of available footwear."

"Sometimes you just can’t take the human factor out of the equation.”

Gord Gruger is also a long-time fan of Rackets & Runners. He has been getting fitted there for over 20 years due to long-term back issues from herniated disc surgery. “I see two sides of it: they are very connected to the medical community and will take any medical reference and work with that, as well as help direct someone towards a medical professional that will help. They see these things as a process and are all about helping the individual, not just making a sale.”

Gord continues, ”I love running and it’s been on hold the past five years because I was in too much pain. Now I’m out running, 2-3x a week. Getting into the right shoes has allowed me to restart my activities and I have Rackets & Runners to thank for that.”

“Their advice basically changed my life.”

What Dan & Gord both really love about R&R is they let him try out the shoes in the real world for a couple of weeks, rather than just a couple of laps around the carpeted store. Dan says “I’ve tried out shoes for a few weeks and was able to return them if they aren’t working. No other store I’ve tried provides that kind of service.”

Nadia continues, “We guarantee our fit, because sometimes you can’t know until you really wear the shoes as you would use them. The proof in our fit process is we have very few shoes returned. We try to get it right on the first try. But if not, we are here to try and fix it.”

If you are having foot issues, or knee, hip or back pain Dan advises: “You might not need orthotics or anything specialized, you might just need the right shoes.” 

“It’s the best place to start.”

Build it right from the foundation up.

Start with the right shoes. Book a medical fitting today.