Nearly 100 Vernon, B.C. residents help running store move 1,200 pairs of shoes

The Starting Block in Vernon, B.C., located in the Okanagan in the southern region of the province, moved locations recently and had about 1,200 pairs of shoes to transport.

To help with the move, nearly 100 local resident showed up on Feb. 28 to form a bucket brigade, an extended line of people who pass items one-by-one to each other, proving that the running scene in Canada is one of the most tight knit communities around. A bucket brigade is commonly known as a human chain.

“We moved about 1,200 pairs of shoes in 75 minutes,” owner Wendy Schroeder told Canadian Running via email on Saturday. “We were open until 5 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 27 in the old location and opened at 10 a.m. on Monday, Feb. 29 in the new location.”

Residents lined up an arms length apart and passed shoes to each other in a rather unique form of transporting goods from one store location to the other.

The Starting Block is one of the only running specialty stores in Vernon, a city of approximately 40,000, and its surrounding areas. The store first opened in July 2002 and continues to sponsor local running events.

The store moved locations to 3100 29th Ave. in Vernon’s city core, approximately 110 metres from the previous location at 3107 30th Ave.

On why the team moved locations, Schroeder told Canadian Running that the “rent was increased a lot and we thought we would look around and see what was out there for a similar price. This place was 400 ft away, super open and bright, on a corner lot, and a little bigger. We fell in love with it and are so happy it happened, it was meant to be.”

The local running store, nearing its 14th anniversary, also specializes in triathlon gear, nutrition and injury prevention in addition to running footwear and apparel. The store is owned by Schroeder and Roz Beaulieu.

A video of the bucket brigade in action can be seen below courtesy of the Morning Star.

The store’s website can be found here.