When you pair the strength of Nike, which espouses “Just Do It,” with Naperville’s award-winning running store Naperville Running Company, magic occurs. And area student runners are the benefactors of this magic.
Away from the track and the pavement, an amazing place recently was established exclusively for our local student runners — an underground store/running museum/meeting space below Naperville Running Company’s store at 34 W. Jefferson Ave., called Spike Shed.
Welcome Spike Shed, a first of its kind in the nation, thanks to the collaboration of Naperville Running Company and Nike, exclusively for student runners, their coaches and parents.
“We wanted to do something uniquely appealing for student teen athletes that was different from the normal running retail experience,” said Kris Hartner, owner of Naperville Running Company.
Spike Shed is a place where running teams can gather (this time of year it’s cross country teams, but come spring, track teams) to talk about their sport, hold meetings, set goals, participate in interactive experiences, even do video confessionals (for example, “I want to run a 4-minute mile.”)
Equipped with turf, bleachers, a giant chalkboard, lockers, iPad’s, a foosball table, hi-tech Polaroid cameras, play stations and running memorabilia, teams come together to listen, learn, play and inspire each other.
Naperville Running Company and Nike staff members are there to educate runners about the latest running equipment and apparel, including spikes. Team members can design their own customized apparel created in the Spike Shed. Parent team meetings have been conducted here, too. One parent recently commented that this has been the best kickoff to their school’s running season because of the camaraderie Spike Shed has fostered among the team and parents.
“Although kids and their parents can certainly buy running gear when they visit Spike Shed, our intent with Nike was less about selling and more about creating a space where teen runners can call their hub — and learn and have fun here,” Hartner says. “Plus, no one else was doing something like this. We kind of like that.”
Who can see inside the underground Spike Shed? This summer, cross country coaches across the region were invited to visit Spike Shed with special team nights. Numerous area teams have visited the Shed so far with groups from 15 to 70 runners. The schedule continues to fill up, and the Shed will be open through the fall sports season — reopening in the spring in time for track teams.
Recently, Naperville Central High School’s girls cross country team, along with coach Aislinn Hicks, visited Spike Shed. After an hour and a half tour, playing, setting goals and having fun, they created customized spikes for their shoes, designed their team workout shirt and remembered why they love to run.
Working with Naperville Running Company was a natural fit for Nike.
“Naperville Running Company is a great retail partner, and it was a perfect fit with Naperville and the Midwest being a hotbed for distance runners,” said Cindy Hamilton, spokesperson for Nike. “We wanted to create a special place for Naperville-area running teams.”
