Dave s Running

DAVE MASON – THE DAVE IN DAVE’S RUNNING

– wasn’t even a runner. At least not initially. In fact, Mason was involved in drag racing and operated his own automotive shop. When a doctor told the 5’6” and 200-pound Mason he had to start exercising, he obliged. There was, however, a problem: Mason couldn’t find size 7.5 running shoes anywhere.

Mason responded by opening accounts and selling shoes himself. Each weekend, he visited races within 200 miles of his Ohio home to peddle New Balance, Nike, Puma and Lydiard shoes from his car. He also founded his own race, the aptly named Dave’s 10 Miler.

In 1976, Mason opened his first physical storefront – a “200-square-foot hallway” in Delta, OH, featuring running shoes, nylon shorts, singlets and cotton sweatsuits.

“Very primitive,” assures James Mason, Dave’s son.

From those early roots, the Masons became active players in northwest Ohio’s running scene. There were retail stores in Toledo and Sylvania, OH, an early Nike shoe tester in Cleveland giving the Masons a beat on compelling models from the fledgling brand out of Oregon and a swelling mail order business. Dave Mason also began offering marathon and 5K training programs at the store and invested in TV commercials detailing the shop’s personalized fitting process.

In 2008, James Mason, who had purchased the Toledo store from his parents in 1986, acquired the Delta store from his parents as well. That same year, he also opened a store in Perrysburg, OH. A store in Finlay, OH, followed four years later.

Dave’s now sponsors and supports about 250 races around northwest Ohio and remains a vital cog in the local racing scene with its timing services and screenprinting operations. The store also has six branded finish line arches it loans to local races, fully wrapped vans and branded tents at races.

“You’d be hard-pressed to go to a local race today and not see a Dave’s logo,” says Matt Mason, James’s son and the third Mason generation involved in the family business alongside his sister, Melissa.

The Masons marked the company’s fifth decade with a new TV commercial, a Free Shoes for Life campaign and the creation of Dave’s Golden Miles Strawberry Blonde Ale in collaboration with the craft beverages program at nearby Lourdes University. Some 300 people turned out for a taste of Golden Miles at the kickoff of the annual Dave’s Brew Series on May 11.