Neil Featherby: When two runners left me gobsmacked

There really are so many, enough to fill a book. Mostly, very funny, with some hilarious. However, a few others have left me speechless.

The sports retail industry like just about every other sector of business has seen many changes during the last two or three decades. Whilst those who, like me, have been around to see most of these changes, we don’t necessarily like all of them.

Nevertheless, everything moves on and you have to move with it, or you will get left behind. It is also great to be able to say you have a business that has been able to stand the test of time.

One thing which hasn’t changed over the years though is my favourite pet hate - the subject of blisters occurring during a run.

However, and more recently it seems to have become more problematic than ever. To the point where some of my staff have asked me why do I think this is happening?

Well for one, there are far more people of all ages running these days with a lot of them having only taken up running during the last few years.

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This has also led to even more competition between the manufacturers along with a very high level of marketing for which the expectations by way of comfort and performance of a pair of shoes are also now much greater.

Years ago, blisters were something which just went with the territory and each time you bought a new pair of shoes you just hoped that you didn’t start to feel any rubbing and friction during a run which of course would lead to one or in some cases several sore spots and blistering of the feet.

Nevertheless, if you did get a blister it was a case of trying to get the shoes broken in as quickly as possible whilst treating your feet and the affected areas with surgical spirit and patches of second skin covered with sticking tape. Unfortunately, and more often than not, having done all of that you would feel these patched up protective layers becoming detached in the middle of a run which then led to another blister. Compeed and technical running socks were not around back then.

Nonetheless, I did mention at the start of this column about some of the standout stories over the years with many of them being wind ups due to people knowing my dislike on the subject of blisters, for which I will never forget two such complaints.

Such as when a gentleman walked into the store and in such an animated way slammed his Brooks running shoes to the floor saying you can have these back as they are rubbish.

Ironically, the Brooks rep was in the shop at the time, and I just calmly said “oh right, tell me more” where I was then informed by the guy of how brilliantly he had been running for the first 17 miles in a marathon before it all caved in due to a blister.

“So the shoes were brilliant for 17 miles then?” I went on to say. He just looked at me before I further asked him as to what time he went through 10 miles in.

“About 46 minutes,” he said. With that I just started laughing as at the time it would have been a world best for 10 miles and I won the race from start to finish and certainly did not go through 10 miles anywhere near the time he claimed.

Then perhaps even better than that story is the conversation I had with someone who ran in the Marathon Des Sables only to complain afterwards about the blisters he suffered during the event in shoes which had been purchased from us.

Nigel Arnold and Neil Featherby heading into Diss town centre followed by friends and fellow runners in their 1989 charity run (Image: Neil Featherby)

For those who do not know what the MDS is, it’s a 251km (156 miles) stage race over six days across the Sahara Desert where just about every single competitor can guarantee that they are going to suffer with severe blistering. I honestly believed it was all part of a wind up and I am still not sure to this day, but that one did leave me somewhat speechless.

Finally – I must mention Nigel Arnold who is undoubtedly one of Norfolk’s most outstanding athletes during the last four decades. Nige is loved by everyone, but a few months ago collapsed during a training run which led to heart surgery this week.

I, like everyone else, wish him a speedy recovery and also know that once he is up and about again, his mind will be turning to getting out there again and doing what he loves best.

Oh, and I will just say this, I can remember running round Norfolk with Nigel in 1989 for charity where he suffered blisters which were so bad, BBC Look East who were filming some of the run decided that his feet and blisters had to be a main feature within the film.