Do Runners Choose Running, or Does Running Choose Us?
For Phil Fenty, owner of Fleet Feet in Adams Morgan, it's more than a little of both. This year, Fenty and his wife of 37 years, Jan, celebrate 20 years of business in Adams Morgan--the first 14 at 1840 Columbia Road, the last six across the street at 1841.

"I vividly remember opening the first store," Fenty (63), said recently. "It's hard to believe that was 20 years ago."

Fenty has been a runner longer than that. Not a born runner, which is tough when you're from Buffalo. Fenty moved to Washington in his mid-20s and was not a consistent runner until he was almost 40. He said he wasn't bitten by the sport until after completing his first marathon.

"I never started running at all until I was 30," Fenty said. "I knew I wasn't going to die at that age, but I had to lose a little weight, quit smoking, quit drinking. So I'd go out and do my two or three miles per day.

"Then a friend who knew I ran heard an ad on the radio for the Marine Corps Marathon: 'God, Phil, you could do that!' Well, the idea was appealing, but I knew enough about running to know I'd have to start training more seriously. So I did."

Like many runners, Fenty's circle of friends tended to close around those with whom he ran. Bruce Robinson, an accomplished area runner who owned Racquet and Jog in Bethesda--and who planted the seed of entreprenuerial desire--introduced Fenty to Bob Harper, who provided training companionship and advice. While a minor injury kept Fenty out of the Marine Corps Marathon, he made his marathon debut a month later at the old Baltimore Marathon--with the notorious mile-long Satyr Hill--in December of 1979.

"Never again!" Fenty said about his marathon intentions after completing one of the most difficult marathon courses ever devised. "But, of course, that changed quickly and before long I was training to better my time."

Less than two years later, Fenty ran the Philadelphia Marathon in his personal best of 2:59:20. "Believe me," he said, "I was running hard at the end to break three hours."

Biking, duathlons, triathlons, and finally ultramarathons followed, including the Western States 100 Miler, Vermont 100 Miler, Philadelphia to Atlantic City 100K, JFK 50 Miler, the old Bridge-to-Bridge 36 Miler in Washington, Bull Run, and more. Bitten hardly seems adequate to describe Fenty's rapid immersion in long distance running.

That's when the sport bit back. Like many other pilgrims, Fenty visited the original Bill Rodgers Running Center on the Boston Marathon course, where he once again found his curiosity piqued. Then, during his running forays out West, Fenty met Sally Edwards, a champion ultramarathoner who owned a chain of 18 stores in California. With Fenty at the helm, Fleet Feet opened its first Eastern franchise in 1984.

"The year before we opened, I ran 18 races," Fenty said. "The next year, I ran one."

If ultramarathoning is a runner's way of overdoing it, owning a running store is the businessman's equivalent, even when it's a family affair: these days, Fenty, Jan, and their oldest son Shawn, a competitive cyclist, all work at the store.

"It really is a 24/7 proposition," Fenty said. "We're open seven days a week--they kick me out on Wednesdays--but even at home, we're doing invoices on the computer, talking on the phone. We're always on."

But Fenty is hardly complaining. "Any business owner has to keep his ear to the train tracks," he said. "For us, that's the fun part."

So the boss takes the community's pulse while leading 30 to 40 friends and customers for a run from the store every Sunday morning--"Just like church," he said.

"Cooperation between businesses is very rare in this town, but there's a mutual respect between Phil and his competitors," said Andre Williams, who opened Gotta Run last year in Arlington and cut his teeth in the running store business with the Fleet Feet chain. "If a customer comes into my store and I don't have [what he's looking for], I'm happy to recommend Adams Morgan. We refer customers back and forth all the time."

After two decades in the business and more than three in running, neither of Fenty's pursuits is slowing in the least. Multisport competitions and ultramarathons may have yielded to weightlifting and yoga, but running between 40 and 65 miles per week is still the center around which everything else revolves.

"One of the reasons I got started with this business was because I had gotten so much out of running and wanted to give something back," Fenty said. Indeed, gift certificates from the Adams Morgan store have been nearly ubiquitous for 20 years at dozens of the low-key, community-based and club races throughout the city. And Fleet Feet served as Marathon Central when the Washington DC Marathon folded last year just three days before the scheduled race. Fenty and his staff played a pivotal role in organizing, hosting, and providing awards for the hundreds who ran the remarkably successful Unofficial DC Marathon.

That community spirit extends beyond Fenty himself; Jan is active in Adams Morgan civic associations and their middle son, Adrian, who has run five Marine Corps Marathons (still a dozen or so behind his dad), is a City Councilmember.

"Washington is a unique and wonderful athletic community, but runners are especially fortunate," Fenty said. "There are so many places to run, on the Mall, bike paths, trails in Rock Creek Park, along the river. I still enjoy seeing the sights and will never get tired of running here."

On June 6, Phil and Jan Fenty celebrated their 20th anniversary in business with a reception at Perry's restaurant in Adams Morgan. Family, friends, employees, former employees, Councilmembers, and business associates attended. The Mayor and City Council proclaimed June 6-8 Fleet Feet Days.