Faces of Fleet Feet: Laramie Coats

For the past few months, we've been highlighting our outfitters and staff to not only put a face to a name, but also introduce the stories of wonderful people that construct the team and atmosphere that you'll experience at Fleet Feet.

Today, we're excited to highlight outfitter, Laramie Coats.

How did you get started in run specialty (or at Fleet Feet)?
I started running in high school. Running was always something I was passionate about. I ended up running on a scholarship at a college in Montana. After moving back to Boise I began training for half marathons and wanted to further my own involvement in the running community. Fleet Feet sounded like the right place to learn more as well as help others.

What do you do outside of Fleet Feet?
Being that I grew up in Alaska I have always had a passion for the outdoors. You can often find me hiking and camping with my dogs. In the winter I also enjoy snowboarding Tamarack Mountain.

What stands out to you about working at Fleet Feet?
The part I love about Fleet Feet is the amount of connections that we get to make with our customers. Being able to make people feel as comfortable as possible for all of their favorite activities makes working here worth while!

What's your go-to shoe and why?
My go-to shoe would hands down be the Brooks Glycerin for the road or the ON Cloudventure for the trails! These two shoes have so many unique features to them both that it’s hard to chose my favorite!

Do you have any exciting race stories or big running accomplishments?
Deciding my favorite running story is a tough one! I have so many crazy stories from over the years. But, I think my most memorable story would have to be my first half marathon I ever ran. This happened during my senior year of high school. I had no idea what to expect from this race, it was down Bogus Basin. And at the time I lived about an hour or so away. My mom and I had left our house pretty early to make it in time. It was so early I wasn’t truly awake. Not awake enough to the point I forgot to grab my running shoes on the way out the door. We realized half way to the race and didn’t have enough time to turn back to go get them. I panicked but I wasn’t about to not do it. So, there I was running a half marathon in a pair of TOMS! I got so many strange looks but I just kept telling myself, “people run in worse all the time.” I ended up placing second in my age group and I scraped by with only a few blisters! This was a huge lesson for me, you can say I haven’t forgotten a pair of shoes since!