Runners will tell you the best thing about their sport is that it’s relatively hassle-free.
“There’s no contract to run, you decide when you want to run and it's very simple,” said one man getting a run in on Mount Royal recently.
But there is something that can be problematic – finding the right pair of shoes, and a local entrepreneur wants to change the way people buy their footwear in Quebec.
Mathieu Raymond started a company called Math Sport that creates running shoes locally and made-to-measure for each of its customers.
“When you go into the marketplace you don't really know what the shoe is made of. You know it's beautiful, you know it's comfortable, fine. But you don't know what's inside,” he said.
The 28-year-old entrepreneur has been passionate about running since he was 9.
Three years ago, while working as a shoe salesman, he recognized a need in the industry that wasn't being met.
“I said to myself, why don't we take an inventory of all the pieces we need to make a real good running shoe and we make it custom made,” he explained.
He found a production facility in St. Leonard and the most important piece of technology – a scanner that takes 3D footprints showing the length, width, arch level and other characteristics of a runner's foot needed to make the perfect shoe.
Customers then get to personalize their pair online with over a thousand different colour and style combinations, and the shoe goes into production.
Raymond's initial crowdfunding campaign sold 500 pairs at $100 each. He has since increased his price to $180 per pair, and over the past three months has sold 700 pairs.
Now that his idea has picked up, he just hopes the popularity of running continues to grow and people keep lacing up.
