Skip Brand is the owner of Healdsburg Running Company. Photo taken in Healdsburg on Monday, Feb. 13, 2023. (Photo: Christopher Chung/The Press Democrat)
From wine runs to trail races, the small store has forged a wide footprint in the local running community, where it acts as a social hub for newbies and veterans alike.
Healdsburg Running Co. calls itself “America’s Wineiest Running Store.”
Through group runs and events, the shop for running shoes and all sorts of striding gear has become, for veteran and newbie runners alike, a social hub where a community built around health and fitness comes together, often over adventure, wine, beer and food.
Store founder Skip Brand, a self-proclaimed “computer nerd” and “running nerd” opened the store in 2015.
The move came after years of working and living in Silicon Valley, including stints at Yahoo and as CEO of Martini Media, a San Francisco digital marketing company. His doctoral degree from Arizona State University is in technology policy.
But after a couple decades in the field he’d decided it was time for a change. He’d bought an 800-square-foot home in Healdsburg in 2005. His store on Center Street came 10 years later.
“What happens, at least in my family, is when you turn roughly 50, you take your day job and stop. And you do your passion,” said Brand, 57.