Casey Shafer manager of Three Rivers Running Company in Fort Wayne, IN was only an adequate basketball player so his coach  suggested he try running as a way to get in shape. But after a week or two on the track Shafer was hooked, he was by far a better runner then basketball player. Under the leadership of Coach Bart Dudley (Bluffton High School), the James Dean of high school running,  Shafer learned the notion that in order to motivate  hard work, fun needed to trot right along side. With this as his team’s driving principal, they won their first conference meet and sectionals. Much like Coach Joe Newton and his York Dukes (featured in the documentary The Long Green Line) Coach Dudley’s high school cross country program, at one point, grew bigger than than the football team.

So it only figures that at Three River’s Running Company they believe in motivation through hard work and fun. The store, only in it’s 6th year of operation, works hard to provide  great service to the running community. They have formed strong bonds with the local high school kids who partake in summer running groups and camps,

along with older people who participate in the weekly speed sessions to help focus them on keeping in shape. But it’s not all about working hard, they also go out of their way to show runners how much fun their sport is, from their annual Halloween Costume Fun-Run to their Olympian Brian Sell Mustache Month.

As for motivation, Three Rivers Running Company decided to sell The Long Green Line (and has plans in the works for some screenings, check back when info becomes available) because of its positive messages. Shafer says about the film, “Even though the team went through some hardships in losing some of the top seven because of injury and misbehavior, the York team still came together and accomplished their team goal by working hard and believing in each other and their coach.” With such clear motivational messages coming directly from the film it’s no wonder Three Rivers is introducing it to their community of runners.