Forward Motion: Black Dog Running Company co-owner Kelly Burton shares how she and her team help the Myrtle Beach community put one foot in front of the other

The rhythm of the footsteps in Kelly Burton’s life journey follows the old saying that, “Life isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon.”

The co-owner of Black Dog Running Company moved to Myrtle Beach from Chicago over a decade ago, not as an avid runner, but with a career background in telecom, marketing, and journalism as a published author. But her interest in running took a turn in 2018, when she witnessed a friend crossing the finish line at her first mini-marathon after training at Black Dog Running Company that summer.

“My daughters and I went to the race, and we’re at the finish line,” she says. “I’d never been to a race before. And I told people it was like a spiritual experience because I was watching all these different shapes, sizes, paces, and ages. Everyone is crossing the finish line, though, on their own terms.”

The next day, she visited the Black Dog shop for the first time as a customer, fell in love with the experience, and says she “very slowly and sheepishly began running the next day.” Six months later, she began working there under the leadership of former owner Daniel Brass, who then promoted her to a management position.

“I had never worked retail before in my life,” says Burton. “And I was in my early forties when I started here.”

Flashforward to July 2024, when Brass handed the ownership reins over to Burton and co-owner Diane Whitman, who Burton describes as the missing piece she needed at Black Dog when Whitman was hired in 2020. Today, the women co-owners continue the tradition Brass started in 20212, which goes far beyond selling running shoes.

“It’s all about the personal service,” says Burton. “It’s like a full-service gas station scenario here: We fit you into the shoes, we check the size of the shoe, we’ll even put them on and tie them for you. … We show people how to tie their shoes if they’re having issues with tendonitis or with their heels slipping because it’s narrow.

“We educate people on what they’re buying because it’s not just like a point-and-grab scenario,” she continues. “In fact, it gets us twitchy when people come in here, and they point at a shoe and say, ‘I want that gray one.’ … We do have a 3D scanner technology here, too, that wows people. It shows them their pressure points and their arches to give them an approximate size, and then we actually can make custom insoles here while they wait.”

Burton encourages runners of all skill and experience levels, as well as non-runners, not to be shy or intimidated about stopping in to visit her team at Black Dog Running Company – a team she says is just as diverse in their running backgrounds as their customers. They fit shoes for those working in the hospitality industry, in warehouses, postal workers and delivery drivers, umpires, police and rescue, and those referred by physical therapists or podiatrists for a healthier lifestyle.

“The healthcare community is sending their patients, which is pretty humbling and awesome for us,” she says. “Even those working in the physical therapy field come here themselves, which is a pretty high compliment. We love that.”

Besides continuing to train in her love of running, while running the store, the mom of five and “Gigi” to two feeds her addiction to the beach, which is located near her home, hits the gym, supports her musician husband and his band, Southern Comfort, and runs what she calls her “side gig,” her publishing house, Green Ferns, along with three other fellow Southern writers (two women and one man).

“As we approach middle age, I love the idea of sharing with women that there are lots of opportunities for us to become business owners in our forties after having a potpourri of careers and jobs behind us,” says Burton. “Just trust that process and that journey because anything is possible if you’re equipped for it and if you trust yourself and you’re willing to work for it.

“This job [at Black Dog] blows our mind constantly, and we’re having a blast doing it. Every day is different. We have lots to learn, but we love it,” she continues. “And for the runners and the potential runners who come through the door, we just want people to know that it’s OK to embrace where you are. Everybody starts somewhere. And sometimes we have setbacks with injuries or illness or just life happening. That’s OK.”

In March, Black Dog Running Company is sponsoring the Leprechaun Dash 5K on March 13 at Tidal Creek Brewhouse in The Market Common and the ShamROCK N’Run on March 21 in North Myrtle Beach. Black Dog is also a retail race partner for the Myrtle Beach Marathon on March 7. And they host a running club three days a week, open to anyone. For more information, visit Blackdogrunning.com.