WHEN life hands you a lemon, do you find it tough to make lemonade?

Toby Claudio did. The sports enthusiast who even has a sports store named after him just wanted to run. Then he gets diagnosed with a potentially debilitating sports injury.

Squeezing that lemon wasn?t easy, but Toby wanted to continue running. In the end, he came up with a lemonade he wouldn?t mind sharing with others: a pioneering enterprise that has kept him on track.

Toby, the son of Bobby Claudio of Toby?s Sports store, one of Manila?s oldest and largest sports? supply chains, had an understandably more than average love for sports. With a warehouse full of sporting equipment, he was spoilt for choice.

Toby grew up competitive from age 5, his sports ranging from age-group tennis, soccer, baseball (he played for UP in the UAAP), to his more relaxed hobbies of basketball, badminton, golf and eventually running. Amidst this active lifestyle, though, he was constantly wracking his brains for a way to make his old man proud.

He only knew that his ?big idea? had to focus on sports. But with a hectic career, a new family and a sporty lifestyle, it was inevitable that something had to give. A couple of years ago, Toby was diagnosed with a slipped disc due to overuse. The injury was so painful that he considered getting surgery. Dissuaded by his doctor from taking this invasive step, however, he searched online and flew to the United States to find a solution.

His quest led him to Newton Running, a revolutionary niche running shoe company established in March 2007. The company, reputed to be at the forefront of the ?midfoot-forefoot? running style, had the answer Toby was looking for.

?The first time I took my Newtons for a run, I knew they were different,? he recalls. ?They immediately made me feel faster. You land softer and your cadence just naturally speeds up because of the lugs [patented rubber sole lifts found at bottom of Newtons].?

Toby decided that he had to have Newtons. But more than that, ?I wanted to have Newtons in my own store.?

Sealing the deal to distribute Newton was the icing that Toby needed to open Runnr, which he envisions as the first Philippine world class specialty running store. Located in Bonifacio High Street at The Fort, the heart of Manila?s latest running craze where races are held almost every weekend, rain or shine, the store caters to a new generation of runners who see in the sport the latest workout fad.

The store does not only sell Newton and other top brands, including Adidas and Nike, it also serves as a clinic for runners by providing the extra service of custom-fitting, with a three-step process that includes footprint scanning, high-speed video gait analysis, and custom insole molding.

Runnr is the first store in the Philippines, and possibly, in the world that offers all three cutting edge technologies under one roof. The service is offered free of charge. The store also has training runs and running seminars taught by the likes of top Filipino triathlete Arland Macasieb.

Toby recalls that it was his own search for the right shoes to sustain his love for running that led him to offer this service.

?It takes a higher level of understanding and service to cater to the specific needs of runners, because every runner is different. We all have different foot types, leg alignment, build and gait ?and only a store with the right people, training and tools can understand this and recommend the appropriate gear for each individual runner. We want to provide everything a runner needs from head to toe,? he says.

The store caters to both newbie runners and serious ones who regard running almost like a religion. As a runner himself, Toby says it is important that he can relate to his customers? passion for running.

?I finished my first 21K much easier than I thought I could and I just set a new personal best for my 5K and 10K,? says the 36-year-old roadrunner and businessman.

Since the store opened, it has received encouraging feedback, especially from first time runners who claim that they can now run much easier after they got fitted with the proper shoes and got tips on their form.

Toby particularly recalls accomplished triathlete and Ayala Corporation president Fernando Zobel de Ayala sharing, on Runnr?s opening day, that in every city he visits, he makes it a point to drop by at running stores. ?He said Runnr is one of the best running stores he?s seen anywhere in the world,? the proprietor recounts proudly.

Toby is putting together a series of clinics for new running converts and advanced road racers in his store at The Fort, which has increasingly become a temple for running fanatics in the country.

?Defy your limits,? the store?s slogan says. That?s exactly how Toby feels now that he has aimed for and achieved what others might think impossible, not only in his running career but in other aspects of life as well.

?I had always wanted to come up with a pioneering new business or retail concept like my dad did when he first put up Toby?s over 30 years ago,? he says of his biggest challenge. ?I had been pressuring myself to do it for a long time, but couldn?t get around to it because of all the work that was piling up. I actually started to run to relieve the stress.?

As it turns out, not only did it relieve his stress, running itself became, first the source, and inevitably and ironically, the answer to Toby?s problem.

?Running challenges you to push yourself further and further. And when you can overcome what you thought were your limits, then it makes you realize that you can do so much more ? not only with running but with other things in life. I read somewhere that ?The sport just has a way of empowering ordinary people to moments of personal greatness.? That, for me, says it all.? ?