So you think A Snail's Pace is a funny name, do you? How about Loeschhorn's for Runners? Yep, that was our original name back in 1979 when Dave Reynolds decided to try the running store business!

If you were a runner in Orange County in 1979, Loeschhorn's was a name you probably recognized. John Loeschhorn established the very first running shop and social running club in Orange County in the latter '70s. His original store in Costa Mesa was a Mecca for runners from all over Southern California. Our 1979 Fountain Valley store--originally located on Warner Av directly across from Mile Square Park--was the 4th Loeschhorn's store in OC and the very first franchise store.

With a lot of ups and downs during the '80s, the decade closed with the Fountain Valley Loeschhorn's as the last remaining Loeschhorn's for Runners store. With no other Loeschhorn's to associate with, it was time to try a new name.

And since the FV lease was also up for renewal at this time, we decided to change the name AND the location at the same time. We relocated the store two miles west to its current location. However, coming up with a new name was more difficult than finding a new location!

With the relocation looming and struggling to come up with a name, the story goes that Dave was out running on a damp, drizzly morning and racking his brain for some kind of a unique, catchy name.

His run was interrupted, the story goes on to say, by an exodus of what must have been hundreds of snails migrating across the wet sidewalk--as snails will do on rainy mornings. Forced to tiptoe at half-speed, he chuckled to himself, 'Geez, I'm having to run at a snail's pace'.

That was the lightning bolt. 'Hey, what about that for a name?' he thought. Well, it took a while for the name to grow on him, but at a loss for a better alternative, the name went up on the sign and business cards were printed, and there was no turning back.

Soon, however, the name became not only accepted, but even better received than Dave had ever dared to hope. The name was greatly enhanced by the clever logo design created by Joe Pearson of Action Shirts in Huntington Beach.

It also helped that the name was non-threatening, so novice runners didn't feel so intimidated when they came into an actual running store for the first time. And, most people appreciated the humor in the mildly self-deprecating name.

It seems, sooner or later, most runners come to realize: In the big scheme of things, we're ALL snails!