8 — Thursday, April 18, 2019
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

From Fleet Feet to Michigan: The Fenty family and a culture of exercise

Phil 
Fenty 
runs. 
He 
bikes. He swims. Fenty runs 
ultramarathons 
— 
100-mile 
races that can take nearly 24 
hours to compete.
“What’s even more crazy is 
that he did them twice,” said 
Andrew Fenty, his grandson. 
“And to qualify for that event 
you have to run numerous 50 
mile events.”
Phil Fenty runs Ironman 
races, 
even 
the 
Ironman 
World Championship — the 
most 
grueling 
of 
triathlon 
competitions. 
He 
races 
in 
all these competitions as a 
septuagenarian.
“He 
does 
everything,” 
Andrew said.
Adrian Fenty, Phil’s son and 
Andrew’s father, runs every 
morning often at 5 a.m.
Shawn 
Fenty, 
Adrian’s 
brother and Phil’s son owns 
Fleet Feet in Washington D.C., 
arguably the nation’s premier 
running 
store. 
He 
outfits 
hundreds of runners who travel 
to his store in search of the ideal 
fit for a long run, much like the 
ultramarathons Phil competes 
in.
And Andrew?
Andrew plays tennis. The 
freshman anchors the Michigan 
men’s tennis team, finishing 
with 22 singles and 18 doubles 
wins — both the highest totals 
on the Wolverines this season.
Fenty and his twin brother 
Matthew had a lot of energy 
as young children. Adrian, the 
boys’ father and the mayor of 
Washington D.C., decided to 
introduce sports as a way to 
channel this enthusiasm into 
something constructive. Then, 
from a friend who went to high 
school with Adrian and lived 
nearby, Adrian found tennis 
and signed the boys up. When 
they were three or four years 
old, he took his children to a 
tennis academy owned by his 
friend.
“He would let them hit even 
when they weren’t ready for 
it,” Adrian said via a phone 
interview. “So by the time they 
were four, they actually could 
hit pretty well and do practices.
“They played a lot of other 
sports for a while, but tennis 
was always the sport and by the 
time they were 12, it was the 
only sport.”
And 
as 
Andrew 
would 
eventually learn, tennis became 
his sport. Just like track for 
his father, marathoning for his 
grandfather and cycling for his 
uncle.
The passion for athletics and 
fitness began with Phil, when he 
was in his thirties and wanted 
to keep up with his sons and lose 
weight, according to Adrian. So, 

Phil decided to take up running. 
It was inexpensive and required 
minimal equipment, just a pair 
of running shoes. But as he 
continued to pursue it, running 
became more than just a means 
to lose weight. Running slowly 
became Phil’s passion, a method 
of solace.
“I just enjoyed running,” 
Phil said. “It was something 
that appealed to me and came 
naturally to me. I had an affinity 
to it. It quieted my mind. When 
you’re running you’re just with 
yourself, a meditative type of 
adventure.”
Though it certainly provided 
benefits for his health, Phil also 
greatly appreciated the familial 
attitude 
that 
came 
from 
running. It was a sport that Phil, 
his wife and two sons could do 
together and separately. And, 
Phil believes that it led Shawn 
to pursue cycling and Adrian to 
pursue soccer.
But rather than just maintain 
this affinity as a casual hobby, 
or a way to keep his family 
connected, 
Phil 
turned 
his 
passion into a business.
Phil had experience working 
in retail and had received 
significant experience as an 
employee for Sears Roebuck. 
Opening his own store was 
something he envisioned doing, 
and 
combining 
his 
passion 
for exercise with his retail 
experience made it an easy 
decision.
Then, he met the founder of 
Fleet Feet.
“She lived in California, and 
had 18 stores in California,” Phil 
remembers. 
“Coincidentally, 
at the same time she was 
interested in opening stores 
outside 
of 
California, 
and 
Washington D.C. was a good 
spot because we had a great base 
of runners and things going 
on in D.C. And so she granted 
my wife (Jeannette) and I a 
franchise, and we opened it and 
so my dream came true and it 
worked out very well.”
Phil is being modest.
35 years later, Fleet Feet is 
the premier running shop in 
the Washington D.C. area and 
remains a family business. What 
began as a store owned by Phil 
and his wife is now currently 
managed by Phil’s son, Shawn 
with many members of the 
family working there.
It began as a store focused on 
triathletes but now, it focuses 
on a specific niche — intense 
runners.
When Andrew was asked 
about his experiences with 
Fleet 
Feet, 
he 
smiled 
and 
remembers working at a store 
with his cousins and uncles. As 
a young child, he would be with 
the employees at a nearby park, 
spending time with them on 
their breaks.

“I remember as a young kid, 
my father would just leave me 
(at the store),” Andrew said. 
“Recently, I worked there as 
a salesman, which was weird, 
because I grew up there my 
whole life.
“It’s 
a 
rite 
of 
passage, 
everyone goes through there.”
Added Phil: “Andrew and his 
brother Matthew, they’re twins, 
they spent days in the store 
when they were still in baby 
carriers. They’ve been at the 
store since they were born, as 
have all the children. It’s been a 
great family environment.”
Working at Fleet Feet is 
seemingly only one of many 
“rites of passage” for the Fenty 
family. Another is finding your 
sport.
But, it was up to each member 
of the family to find their own 
athletic 
niche. 
Phil 
never 
sought to steer his children 
or his grandchildren to any 
specific sport.
“Shawn and (Adrian) are 
both athletes in their own 
disciplines,” Phil Fenty said. 
“It was never pressure to be a 
runner, (it was) to find the sport 
that works for you and put in a 
good effort.
“Tennis was their thing. I 
didn’t try to influence anybody 
in the family to do what I did. 
They found the sports that 
worked for them.”
Phil, though, still recognizes 
the 
benefits 
that 
running 
provided for Andrew at a young 
age. He believes that endurance 
is crucial to success in tennis 
and that those with running 
backgrounds have a significant 
advantage. 
Andrew certainly recognizes 
the effect that such training 
provided. About five years ago 
on Christmas, Andrew began 
doing a track workout with 
his father. Even in that first 
workout, Andrew kept pace 
with a father who avidly runs 
triathlons 
and 
marathons, 
Adrian noticed his son’s speed 
and potential.
By the next year, Adrian 
acknowledges that his son had 
bested him. And for Andrew, 
these workouts and lessons from 
his father and grandfather have 
paid dividends on the court. 
It has given him perspective 
on his up-and-coming tennis 
career.
“(My grandfather) still works 
out four hours a day,” Andrew 
said. “He goes to the gym as 
much as me. He doesn’t stop. It’s 
motivation, but it’s just amazing 
to see that, he’s kinda like my 
father in a way, never stopping. 
I don’t think he knows what it 
feels like to not work out.
“It means the world, to 
have the grandfather like that, 
pushing me in a way.”
Andrew’s father too, provided 

a path for his son to succeed.
Adrian Fenty had a similar 
journey to intense distance 
running 
as 
Phil. 
After 
graduating from Oberlin and 
competing on the track team for 
two years, Adrian took a break 
from the sport for most of his 
twenties.
It wasn’t until his thirties 
— as happened with his father 
— that Adrian returned to the 
sport. Running, in the words of 
Adrian appears “in his blood” 
and he couldn’t stay away.
But for Adrian, it’s not just a 
way to stay in shape or keep his 
heart rate up. He genuinely — 
which, as Adrian acknowledges, 
is perhaps a bit peculiar for 
many to understand — loves 
running.
“Even if there was a way 
to 
magically 
make 
myself 
permanently in good shape 
without running, I still would 
want to run,” Adrian said. “I 
enjoy it that much. I would 
definitely miss it if I didn’t do it 
regularly.”
Adrian remained true to 
his word. As the mayor of 
Washington D.C. for four years 
from 
2007-2011, 
he 
would 
wake up in the early mornings 
before work and run. He credits 
endurance as a valuable tool not 
only for running, but for various 
facets of life.
“If you are good at endurance 
sports, you can wear down 
the competition,” Adrian said. 
“That’s the theory and the hope. 
Whatever 
the 
competition 
happens to be. Whether it’s in 
business, politics, academics or 
sport. Hopefully you’ll outlast 
everybody.”
Adrian never wanted his twin 
sons to participate in track and 
field, believing it to be a “burn-
out sport.” He did though, hope 
the two would find the same 
sport and stick with it.
Tennis 
happened 
to 
be 
that sport. They could play 

— 
and 
enjoyed 
— 
football 
and 
basketball 
but 
by 
the 
time Andrew and his brother 
Matthew were eight years old, 
they could succeed at tennis 
together.
And as with Phil Fenty 
and his sons, tennis became a 
family affair for Adrian and his 
twin sons and daughter Aerin, 
born in 2008. It became a sport 
that the five of them enjoyed 
and relished both playing and 
watching.
For Andrew, that led him to 
compete for Michigan.
***
No one ever pushed Andrew 
to play tennis. “Tennis was 
always my thing,” he said. While 
his 
father 
and 
grandfather 
would passionately run miles 
on end, Andrew was drawn to 
the tennis court, specifically 
the hard court.
He loves the speed of the 
game of the tennis and, on hard 
courts, the speed of the ball.
But Andrew recognizes the 
power that running so often 
as a child provided him. He 
understands the benefits it gave 
him to succeed in tennis. It also 
put the sport in perspective for 
him, something tangible that he 
reflects on during matches.
“It shows me that whatever 
I do, playing tennis for three 
or four hours going side to 
side, is nothing,” Andrew said. 
“It’s nothing at all. What these 
guys do is just run. The only 
way to get better at running, is 
running. It’s more mental than 
anything.
“When I’m out there, I think I 
can do this, I do it all the time. I 
can run longer, I can run faster. 
That’s what I tell myself.”
He has succeeded. He leads 
the Michigan tennis team in 
victories this season and is 
expected to lead the Wolverines 
this weekend when they begin 
the Big Ten Tournament.
Fleet 
Feet 
too, 
provided 

invaluable lessons for Andrew. 
According to Phil, the right 
tennis shoe is crucial to success 
and it is vital to take care of 
one’s feet in tennis when the 
player moves from side-to-side 
for multiple hours.
His grandfather also taught 
him the importance of the 
mental aspect in tennis. The role 
of working with his teammates 
and coaches to achieve their 
best goal.
Most significantly though, 
the Fenty family fostered a 
goal of exercise and sport. They 
honed it with the establishment 
of the Washington D.C. Fleet 
Feet in 1984. Each member has 
spent time as a sales associate 
or in other capacities working 
at the store.
Phil Fenty honed it through 
running miles and miles and 
fitting the customers of his 
store with the proper footwear. 
And, serving as counsel to his 
sons and grandchildren in their 
sporting exploits.
Adrian 
Fenty 
honed 
it 
through his morning runs, his 
desire to run no matter where 
he is or what he’s doing. All that 
matters is that he has his shorts, 
shirt and watch.
And finally, Andrew Fenty 
took the lessons of all those 
in his family. He took the 
lessons 
from 
Fleet 
Feet, 
morning runs with his father 
and conversations with his 
grandfather to succeed as a 
freshman for Michigan tennis.
Being an athlete is simply in 
his blood.
“In our family generally, 
everybody’s an athlete,” Phil 
said. “Male and female. Young 
and old. All of us. Everybody 
runs, bikes and swims. It’s 
our family’s activity. When we 
travel, when we go anywhere, 
we make sure we have facilities 
where we can exercise.
“It’s always been in our DNA 
to exercise.”

COURTESY OF THE FENTY FAMILY
The Fenty family values an active lifestyle as participating in sports runs in the family, starting with Phil Fenty (right), who opened Fleet Feet, the nation’s premier running store, in Washington D.C. and is the grandfather of Michigan’s Andrew Fenty.

MICHAEL BAGAZINSKI/Daily
Freshman Andrew Fenty chose tennis, unlike his father and grandfather, and has found himself at the collegiate level.

AVI SHOLKOFF
Daily Sports Editor

