It all began with The Levinsons...
Welcome to Charm City Run. Kara and I started Charm City Run in 2002 at the Timonium location. It was a former bank and the vault and drive-through are still there. Do not try to make a deposit. Your money will not show up in your account. I am a Baltimoran and Kara hails from Route 29 in Howard County via Greenville, SC.
The Charm City Run idea was born during a 4.5 year stay in Austin, TX where I earned an MBA from the University of Texas-Austin and where Kara taught Physical Education and 2nd Grade at the St. Andrews Episcopal School. Kara and I talked about running the first time we met and we ran a lot together until little ones came along. In Austin, everyone runs on Town Lake and a running store there called Run-Tex had hundreds of coolers all around the lake filled with Powerade and water. Kara thought that was just wonderful and decided that Run-Tex is where the Levinsons would be purchasing their shoes.
Kara and I trained for the Fort Worth Marathon together and ran it in cotton shirts and lacrosse shorts. It was a disaster of epic proportions. We were malnourished, dehydrated and overheated. DO NOT MESS WITH TEXAS. Like every crazy runner, I forgot how bad it was in two weeks and announced to Kara that I thought I could do better next time. Kara knew that was not the case and gifted me a Run-Tex training program. It was then that I discovered Run-Tex magic.
It was so positive. People from all different walks of life became friends and it was just all goodness. After two years at Dell Computer, a much smaller stint at a process manufacturing software company (I do not know what that means either), and the birth of a beautiful boy named Ben, we traveled home to see family. During a run with Kara on the NCR trail, Kara looked at me and said “Baltimore needs a Run-Tex.”
I laughed but was disconcerted to notice that she was not laughing. While I was trying to figure out what process manufacturing software was I volunteered at Run-Tex and then worked there part-time. After 6 months we moved back to the Charm City and added the RUN.
Our goals were simple, create a place where we would want to hang out and create a workplace where we would want to work. Enjoy hanging out, leave inspired.
Best,
Josh & Kara Levinson
