The pages of In Business are usually full of entrepreneurs busy setting up their own businesses, but Jason Knight and Ash Parton are different. Although they run the specialist running shop Up & Running in Headington as if it were their own, it actually belongs to Dennis and Gillian MacFarlane, who started the whole Up & Running concept, and have a mixture of managed and franchise shops around the country.

What Mr Knight and Mr Parton show is that it is possible to have a great career, while making a profit for someone else.

The two men must be dream employees, because they have built up a word-of-mouth reputation for quality service during the three years the shop has been open.

Their only perks seem to be shoes offered by the manufacturers, so if they are not doing it for the money what motivates them?

Mr Parton said: "We're both runners and it's just like basically meeting a load of like-minded runners all day every day and helping them out, getting them into the right shoes. It's like a hobby that is also a job."

Even though he has had better-paid jobs over the years while working in the antiques business, he had never enjoyed the same level of job satisfaction.

He said:"It feels like our place. It's almost like a static running club. People come in and chat about running, buy a pair of shoes if they need to, and off they go."

The shop sells all the gear associated with running, but footwear is its biggest line.

It tends not to stock big names like Adidas and Nike, even though they do ranges of specialist running shoes.

The running world has its own fashionable brands which are generally also cheaper, costing on average between £55 and £80. So who provides their main customer base?

Mr Knight said: "Our biggest customers are beginners and fun runners, although a percentage come from running clubs."

However, while they may not attract elite runners (who usually have their kit donated), they cater for everybody.

At the back of the shop they even have an array of gear for the Original Mountain Marathon (OMM) as the Up & Running chain is the official sponsor.

Perhaps it is luck that the shop's opening coincided with an upsurge in support for running.

Mr Parton said: "It's a huge growth area. While we've been here, we've seen the number of races quadruple.

"There was the Blenheim 10K, now there are three Blenheim 10Ks and a 5K event."

Then there are the charity fun runs which have exploded in popularity. Add the number of sports lovers such as rowers, rugby and football players, who run to supplement other activities and you have a market just waiting to be tapped.

Mr Parton said they want to ensure that the customer gets the right shoe.

He explained: "Unlike multiple stores where the staff are employed just to work the till and sell you stuff, as far as we're concerned that is the final bit at the end.

"If you sit down with someone for half an hour and talk to them, size up their shoes and check their feet out, then I think they walk out satisfied they got a very good service."

To help ensure that the right shoes are bought, customers can have their gait analysed by a treadmill attached to a video camera and laptop.

It has proven to be very popular, as filming the customer running and then slowing it right down, not only allows the two men to analyse how he or she runs, but also allows the customer to do so too.

As a result, word-of-mouth recommendation is the main reason for the success of the business.

And as for after-care service, physiotherapist Graham McAnuff offers free advice on Friday afternoons and there are plans afoot to open up the room above the shop for physiotherapy, osteopathy and sports massage three days a week.

Mr Parton said: "We'll be able to offer a holistic running service. Everything from buying stuff for running that they can get from us, through to the injury and training side from the guys upstairs."

Although both are 31 and able to run the shop as a franchise, it is not something they are interested in at the moment.

Mr Parton has a young daughter and is currently doing a part-time PhD in palaeo-climatology, while Mr Knight is due to become a father next year.

"We do think we could actually make a fair bit of money from this if we owned it ourselves," Mr Parton said.

"But the timing is not right. Maybe this time next year."

They see Mr Macfarlane about twice a year, but are generally left to their own devices to manage holidays and days off between them.

Mr Knight, whose background is in the sports retail sector, is nominally the manager.

He said: "We both do almost the same job. The only difference is if things go pear-shaped, the buck stops with me."

Given the success they have made of things so far, the only pear shape you're likely to see is that of more out-of-condition beginners like me, wanting to get fit!

n Contact: 01865 744266, or see www.oxford.upandrunning.co.uk