Out too fast, and one runs the risk of hitting the wall: "bonking."

Out too slow, and you may be boxed in toward the back of the pack and unable to move up.

Of course, race conditions, training, and experience might factor in as well.

When starting a business, success also depends on smart moves, preparation, place and pace.

On the very day that the Bull City Running Company opened its doors in 2008, co-owners Jason Page, now 36, and Kim Page, now 32, were only a few years married, their daughter Elodie Katherine was celebrating her first birthday, and even established businesses were falling victim to the worst economy in 80 years.

In racing terms, starting a business for this young couple was tantamount to starting a race straight up a steep hill, against stiff wind ... while pushing a stroller. Still, the business, located in the Southpoint Crossing shopping center on N.C. 54 (Suite 201) has emerged near the front of the pack.

Kim Page said she and her husband Jason had begun formal planning for the store a year earlier.

"We didn't know the economy was going to tank when it did," she said. "The real process started a year before the opening. There was finding the space, getting the permits, and the build-out."

State champion

A state champion at Raleigh's Millbrook High School, Jason Page was a four-year letterman at UNC. Arriving in Chapel Hill from her home in British Columbia, Canada, Kim Page (nee Chapman) was enjoying a Morehead Scholarship at UNC, where she took up recreational running.

Both engaged in graduate studies in the early 2000s. Jason earned an MBA at Willamette University in Oregon, and Kim returned to earn a Public Health Master's Degree at UNC. Jason worked for the City of Raleigh for a time, and Kim stills works for Duke University, but both yearned for a more ambitious entrepreneurial adventure, and they got their wish - twice - with the birth of Elodie Katherine in 2007 and gaining momentum on their dreams of opening the store.

"What sealed the deal for us was finding a location," Page said. "We're at a phenomenal spot right on the American Tobacco Trail, we've got a great breezeway right outside our store where people can run and try out our shoes, and market research showed us where local growth was going to be and there was no specialty running store in that entire area."

Business model

Contrary to almost every business model, the Pages' business has not mimicked the general economic trends.

"We were banking on the area around us, but we're now pulling from Cary, Apex, Durham, Mebane, even Fayetteville," Page said. "Also, the running industry is really pretty recession-proof. At the end of the day, (spending) on a pair of running shoes that will take you through four-to-six months of training costs less than a monthly gym membership."

But Bull City Running's success to date hasn't been by sheer dumb luck. By aligning their business with the local running scene, the business has gained name recognition and kinship with the community.

"Sponsoring the Running of the Bulls (8K) was a huge 'in' for us with the running community," Page said. "The programming and races really got our name out there."

In 2009, the business began coordinating the Uwharrie Mountain 8, 20, and 40-mile Trail Runs near Troy, N.C. - not the most visible event on off-road runners' calendars, but a hidden and beloved winter gemstone in the precipitous hills of North Carolina.

"That one was so well established, it was simply an honor for us to take that on," Page said.

Training programs offered through Bull City have further married business ethics to good community relations. For the first time, a club team - including Jason Page - represented Bull City Running.

"Our track club just competed at the club cross-country nationals in Charlotte," Page said. "Right now it's a core group of men, but we're reaching out to some women in the area too."

"I also lead a (women's) 10-week running program that starts every January, and that's one of the most rewarding things for me," Page added. "Here are women - all shapes, all sizes - who are really trying to do something for themselves and setting a goal. At the end of the 10 weeks, they're running a 5K or a 10K. I got an e-mail from one of the graduates from the program who is running her first 10-miler."

Perhaps the surprising truth in such a successful concern is that leading the business pack would seem dependent upon running with in the pack and among the masses.

"The best part is engaging with the people," Page said. "The folks who come into the store on a Monday morning to tell us how their race went over the weekend - not to buy anything: just to chat. That's the most rewarding thing."

'Stars aligned'

With another racing bib in the Page household - this one worn by Callum Patric, born just this past August 25, the adventure continues.

"Hey, we're still not sure this is going to work," Page said, laughing. "I think we're confident we're going to make this fly, but we sometimes wonder how we're going to keep up with the growth and expectation we've created. When we first started, it was just Jason and I with a one-year old, though, and now we've got a great team of people here."

The business will face a watershed moment in just a few years, however.

"Six years into the business is when our loan is paid off and when our lease runs out," Page said. "In five years, I hope we're in a bigger location but...still near the Tobacco Trail, with both Jason and I doing this full time. What we really hope to do is to give back even more to the community by sponsoring events and having a charitable focus."

The couple looks humbly at the success it has enjoyed thus far, however.

"It happened for us because it was the right time and the right opportunity: the stars really aligned for us," Page said. "It really is proof that, regardless of age or finances, you can chase down a dream and make it happen."

In competitive running terms, this early success may not guarantee the gold, but in the current economy, just surviving and continuing to move in the positive direction is a feat. In that race, the Bull City Running Company is off and running and looking strong.