Rapid Transit Owner: Foot Traffic Foreshadows THON Fundraising Success

Hundreds of Penn State students will be walking to class a little slower this week, some of them with pained looks on their faces.

Standing on your feet for 46 hours will do that.

Terry Losch hopes he’s done his part to ease that pain. As the owner of Rapid Transit Sports, 115 S. Allen St., Losch has sold a lot of sneakers to THON dancers and committee members. In the weeks leading up to THON, he did countless sneaker fittings. (The store’s colorful, knee-high athletic socks were the de facto uniform of THON committee members.)

As for business throughout THON weekend, it was booming. He said the number of people in his store served as an informal barometer of just how big this year’s total would be. “You could tell there were more alumni dancers coming back–people we haven’t seen for four or five years.”

The store’s relationship with THON, thought to be the largest student-run philanthropy in the world, transcends sneaker sales. Rapid Transit is a THON sponsor, and has been contributing to the event for 27 years. Losch has helped support THON since its inception in 1973. The store is involved “12 months, all year,” he said, most notably as a sponsor of the THON 5K.

On Sunday night, when THON announced its $9.56 million total, Losch was in the stands for his third trip of the weekend.

“I’ve never felt the BJC shake like that,” he said. “You could feel the vibration in your feet. It was one of the most exciting things I’ve ever seen.”

Related coverage

• The StateCollege.com THON page