‘Running saved my life’: Lenape Valley grad who lost father on 9/11 opens specialty store for runners

Root Runners, Sussex County’s first and only running store, is open for business and thriving in Upper Lake Mohawk Plaza. It features all kinds of running shoes and paraphernalia, but its most fascinating aspect is its origin story.

“I can remember the evening like it was yesterday,” said owner Matt Vilardo. “Cool warming September sun was blazing into my bedroom window. Leaves not yet changed but ready to gear up for the cool weather ahead. I sat on my bed, right next to my window, enjoying the warming rays as I studied for my spelling test the next day.”

His father, Joseph Vilardo, came into his room and asked him if he wanted to go to the high school track with him and run.

“In my mind I thought, ‘Run?’” Vilardo said. “I’d never seen my father run a day in his life. He was active in other ways, coaching my sports teams, walking and hiking and skiing, but never just went out for ‘a run.’ Weird, but hey, if it gets me out of studying, I thought, let’s do it.”

They lived just down the road from Lenape Valley High School, so the two walked up the hill to the track. “That warming sun felt even better outside and the cool breeze was so familiar to the welcoming of early fall,” Vilardo said.

His dad had a plan to walk the straights of the track and run the curves, and they did.

That night, September 10, 2001, would be the last time Vilardo would ever get to see his father.

Joseph Vilardo worked in the North Tower of the World Trade Center, on the 104th floor for Cantor Fitzgerald.

“The very next morning, September 11th, 2001,” he said. “I was pulled out of my homeroom classroom and consoled by my teacher who wept and wept and kept saying ‘I’m so sorry’ over and over again. I had no idea what could possibly have happened. My mind raced and raced. I knew something bad had happened but what? What was it?

“As she escorted me to the main office, the walk down felt like eternity. My body tensed up, chills took over me and I felt scared. I was shaking uncontrollably. We rounded the corner and into the office where multiple teachers, staff, and administrative members stood, trying to hold back their tears as they looked me in the eyes to tell me that two airplanes have flown into the World Trade Center. I fell to my knees and cried. I felt all my life, my being, had just vanished. I went numb and blank.

“That day not only impacted myself, my mother and my sister, but all Americans. It was a day that I will never forget, and a day our nation will never forget.”

A broken heart

The years passed. As Vilardo moved through high school, he felt “quite plainly, nothing.”

He thought he was normal but didn’t really know for sure. He played sports and had many friends who have remained friends until today. He even won Mr. Congeniality his senior year.

“That was odd, but in hindsight, I kept a facade of happy and outgoingness, to mask the pain and darkness of my depression inside,” he said.

Weightlifting helped ease his angst for short periods of the day. But one night a year after graduation, he experienced his “darkest internal intervention.”

“I hit rock bottom,” Vilardo said. “I knew I needed to do something because I couldn’t do what I was doing any more. I had two options. I chose the second, which was to lace up sneakers and go for a run and try do something. I don’t remember how far I went, but I do remember the feeling that I had when I got finished. It was something I have never felt before and something I knew I needed more of. Every day from there on out I would lace up, go for a run, and continue that trend until the present day.”

For years, running was the best psychologist for Vilardo.

“It just has an amazing way of not only benefiting one in a physical aspect, but in the mental aspect as well,” he said. “The science continues to prove running has anti-depressive and anxiolytic effects. What’s happening in your brain during exercise, and running in particular is nothing short of amazing. It’s not just the old phrase ‘runners high’ but actual regeneration of new brain cells, increased BDNF (miracle grow for the brain) as author John Ratey puts it in his book ‘Spark,’ which looks at all the neurological changes happening in the brain as you run.”

Vilardo felt these effects during each run. At the time, he didn’t understand them. But he knew that even on his darkest days, running could pull him out of the doldrums.

“Running saved my life,” he said.

Now it’s one of his strongest tools Vilardo uses to manage his depression and anxiety.

“It allows me to be the best father of my two children, Joseph, 6, Emma, 3, and an even stronger husband to my beautiful wife, Anastasia,” he said.

What Sussex County needs

Vilardo’s running journey has taken him all over the world through competition, but to him, there’s no place like home.

“Sussex County has some of the most beautiful trails and roads to run and train,” he said.

As a former resident of Sparta and now back in Stanhope, in the house in which he grew up, Vilardo realized that Sussex County and the community badly needed a specialty run/walk shop.

“Having to drive 40 minutes, even more for some to get what they needed was okay, and the other shops are wonderful and have such exceptional service and experience, but it lacked in offering community and camaraderie,” he said. “That’s the core of what a run/walk specialty brings to an area.”

Vilardo said he knew Sparta would be the perfect place to bring Root Runners. In a strange twist of fate, it was during 2020 and the pandemic that he decided to make his dream of owning a running store come true.

“Root is an acronym I use that stands for ‘Running Over Our Troubles,’” he said. “These include daily stressors, life balances, work, family, mental illness. Running is used as an outlet by so many, and I want to help those maintain and those who are just starting continue to do what they love to do. I want to inspire people to become active through running, and I want to educate people on the benefits it has on mental illness.”

A 3D scanner allows staff to get accurate measurements not only of heel-to-toe and width, but arch height, instep, heel width, and other intricate measurements. The store also has socks, nutrition, recovery and apparel. “We listen carefully to our customers and their needs,” Vilardo said. “All of this combined helps us lead out customers in the right direction in choosing footwear or gear.”

Vilaro said one of the most valuable lessons he learned and upon which he constantly reflects. It happened during the King Salmon Marathon in Cordova Alaska.

“As I ran through some of the most picturesque glaciers and trails in what felt like a discovery channel episode, hoping not to get attacked by a brown bear or moose, which apparently happened in previous years, hence the escort of UTVS, I stopped midway,” he said. “I glanced at God’s most beautiful creation of land, took a breath, and remembered that being mindful about our purpose, our emotions and our abilities is the most precious gift when it comes to becoming our best selves. We do not worry about the future, or regret the past, we do not play victim of events but instead flourish and take action. Being mindful matters.”