I got downvoted in reddit for giving non-hobbyjogger advice.

How will you ever survive?

With few exceptions, runnit is joggit in disguise.

where was it downvoted to again?

First of all you gave poor advice but the bigger question is: Why the hell are you wasting your time replying to "hobby joggers"?

"First-time marathoner wins Paris Marathon! Wow! (self.running)

submitted 1 day ago by slacksonslacks

This morning, first-time marathoner Kenenisa "Kenny" Bekele ran his first marathon ever, and ended up winning the Paris marathon in 2:05:03. "Kenny" comes from the African country of Ethiopia. This was his very first marathon- hopefully he had fun and will try to do one again some time Congratulations, Kenny!"

Indeed, congrats Kenny!

found looking for your failure wrote:

"First-time marathoner wins Paris Marathon! Wow! (self.running)

submitted 1 day ago by slacksonslacks

This morning, first-time marathoner Kenenisa "Kenny" Bekele ran his first marathon ever, and ended up winning the Paris marathon in 2:05:03. "Kenny" comes from the African country of Ethiopia. This was his very first marathon- hopefully he had fun and will try to do one again some time Congratulations, Kenny!"

Indeed, congrats Kenny!

Did he walk the aid stations or carry a camel back for fluids?

I think he followed the OP's advice and almost paid dearly for that indiscretion with cramping near the end of the race. Looks like Reddit people nailed it.

dude, really? wrote:

First of all you gave poor advice but the bigger question is: Why the hell are you wasting your time replying to "hobby joggers"?

I didn't think it was so full of "hobby joggers" and the original poster did not state any times. I mean there was news about Bekele on the front page yesterday.

Redditor Sadly wrote:

dude, really? wrote:

First of all you gave poor advice but the bigger question is: Why the hell are you wasting your time replying to "hobby joggers"?

I didn't think it was so full of "hobby joggers" and the original poster did not state any times. I mean there was news about Bekele on the front page yesterday.

Not to mention that he didn't give poor advice.

You've got to know your audience if you want that sweet karma. That site is like "running lite" - from what I've seen there's nothing very valuable to people who actually know what they're doing and you'll just spin your wheels if you argue with noobs. I just look at it for fun topics on running. I like to give hobby jogger advice to people starting out sometimes, but you can't get offended if they don't respond well to advice like "Man up." Even though that's the right call most of the time.

The one thing I can't stand are the people who give the advice of "Just run more miles" when they themselves are running 30 miles a week, or when they're talking to someone who runs 20 miles a week. Uh, yeah. That's exactly what the overweight, middle-aged 50 year old woman needs to do. She should also do some tempo running inside her 24 mile long run.

Some of my friends gave me grief on facebook because after one of my other friends ran a marathon I congratulated him and asked how fast he ran.

Greg McMillan advises "hobby joggers" to carry their own water to avoid having to battle the crowds at water stations.

What he doesn't realize is that slower runners prefer to stop at water stations as an excuse to walk.

I thought that post about Bekele was really funny actually. The OP clearly wrote it in a sarcastic way that actually poked fun at the rest of the subreddit.

Girl Power! wrote:

Some of my friends gave me grief on facebook because after one of my other friends ran a marathon I congratulated him and asked how fast he ran.

I get nasty looks all the time when I respond to someone discussing their most recent race by saying; Times and places not names and faces please.

When everyone starts to jump on me for being rude I'll just add by saying, Hey, I've devoted a lot of time to the sport and would like details. That usually gets them off my back and stimulates more meaningful conversations about running/racing.

See if that works for you.

I've wasted way too much time writing well thought out responses to people on reddit that seem to never get a single upvote or reply. It's especially infuriating when what you know is good advice gets a few downvotes.

Don't waste time putting real effort into a response. Give super short, succinct advice. Add at the end you can elaborate or give more advice if anyone shows interest.

Redditor Sadly wrote:

I was in the "running" reddit the other day. Someone posted a topic that they were having trouble drinking from cups while running, and a first marathon coming up. Didn't mention times or anything, for all we know he might have been decently good.

My post was downvoted to oblivion. All the posts with lots of upvotes said "just walk the aid stations" or "get a camelpak vest" or "if it's your first marathon you need to walk the aid stations." My comment said "just practice the technique a few times and you'll get the hang of it" and it was downvoted to oblivion.

For what it's worth, I upvoted that comment, because it's the right response. Sadly, Runnit has turned into Runner's World as of late. While I would never make fun of someone for running, it seems more and more people are running because it's the trendy and fashionable thing to do.

I wouldn't even have a problem but way too many people are going out at a 10:00 pace for 3-5 miles, carrying three water bottles on their hydration belts and chomping Gu every mile then going on facebook and talking about how hard they worked out. Everyone needs to start somewhere, but this is ridiculous.

Meanwhile, my times/speed are nothing to boast of (I usually finish top 15-20% and place in my age division), but I'm running 70 miles per week right now and only take water on runs longer than 15 miles (and maybe a gel or two if I have them around).

/end rant

May xenonscreams will give you some reddit pointers. She's a pro over there.

Thanks man. I'm starting to understand the culture is about finishing and finishing only, time doesn't matter (the people who finish faster are just faster people, end of story). So this means if one butterball uses a GU to complete a 10K she'll pass that advice onto the next GU monger, and her advice is equally "expert" as anyone else who finished a 10K. This also means that the ONLY thing that can stop you from your goal is an injury or dehydration, which means people are willing to do things such as wear camelbacks in races, walk the aid stations, or completely undertrain/cross train instead of run which will sacrifice time but theoretically "avoid injuries." Any time a strength exercise routine gets brought up, the question isn't "how will this make me better," it's "how will this prevent injuries." The mindset is too different to help even from a "recreational" runner who wants to get better.

IMO asking for someone's time in a race if they don't voluntarily offer it is akin to asking for someone's score on a test. Even if they're like "I did so well on the test!" it's a dick move to be like "oh yeah? What was your score?" Why do you want to know? Because it makes you happy that you did better? Or if someone posts about how happy they are they lost twenty pounds, it's a dick move to be like "so what do you weigh now?" Unless they actually offer that information.

So yeah, asking for times comes across as snobby. I always want to do it because I love that information but if people don't offer it and I really want to know, I'll just look it up myself. There's the internet and stuff.