The Trials and Tribulations of Running YouTubers

Am I a cynical and terrible person if I doubt his sincerity in the video? He had already ruined his race long ago and knew that near the finish line, he was being filmed. It would be a different matter to help if you were running at the front and no one was filming you.

Bester.

Correct.

Damn this board is ruthless haha... this wasnt me, just to confirm!

Matt - seems sound , good character. He might do some emotional stuff, but nothing wrong with being passionate. If it's not other ppls thing that's fine, but genuine nice person

Bester- none of the above.

Fox - All about the money . If they weren't so similar him and Bester could be mates

Philly B - Nice person , great runner. If the content isn't for you don't watch , but she is decent and genuinely nice

FOD - big streak of piss ( kidding). Nice guy, love the fact that local races are supported and the content.

Tim Gross - deserves more followers, nice guy , niche stuff at times but that welcomed

Fordy Runs- not my cuppa . Doesn't like his content shared or being mentioned by other YouTubers. Notions of grandeur

SJD. - if you like his stuff fair, but ott for me but not a bad person. Good athlete.

Ben is R. Seems nice , bit naive on topics, could do with a good coach , but again watchable.

I don't get the Bowden thing. I pick up numerous and consistent narcissistic vibes from her vids and they align with what I've been told by people I know who deal with her in the sport in various guises. She's a super runner and bright person.

Felton ran 14.46 5k last night btw and Culling did 35.4x at Winter 10k (uncertified and I always suspect a tad short) last Sunday

Can I ask what the predominant issue with Bester is? He seems a bit irritating from his YT (self-aggrandizing stuff, e.g: 40m long sub 2:20 video with dramatic music, yelling BoomShakaLaka, cheering himself on in his videos), but that doesn't make him a horrible person in my view, just irritating - and not enough so to stop me watching, just enough to make me roll my eyes.

Seems the consensus here that he's worse than that, and there may be something to it with the Culling drama. What is he actually like, and how has he annoyed so many people?

A few people have mentioned experiences with him that echo my own - his being pretty rude and downright aggressive to other athletes in starting pens and at races.

The set-up of his club and coaching raise some questions for me - pretty expensive for what you seem to get and he rotates through sub-coaches at a pretty alarming rate. Membership of his club is like 10* the cost of any other UK run club, without the perks of the UK club scene - xc competitions, local road race series etc - it's all 'best athletics team sheet for Tokyo', we've made a new app to share what could just be a message in a group chat to tell you today is 10*400 etc, I get that you have a choice over which club to join but ime it seems like most of his club are at the less experienced end of things and so have less of an idea about what their options are and what they could be getting from joining a running club.

There's also what seems like a bit of a lack of knowledge - both in terms of training and racing, but also the running scene in general. He's made some pretty basic mistakes when talking about winners and runners in UK championships and other races before; which when you have a pretty big platform and credit people who didn't even enter events with victory it grates a bit - these athletes work incredibly hard for very little financial reward and you can't even be bothered to credit their results properly.

So for my money - some eye roll stuff, although you could view some of that as actively harmful as well; but also he's just fairly regularly a bad guy at events and a growing number of people have experienced it.

I was coached by Nick for a while a few years back. I know he rubs people the wrong way and I get it, but I have to say he was nothing but nice and helpful in his dealings with me and other runners.

While I wouldn't get coached by him again (I've grown to prefer a different style of training that works better for me and I understand the sport better), he would always answer my questions and catch up with me after races.

My honest opinion is that the whole Best Athletics thing has gone out of fashion a bit as there are a lot more options out there, plus he used to be surrounded by more experienced, knowledgeable assistant coaches that gave the whole thing a different, more rewarding vibe. Like many of you say, if he isn't your cup of tea, just don't follow him, but I can't say anything negative about him.

The problem is that whilst this works for his social media content for people who race at a similar level around the UK (or London for the most part) you can't really unsubscribe from his physical 'antics' and manhandling at the start line.

I'd also still take umbrage with his mis-crediting results etc., whilst it's certainly possible to ignore it at a personal level you can't deny that he's one of the bigger influencers in the UK running scene and it will definitely be doing a disservice and potentially have a financial impact on athletes when he gets this stuff wrong (and it's not difficult to make sure you're getting it right - especially when almost all of your content is voiced over after the fact).

And ultimately, I'll also admit that I'm not that swayed by the revelation that someone you were paying however many thousands of pounds a year could be generally decent towards you...

Yes, I'm not trying to argue or disagree with your opinion, just saying that he's not as terrible a guy as some people claim. And he doesn't charge "thousands" of pounds - or at least he didn't use to, I think that's usually exaggerated when most coaches of the same sort charge as much if not more.

Just the opinion of someone that has actual first-hand experience with him.

I get what you're saying but I just don't find the line that someone you paid money to was pleasant towards you all that convincing as to their character. I'd far sooner believe the way he treats strangers on a start-line, with whom he has no financial relationship, is a better insight into who he really is.

His coaching costs over £2000/yr, so very much in the thousands of pounds ballpark. And that's before you get into the equally pricey nutrition packages upsell or the £200 WhatsApp online gait analysis (which is more than it costs having a uni lab or similar model your form for a reference point).

I guess you're right in that he sits within the sort of cost bracket that you see for these things - but certainly always at the top end; for what seems like it'll be a lower service compared to others. His coaching testimonials lean heavily on Anya Culling and himself from what I can see; and I certainly don't think he's training or racing anywhere close to optimally - up to running everyday when he's 'recovering' from an injury which should really be coaching red flag number 1 if you're the only selling point for top level coaching in your current stable of athletes. For the money he charges you can definitely get someone with more experience at coaching and a better catalogue of results (personal and coached) in the UK.

What will be Ran to Japan's Jake Barraclough's Tokyo marathon finishing time?

Guessing 2:11:XX.

2:10:35

I'd love to be wrong and he goes sub-2:10.

I predict 2:14

1:06:20 half

1:14:52 full

I think running a full 2:16 marathon that close was maybe a bit much

45 minute world record!! Well done Japan Man