The Trials and Tribulations of Running YouTubers

Seth might have been the only youtuber which subscribers totally stalled. It took more than a year to get another 1k of subscribers. That is very telling. Nobody watches or likes his content, it's not really worthwhile.

On the other hand I watch a YT channel about a guy who pours concrete. He has a steady flow of new subscribers and he has 10-20k views per episode. Concrete, of all things.

Can you explain this a bit more please

The problem ShoeTubers face is the same that the influencer sector as a whole faces. Running Boston is a once in a lifetime deal for a lot of people. And having to qualify for it is a big goal a lot of people work towards.

But when non-BQers like Matt Choi and Robbie and Thomas get sponsor influencer bibs and run Boston to make content; or when Kofuzi gets a sponsor bibs to run London, it becomes exclusionary because they're not there because of performance (or in London's case the lottery) like everyone else but because of their large social media following. It serves as a reminder to their audience that they can't do what the stars of the video get to do.

When people don't treat it as special (like Kofuzi did when he blatantly violated the BAA rules on in-course photography, shame on the officials for not pulling him and his selfie stick off the course!), or like Robbie and Thomas did (and surely will do again) when they treated it as a fun run and made a vlog about how "epic" that was (same for Kofuzi jogging a 4:15 Chicago Marathon and making a video of himself chugging shots on the course or running five marathons in six months), it becomes very much about how they're elite and we're not. And it doesn't make people watching the video feel good.

It's really not very different than this situation, actually worse in some ways (because if it weren't for the influencers, a thousand extra people who didn't get to run Boston would've got to run Boston this year), which isn't really the case for influencer stuff like this:

adweek.com

Tarte and Influencer Marketing: There's a Way to Do It Right

ThatChristinaG

What brands can learn from the #TrippinWithTarte Bora Bora backlash.

Open link

But when Adidas sends them to Italy, or Asics sends them to Eugene or Tokyo, or when Puma sends them to Jamaica, it's not really different from what's causing the general influencer backlash. Especially when they do stuff like post glowing reviews of a shoe that is made by a company that's paying for their travel on the first day of their trip and don't disclose they're getting a free trip in their review video (yeah, Kofuzi, who pretends to be ethical, did that), it makes it about them and not about the actual subject, which should be running and having fun doing it. People probably wouldn't care about one trip a year because, hey you like running and everyone needs a vacation. But when it becomes every other month, luxury trips that many, if not most, viewers can't afford, it just becomes depressing to watch.

I liked Kofuzi a lot more when he was just a guy trying to lose weight and doing YouTube as a hobby. I liked Thomas a lot more when he was reviewing the Wave Shadow and it wasn't sent to him for free.

Basically the problem with influencers is they've become stars, and expect to be treated like stars, but want the general public to still believe they're just regular people. It's why all influencer marketing (not just running influencers) is having a bit of an existential crisis.

100% and guess who actually ultimately pays for all the free shoes/merch, travel, accommodations, meals, and activities on these luxury trips in the form of higher prices? us, the plebeians, just trying to run our 1-3 marathons a year training in shoes that now cost ~200$ (no problem according to Thomas) and racing in shoes that cost ~300$ (if we can get them (the MIA Alphafly 3 is of course on Meaghan's feet though and the completely unattainable even pricer Adidas Evo 1 is on Kofuzi and Thomas's slow a$$ feet, accomplishing what exactly?)).

No love for my favorite shoetuber BUTTEDD?

All running shoes are good these day, with some better than each other. The real factor is price, they should be far far cheaper.

I have not problem with influencers, you just have to remember they are being pay to say good or non negative comments.

where I get annoyed with them is saying one shoe is comparable to another when it’s clearly not. For race shoes which one is the fastest for X distance for them at X pace, everything else about a shoe is is it comfortable.

seths magic eight ball scoring of 7.6, is probably the fairest of them all and then race in Nike vapourfly

🙄

There are probably a good amount of runners who don't even know what a shoetuber is. I would venture to guess that none would be too pleased to find out that they get to run London and Berlin because of their social media following and begged a brand to hook them up.

How does STHNE know whether or not they were granted permission or not granted permission to do photography during the race? There are cameras videoing and broadcasting races with official race blessings. How do you know which are officially granted if you aren't the race or the person with the camera? Rod Dixon ran a marathon with a huge camera setup on his head back in the day. If influencers are granted entry based on being influencers, as many here think, you'd think allowing them to have cameras would have been part of the deal. Otherwise, how would they do their jobs?

Rules are rules, but of course ShoeTube stars think the rules don't apply to them (other YouTubers like Ben Felton and The Running Channel, even Believe in the Run, respected the ban, and didn't film on course, but rules don't apply to big shots like Kofuzi I guess). Anyway, here's the rule Kofuzi absolutely violated. It's a safety rule on a crowded course with a history of tragedy. Flouting this rule at that event, on that course is the epitome of arrogance in my view:

He probably also violated these rules because his Boston video was monetized on social media:

And then there's this:

Read all these rules for yourself here:

baa.org

Allowable and Prohibited Items | Boston Athletic Association

Open link

One wonders if BAA charged him a licensing fee, and that's why he says he'll never run Boston again now. They should've DQ'd him. Let's also not forget that he ran Boston last year five weeks after Tokyo, which is nuts.

Maybe Seth has just been misunderstood and Kofuzi is the actual villain. Has Seth ever begged for a bib? The BITR will get some flack on their Boston video for sure.

Seth actually tries to follow the rules. Generally he doesn't film much, if at all, during his races (unless he's blown up, and then he takes selfies of himself huffing and puffing on the side of the road or trail). He also hasn't run Boston last year, largely because he didn't have a qualifying time. He seems to want to register just like everyone else. (Seth might've been able to get into the American elite field this year, but that's just a reflection of how terrible that field is, but to my knowledge he didn't try). He does take the occasional free trip to launches but not as many as the rest.

He can be a little cringey in his videos but he's pretty responsible compared to the likes of Kofuzi and Believe in the Run.

Kofuzi was great when he was just a regular working class guy running for self improvement and posting videos about the journey. Now the only role of his channel is to blatantly peddle product and advertise for the World Marathon Majors.

The guys that I run with and myself are becoming increasingly frustrated with the toxic, consumeristic and narcissistic direction that running is taking. Not only are the racing shoes we once purchased over two hundred dollars more expensive than they were a few years ago (one caveat being the shoe tech has improved significantly), but we can't even f'n purchase models from our brands of choice for the upcoming spring season because they're sold out everywhere.

Further, I just ran a half where a guy (literally wearing a Kofuzi singlet) got tripped up at the start because he was trying to take video and create that content when the gun went off. It's great that people are flocking to road races and are sharing their experiences on social, but have some freakin awareness and leave the self stick at the bag check!!!

Finally, the influences seem to all be pushing online coaching. Access to good coaching is arguably a net benefit for the sport; but the prices many of these "coaches" are charging is obnoxious, and frankly it seems to be adding to the toxic direction the sport as a hobby is taking.

I'm the only person that I'm aware of who BAA has enforced this against. They have clarified the rules since my incident; the rules were far less clear in October 2021. They're much more clear and consistent now. So, that's good.

Back in Oct 2021, the crux of the debate was whether or not a YouTube channel is personal or commercial. My channel had less than 2,500 subscribers at the time, so I really didn't think the BAA would care. I was wrong. But I admit, I was operating in what was a grey area at the time.

Kofuzi has stated he is donating whatever money his Boston video makes to charity, not keeping it... which puts the BAA in a bit of a corner. Would they really go after a fundraiser?? (haven't seen that hidden footage yet)

What's curious -- and makes me frustrated -- is how they seem to be selectively enforcing the rules. Maybe they just don't like me. 🤷

Long Live the BAA 🦄

With a good coach (hell, even just following a normal training plan from a book) Seth should have been 2:15-2:17. Watching someone so talented waste it because of his own thick headedness (and acting so offended when people tried to point it out to him) really turned me off. It was like watching a car wreck in slow motion and eventually I just had to look away.

Speaking of selectively enforcing rules, you’re on Letsrun which has the most arbitrary moderation of any website I’ve seen- even more than X

I wouldn't ever consider someone to be wasting talent because they ran a 2:22 instead of a 2:15. Another 2:15 marathoner in the world doesn't really change anything. I'd consider someone that is putting in the training, to only run a 2:15, to be a tremendous time waster, if the training wasn't the type of training they'd want to do or even enjoy.

A Korean guy has had his Boston video up for quite awhile.

There are many other videos that have been up for a while. I used to keep a list. I don't care anymore.