The Trials and Tribulations of Running YouTubers

Obviously that's sarcasm.

I think Fordy has done a fair bit for getting people off their arses and out running. The people who think running is not for them and all the stereotypes. I think thats worth commending to a degree. People being active is a good thing.

But he's done very little in terms of performance and getting people to their absolute max potential.

I suspect the athletes he advises are pretty good to start with, if perhaps naïve to their genetic ability. And they just need a bit of structure to perform well. But his coaching is leaving a lot on the table in terms of potential, compared to a more experienced coach. But the end result is it makes Fordy look good when his mate runs sub3

He talks about his friend Hayden but I don't see him ever being coached to sub3 by Fordy. A good coach would get multiple people to a high level. Not just 1 or 2

Fordy is a clown. Couch to 5k and parkrun have made people in the UK get off their asses, no matter what he makes out that he's the biggest running movement since either of these things.

His coaching is perhaps, the absolute worst I've ever seen given some of the plans people have shared in retrospect.

The man should be in jail for even saying he's a coach. There's always an excuse for everything with this guy. The fact is he sucks at running and is an even worse coach.

Fordy apparently "coached" a guy called Ben to a sub 3. He did a video about it. When I looked the guy up on Strava his training was appalling with low mileage, all easy apart from "goal pace" session and over half his weekly mileage being in the long run. The guy clearly has potential if he's hitting fast times with poor training and Fordy is parading him around as an example.

Apparently Fordy Runs is the biggest athletics club in UK but Fordy has a YouTube channel he says doesn't support him as well as working a full time job. I don't know if he has a gambling addiction, is bad with money, or is a bit naive but you'd think he'd find a way to make money from running without having to have a proper job

Thats my point ref Ben. He's obviously got potential if he's doing sub3 on limited miles and no training norms of tempo, repeats etc

Its not a result of the coaching.

The money angle is interesting actually.

That's brutal, he needs to delete that. Not a true Christian anyway, talks about drinking beer all the time. Many will meet Jesus and he will say, depart from me, I never knew you- Matthew 7:23. Floberg if you read this, get right with Jesus, follow him and don't idolize running, beer, etc.

Fordy should attend one of Kofuzi's many speaking events at any of his traveling destinations to get some insight on how to make money from shoetube running. He wouldn't mind bending a knee to any of the brands.

I challenge the LR community to use AI to come up with “poncho walk” homage videos and photos.

- Mike Poncho

Since I know you sickos will demand pics, this is a picture of me, Mike Poncho:

Open image

Exactly. Unreal the hate here for fordy! How many qualifications does sirpoc guy have? None! How many knowledgeable running podcasts does he have? None! Fordy is in inspiration to the forgotten masses of runners where these channels focus on elite! He is a really nice guy as well so some of the speculation regarding him here I find disgusting. Almost as disgusting as the suggestion he is not a good coach when clearly this is not true! Be better Letsrun.

ok fordy

wind your neck in, Fordy is a C U Next Tuesday.

mindless irritants like him need to exit the sport, plenty of potentially decent runners out there in they followed standard paths of joining athletic clubs are being turned into 4 hour marathon shufflers by taking advice and joining the legions of bellends worshiping to55ers like him

if you set the bar at 4 hour marathons being acceptable and glorious, you will never strive to be better. join a running club and realise than sub 2:45 is an acceptable level, and you will put in the work to reach that level. the worlds turning into a mass of fun runners and it stinks

Are the moves from Bester and Culling to more overtly shilling for non running/performance adjacent brands a sign that the money is drying up?

While the toothbrush sales pitch just seems silly the partnering with buy now pay later to buy my merch ad from Bester is far more grating.

Some people on this forum miss the point of why the masses jog.

90% of people who join running groups want to move out there and socialise. They don't need the physical and mental stress of smashing themselves to get an arbitrary time.
Over two-thirds of UK adults are overweight. Creating an inclusive environment for these people to exercise is amazing. While I love the challenge of pushing myself, I don't think it's healthy and would not prescribe my routine to people. Ultimately, no one gives a s**t your time. I don't know why people find it offensive that some people don't need to feed their ego by running fast in local fun runs. There is something for everyone in running. If you are:
- On the spectrum, don't like eye contact and enjoy doing endless laps of a track - join a legit running club.
- Middle-aged and want to centre your social life around running - join a run group
- Gen-Z, annoying, like wearing running briefs/buns and visor - join one of those sunday run clubs

My issue with Fordy, is that he doesn't practice what he preaches. He released a video in January where he detailed his plan to break 3.30 in London this year. It was a very detailed plan, and he preached consistency throughout the plan. However he doesn't stick to his plan at all - from the very first run where he was supposed to run 4.5 miles of goal pace, and he ran 3 easy miles!! His plan had a load of 'goal pace' at least twice a week - yet you look at his Strava and he never actually runs it. I get the pressures of life, however if as a coach he's setting an unrealistic plan for himself, then what is he doing for the people he coaches?

I watched his video where he talked about this block being a failure - and whilst I am sympathetic to his issues with ADHD and autism, ultimately his issue with this block, is that he's set himself an unrealistic plan that he could never meet. And if the wheels had come off his plan from the outset, maybe do a video where he outlines the struggles in his plan, and how he's resetting his expectations? That would be far more useful than shoe reviews in my opinion.

He also released 2 videos where he talks about non-negotiables - one of them being S&C work - yet he admits in his recent video he didn't do this during his London block.

Fordy seems more concerned with the power/influence he gets from his status, rather than... running.

I've seen Fordy and his cult at races and its flat out odd.

The content creaters that are fairly well reveared around here (Ben Barrows (my beloved), RanToJapan, early Dan Whitehead (before he started cycling and doing endless "day in the life"/"my essential kit" videos)) are/were making something to document their love for running and their specific journey.

Fordy, and the other influencers that are generally held in low regard, might have started out with that in mind but have clearly moved onto different intrinsic and extrinsic motivators, and its obvious for anyone not in their cult/with half a brain.

Could be the case.

Recently, Bester has been spamming ad's to try and get people to sign up to a community set up on Skool. The marketing messages somewhat misleading:

"Hi, I’m Nick Bester, a sub 2:20 marathoner and renowned coach. I am on a mission to help my fellow athletes."

Not sure sending out PDF training templates to people makes you a "renowned coach".

For those that don't know, Skool is a platform owed by manosphear grifter Alex Hormozi. It allows people to set up subscription based online learning communities. The reason it's controversial is it has been accused of being a pyramid scheme as community owners can recruit affiliates to market their communities.

this is a fairly textbook case of Runfluencer/Shoetuber Narcissistic Disorder. It is a new classification that will likely be included in the DSM-6. Thomas of BITR is a classic case, but Fordy has also been exhibiting symptoms for well over a year now.

Symptoms include: 1) starting to think of one's self as a celebrity or public figure 2) leading 'shakeout runs' prior to large marathon or running events and taking group pictures surrounded by a group of adoring parasocial sycophants 3) Selling or taking anything offered by brands in order increase income or clout. 4) Filming yourself making coffee while talking about why you didn't do what you said you were going to do

If you or anyone you know if exhibiting these symptoms, please get help. You don't have to do this alone.

The US economy shrunk last quarter. Boats are empty. Will have worldwide impact. The tariff on Vietnam has the potential to absolutely ruin the running shoe industry. Also the shoe brands are really not sponsoring Kofuzi's world tour either. Instead he's getting sponsorships from Sport Tours, Diadora, Runna and Rabbit.

Oats. Don't forget about the oats. I really can't get enough of watching people make oats.