What were your first memories of the Letsrun early years

I first started posting on this board in 2004. I used a new anonymous handle every few months, whatever was entertaining to me at the time.

Overall it's the same as it ever was. Maybe a bit more politics, but a bit less hate for pro runners. More shoe cheating talk, less real doping talk. No real valuable running info, there's enough outlets for that elsewhere.

It's just a big, dumb board, for big dummies. Me included.

A professional runner posted that he was quitting running to help start some company called AirBnB. It was some ridiculous concept where people could rent out their houses/condos/apartments.

Run-insight.com was run by OAC clowns, i think either Baldwin Wallace or Mount Union. It was more or less a place for people around Ohio to fling poo.

The funnier site was bustthisnut.com, run by the Ohio State XC team. Legit hilarious content.

Me trolling Rojo (under the name Paul Tergat but not pretending to be him) about Wejo’s upcoming marathon and him proposing a $1000 bet that Wejo would break a certain time. I was 20, trolling, and poor so I didn’t take it, but I would have won!

I agree - been here for a minute too. The sensibilities are a bit different, but the form is the same.

This or ‘Fanny pack 5K’ is my favorite. Can’t decide which….

I still have my Wejo NYC marathon shirt. A great shirt with an American flag, I bought a few for my running buddies.

Great point. The form is the same but sensibilities have changed. By that logic, we shouldn't be attacking the medium, rather the people here.

That said, a lot of the vitriol is aimed at LRC and the Brojos.

Look at your societies, not LRC as the root cause.

They tried to actually keep an up to date list of all the users PRs.

There were always who are the hottest female runner threads. Usually started by some kid that found his way over here from Dyestat.

The adventures of Brandon Moen and Gun/cat/pirate girl were always amusing.

Mr.Chest was a great troll. Always stayed in character.

Rojo wasn't quite as annoying since he didn't start talking about shoes after each great performance.

I first came here in 2001. Most everything has already been mentioned but I will say 2 things really stick out

1. Tom McArdle and his public training log

2. Summer of malmo

When I first started coming to this site, I was impressed by the percentage of posters that were knowledgeable. There are still a few that actively post but not as many.

No millennial wimps/fairies.

I think I encountered letsrun in the late 90s but made dyestat my internet home. I did not actually read letsrun until there was a spat between people locally in approximately 2005. It's hard to ignore letsrun if youre into running and have a slight device/internet addiction. But LetsRun also makes it easy to become disappointed with the direction of the thinking and what the site does to people. This place generally thrives on turmoil and what belongs in the gutter. The site goes in the complete wrong direction the sport needs.

At letsrun, SFH, Shelburrito, Molly Seidel's instagram posts, etc. brings out deranged misinterpretations of facts sending incels whirling down concerning rabbit holes for pages on endd. This place spawns some of the most ridiculous and hurtful gossip to people the community ought to be promoting.

People forget this is a niche community and the networks of pros and the fan base crossover quite a lot. For instance, if a young man, 15 years old, runs 4:30 and striving to get better really wanted to meet Matt Centrowitz or Cole Hocker or Josh Kerr, those guys are all going to be both available and extremely willing to meet, take an insta shot, sign an autograph and become long distance friends for life. That is part of the closeness and proximity of this sport that you would not see if the young man was into basketball's Lebron James where 50M crazed fans across the world have the same dream, willing to tear down the wall to meet just once.

This yellow and blue striped sector of the dark web sometimes takes a huge crap on those network bridges between pros and fans, detracting from the pros focus, injecting vitriol into their mentality and lives while inadvertently shifting the group think across the landscape. The pros are susceptible to falling into a mind trap that "everyone thinks" what is written here. And that sucks because it isnt true. Perhaps the pros deserve a bit more personal distance than where this website goes at times.

That was a great thread!

I started visiting letsrun in 2000 or 2001, and I've checked it nearly every day since. Usually the first website I visit every day. There were some memorable threads and posters back in the day - the giant hole thread, anything by Bill Eamick, Mr. Chest, 3rd Person Panache, crabo loading thread, airplane on a treadmill. I don't remember as much political garbage, but maybe I'm seeing the early years through rose-colored glasses