The Trials and Tribulations of Running YouTubers

I forgot 2024 Boston in 3:27:39 and London in 3:25:44.

Funny to point out but this is basically par for the course with the shoetubers. I wouldn't even mind them selling coaching plans and not having results themselves if they at least had some other credentials to back up what they say. The real plague is these people are just blatant charlatans. They start running and document that they are "doing a marathon on ZERO training" or whatever, then train for a year or so and crack that elusive sub 3, then totally stagnate or get worse. But, they get to live forever off that year of "beginner gains" that has nothing to do with their "training plans" and everything to do with their athletic background and the basic improvements of running volume. I feel bad for regular people who don't see through this and just see a fit person with a respectable marathon time selling them the idea that they can do this too. Then that person forks over their hard-earned cash for some BS "Yasso 800" workouts written out on a Google sheet.

Oddly, Seth is the only one with undeniable “credentials” and he doesn’t sell coaching services.

This is correct and one of many reasons why Garth has Seth’s back.

Allie Ostrander and Phily Bowden both have credentials far beyond Seth's. Bowden sells coaching services (but isn't taking new clients), Ostrander doesn't. Meaghan from Believe in the Run has credentials similar to Seth's (2:46 marathon, 6 mins off OTQ vs Seth 2:23 marathon, 5 minutes off OTQ). She also doesn't sell coaching services.

Meaghan Murray was 9 mins off the 2:37 standard and is in a bit of a running slump. Going all in for a last chance qualifier under Coach Kastor seems to have buried her (ended up not very close at Chicago or CIM 2023 and then continued the trend a rough outing at Boston 2024 as well, last week ran a local 5k and said she was over half marathon pace just gritting it out). Her husband continues to think she's god's gift to the sub-elite running community however so she's got a built in cheerleader despite all that. Plus she's not much of a self-promoter which is nice (no need when good old Thomas will do it for you).

I find it amusing that Believe in the Run said in the last episode of their podcast that "nobody liked the NB SC Pacer v1." It's worth watching their YouTube review of the shoe from a little over a year ago, where they give it the green light and praise it. That's how opinions change.

also when they originally reviewed the Alphafly 2 there were a lot of pros and some cons but now when they reference it they're like "yeah it sucked"

I'd love a training plan from Seth. A standard week would include lots of 'steezy' miles, 2 x red blood cell recruitment sessions and a 40 mile long run around a mall carpark.

By credentials, I was referring to the fact that Seth's college coach is a legend.

I know Thomas expected her to win (at least podium) the race in Baltimore .. and she was 1:40 ish off of the winner/second (and came in sixth). Thomas/Meaghan's reason is that she's been working and traveling but so are most of us and also - they don't have kids.

It's much harder to test running shoes and attend running events across America than to work shifts in a hospital. We are the fortunate ones, and Meaghan/Thomas are the real working class heroes.

They do have kids. Not sure if it's from Thomas' previous relationship, but they do have kids that they parent together.

In a snowstorm none the less.

Much like Konfuzi, Thomas has never broken 22 minutes for 5k….his expectations about all things running are roughly equivalent to a German shepherd’s about Astrophysics.

It has been interesting to watch the evolution of the ShoeTuber over time: they usually start off as shoe and gear enthusiasts eager to simply post reviews and foster discussion about running products; as their channel grows, they are then enticed by free product from brands "for the purpose of a review," which is followed by paid endorsements, usually from brands like Athletic Greens or a fledgling sock company, then culminating in the full-on influencer experience, complete with free travel, lodging, gear, shoes, access to "events" where they are plied with free food, drinks, access to the brand's professional athletes, and where they can revel in their good fortune with other influencer grifters in various "collabs," while parading around in their gifted gear (which average runners can't afford to buy), running 8-minute miles in $500 racing shoes, all on full display on their social media accounts, with nary a disclosure statement... and what began as an honest attempt to gain a following by reviewing and discussing gear has turned into a full-time lifestyle of prostituting their social media profiles in the good name of the running shoe company-industrial complex.

Oh and don't ever question their integrity by pointing this out to them, they'll quickly tell you that they always offer their unbiased takes on all the products they review, all while refusing to disclose their relationships with brands, wearing the brand's exclusive $250 sweatshirts and $200 hats, and extolling the virtues of the brand's new $180 trainer (which they received for free) as "a good value proposition"

yeah no, I think they have them sometimes on weekends or whatever but I'm 99% confident they primarily reside with T's former partner

This writing hits the nail on the head. If you tell people like Kofuzi about this, they will totally freak out. Kofuzi seemed like a really nice guy in the beginning, but nowadays when you look at his responses on YouTube, it seems like he's either become conceited or is just always angry, even though he presents himself as a laid-back person in his videos.

I nearly fell of my chair when I read this. Forgetting Sage Canaday? He won the North Face Challenge 50 mile in California (and $10K) when it was the biggest 50-mile race in the US. And he beated Krupika in the Speedboat 50K. Plus Sage's college coach is a legend.