The Trials and Tribulations of Running YouTubers

yeah Fry was a bit funny for a while, but his shilling is just completely unbearable now.

Not a big Bester fan but the Ethiopian 10K video was at least slightly interesting. I'm tired of runfluencers going to Kenya, I've seen way too much Kenyan content already and it's all the same, but no one ever goes to Ethiopia.

And they don't even show their trips to the Kenyan chemists

Jake Barraclough latest video is really well done. Is there anyone in the world of running YouTubers that is lower on the cringe scale?

Just caught up with the Bester video. The guys running in jeans and tens of thousands of people walking in the middle of an organised run really did crack me up

Definitely not as annoying as some others and a good runner, but he posts moving time for ultras he's done rather than elapsed which is a bit sad

Take a bow, son.

One morning, Chuck Norris showed up at Sirpocs local parkrun. SirPoc spotted him immediately and couldn’t resist. "You ever tried the Norwegian singles method?" he asked casually, jogging past Chuck without breaking stride. "It’s a game changer for endurance. Not about speed, just sustainability."

Chuck gave him a sideways glance. "I don't need methods. I rely on pure power."

SirPoc smirked whilst chomping on his Mars Bar. "Power’s great, but it only gets you so far. I run smarter, not harder."
Chuck scoffed. "You think you can outrun me?"

Without another word, SirPoc picked up the pace. His steps were measured, each one perfectly timed, as if the pavement were part of his rhythm. Chuck, never one to back down from a challenge, matched him step for step, though it quickly became clear he was pushing harder than SirPoc.

Minutes passed, and SirPoc showed no signs of tiring. Meanwhile, Chuck was starting to feel it. SirPoc wasn’t just running fast, he was running efficiently.

When Chuck tried to surge ahead, SirPoc effortlessly stayed with him, looking almost bored.

"Alright, enough of this," Chuck grunted, his competitive spirit kicking in. "I’m taking you down."

Without warning, Chuck lunged forward with a sudden burst of speed. SirPoc, still unflappable, sidestepped him in a smooth, fluid motion, like a dance. Chuck tried again, throwing punches this time, but SirPoc just dodged them, his movements as precise as his running.

Chuck, now out of breath and frustrated, took a step back. "Okay, okay. You’re fast. But how about we see if you can fight?"

SirPoc tilted his head. "I don’t need to fight. I just need to outlast you. Fighting will just leave me in bits reducing my ability to sub-T tomorrow. I’d rather just go for a pint mate"

Chuck gritted his teeth and took another swing. But before he could connect, SirPoc was already behind him, effortlessly landing a tap on his shoulder.

"You’re a little off balance," SirPoc teased. "But hey, at least you’re trying."
Chuck stopped, panting, and finally cracked a smile. "You’re impossible."
SirPoc shrugged. "It’s all about consistency. Maybe you should try it sometime."

As SirPoc jogged off, Chuck stood there, still catching his breath. For the first time, he realized that VO2 efforts were for losers. The smartest move isn’t all out 400s, hill sprints and brute strength but endurance, efficency and an eternity of easy running coupled with sub-T. And maybe, just maybe, he’d try that running method. If only to outrun this guy next time.

What's with all the sirpoc fanfic? He's not even a shoetuber

Tilda rice is the only legit thing on this list.

Stephen Scallion mentions his 2:09 marathon in first 2 seconds of his newest video :D must definetly be a record

Phily's been off running for 2 months now. So... so much for the "how dare they tell me I have a stress fracture, I could have run a marathon if they hadn't!"

I think she is enjoying not running as I don’t think she was enjoying it before the injury. There is also the added bonus of milking it for all it’s worth on her socials.
Wouldn’t surprise me if it takes her 6 months to get back with constant set backs, as that would provide her extra content and drama without having to train too hard.

So what adidas shoe did Yowana review that he got in trouble for copywrite infringement from adidas? He posted on instagram about it I believe but I can’t find the post now. His latest post has an adidas shoe blocked out and it says copyright, lol.

Yowana said he bought the shoe with his own money but instagram took adidas side so now he’s posting from a different instagram account. Knowing Yowana this will be hilarious and he won’t let adidas slip this through.

She was a mess in her Chicago training block with the Covid to start the Flagstaff camp, the big bad fall on the trail run that sent shockwaves around the world, and then a bad race at Falmouth. But she was gaining some momentum there at the end.

Since the DNS it's been nonstop moaning about not being able to run and being too afraid at failing at swimming* and woe is me mental health ADHD in an endless loop. Look, I have sympathy to a certain extent. Being injured is awful. but man oh man she is milking it for all its worth and then some (which is probably quite a pretty penny considering how relatable having a long term injury is to all her acolytes).

*She literally recently filmed herself telling Daniel how far she swam and he was so excited that he picked her up and swung her around all very candidly... for the set-up camera.

Maybe she can aim for LA2028 Swim squad instead then.

These swim coaches don't realise she just loves the grind

It's pretty amazing how she's won on YouTube. Her, "Pro Runner’s Unfiltered Ranking of 2025 Running Trends" posted 4 days ago, has nearly 90k views. It's not even unfiltered, as she clearly wants to critique Runna, but skirts around it!

In contrast, 4 Olympic medal-winning Alex Yee's final Valencia video has 34k views!

It's very interesting; she does not even need to have consistent storylines. One week, making a performative statement about a tragic misdiagnosis, throwing crutches away. The next, saying the only thing she can do is swim and is taking months of running!

I do wonder wheather she has loyal fans or if it's just people being spammed by her clickbait. ADHD or not, her dramatic storylines are all over the place and contradict themselves.

It'll be the latter. I found her videos through recommendations and didn't mind a few of them. Then once you realise it's the same GCSE drama over and over again and none of it makes any sense it becomes unwatchable. But there's enough people on Youtube for her to do well with Youtube pushing her clickbait.

She does seem a decent enough person though and I would like to see her run well again, I just can't tolerate another Unfiltered Ranking or a 15 minute rant about nothing.

Not to say I am a big fan of Phily's current content, but I wonder whether this is because often time you find people whose life are not very organised (especially in running when ya'll probably more likely find a disorganized person).

The incoherence/chaos perhaps may be more relatable to them, relative to the organization other pro athletes have in their videos (e.g Clayton Murphy, Alex Yee). Maybe it may be seen as more 'authentic' given the relatability.

Anecdotally the few times it's come up at running clubs or with other hobby joggers I'd say there's a lot of classic wishing her well but not particularly invested/find it hard to follow and care (for obvious reasons); along with a few people who are full on love the grinders.

Nothing against them but one does wonder the appeal, kind of like when you see and hear people shouting Boomshakalaka at Bester. Just think you're grown adults with this parasocial type relationship with someone who mostly sees you as numbers to monetise but you'll buy merch and follow them around to cheer them on