Extremely dull content in itself though. You've got to have the personality to pull it off and also have to be fast enough to be aspirational. And that's what makes Nick Bester the greatest athlete to grace these shores.
I’ll grant that an engaging personality would help buckets, but that’s true of any channel. I think there is something to be said for someone consistently running PRs over several years. That’s when we see a lot of these channels blow up—and when people hit plateaus, it gets less interesting if it goes on too long.
And you don’t have to be fast enough to be aspirational, you just have to be relatable, and if you show the journey of how you become fast (and show how to do it), even better. Imagine if sirpoc had POV footage of each of his races from his ~28 min 5 k through to present?
Ben Felton has zero personality and is doing well. Nick Bester and Phily Bowden has forced, awful, cringy personas which are doing well for them.
I have no idea what the public want but it appears they watch whatever trash the algorythm tells them to watch. Most people have no thoughts in their head, theyll watch what they think is cool or what theyre told to watch by other people or the algorythm
I’ll grant that an engaging personality would help buckets, but that’s true of any channel. I think there is something to be said for someone consistently running PRs over several years. That’s when we see a lot of these channels blow up—and when people hit plateaus, it gets less interesting if it goes on too long.
And you don’t have to be fast enough to be aspirational, you just have to be relatable, and if you show the journey of how you become fast (and show how to do it), even better. Imagine if sirpoc had POV footage of each of his races from his ~28 min 5 k through to present?
Ben Felton has zero personality and is doing well. Nick Bester and Phily Bowden has forced, awful, cringy personas which are doing well for them.
I have no idea what the public want but it appears they watch whatever trash the algorythm tells them to watch. Most people have no thoughts in their head, theyll watch what they think is cool or what theyre told to watch by other people or the algorythm
Yet people like Jake and MARM are also doing well. Let's face it, there's not a "one size fits all" with these things.
I mean, if people can tolerate the likes of SJD, Bowden, and Bester, they're not my people. That's fine, and I'll leave them to enjoy it... Somehow.
I’ll grant that an engaging personality would help buckets, but that’s true of any channel. I think there is something to be said for someone consistently running PRs over several years. That’s when we see a lot of these channels blow up—and when people hit plateaus, it gets less interesting if it goes on too long.
And you don’t have to be fast enough to be aspirational, you just have to be relatable, and if you show the journey of how you become fast (and show how to do it), even better. Imagine if sirpoc had POV footage of each of his races from his ~28 min 5 k through to present?
Ben Felton has zero personality and is doing well. Nick Bester and Phily Bowden has forced, awful, cringy personas which are doing well for them.
I have no idea what the public want but it appears they watch whatever trash the algorythm tells them to watch. Most people have no thoughts in their head, theyll watch what they think is cool or what theyre told to watch by other people or the algorythm
and look at fordy runs - hes developed some form of cult while quite clearly being a greasy used car salesman
I have no idea what the public want but it appears they watch whatever trash the algorythm tells them to watch.
Pretty much this. My gf is a smart, capable person, but the moment she goes on a youtube-shorts binge (hours upon hours sometimes) she's insta in zombie mode. Scary sh!t.
I’ll grant that an engaging personality would help buckets, but that’s true of any channel. I think there is something to be said for someone consistently running PRs over several years. That’s when we see a lot of these channels blow up—and when people hit plateaus, it gets less interesting if it goes on too long.
And you don’t have to be fast enough to be aspirational, you just have to be relatable, and if you show the journey of how you become fast (and show how to do it), even better. Imagine if sirpoc had POV footage of each of his races from his ~28 min 5 k through to present?
Ben Felton has zero personality and is doing well. Nick Bester and Phily Bowden has forced, awful, cringy personas which are doing well for them.
I have no idea what the public want but it appears they watch whatever trash the algorythm tells them to watch. Most people have no thoughts in their head, theyll watch what they think is cool or what theyre told to watch by other people or the algorythm
And yet here we all are watching their videos and talking about them.
Yes, they serve rubbish but let's not pretend we're above consuming it ourselves.
And yet here we all are watching their videos and talking about them.
Yes, they serve rubbish but let's not pretend we're above consuming it ourselves.
Absolutely! I assume we've all found our way here as avid fans of running/athletics, how else do you stumble across the weird world of LetsRun. The professional end of the sport does a terrible job at marketing and producing engaging content, and although some of the people discussed on here are rightfully being called out for shilling / being unqualified to coach, or generally being unlikable, I am greatful there are people our there creating running content.
There's a reason why RTJ was the 2nd most followed athlete on the Valencia marathon app, and I imagine Phily was up there at London. Or why the Makou athletes have the most fans in the live-stream chats. IMO World Athletics should spend a load of money creating the equivalents to 'Drive to Survive' or the UFC 'Embedded' videos. That way we could get to know the personalities of the top-athletes without them having to fund their own production teams and there would be a viable alternative to following these YouTubers. But for now, these creators are the best us running fans have got.
Floberg runs a 4:38 mile on his treadmill, tags it as a Race, says he filmed it all and the episode will be “so gnarly.”
The U.S.’s reserves of strategic cringe remain full thanks to running influencers.
Look at his HR on Strava, jumps up to 160 almost straight away then stays at 167 for most of the "all out effort"
He states his Max HR is 190 but it is clearly either way lower (Marathon PB was hitting 160 first half then up to 168 at the end) or he has low glycogen or other medical issue which is keeping his HR abnormally low. He uses the Coros arm band for HR measurements which I believe it top quality.
170 probably makes sense with his easy runs being in the 115 range. Strange he has misjudged his Max HR - Probably why he hasnt a clue how fast marathon effort is. He thinks he has gears there that he simply doesnt
Yeah I don't think there's any way his max heart rate is 190. Probably somewhere around 180 at most.
Absolutely! I assume we've all found our way here as avid fans of running/athletics, how else do you stumble across the weird world of LetsRun. The professional end of the sport does a terrible job at marketing and producing engaging content, and although some of the people discussed on here are rightfully being called out for shilling / being unqualified to coach, or generally being unlikable, I am greatful there are people our there creating running content.
There's a reason why RTJ was the 2nd most followed athlete on the Valencia marathon app, and I imagine Phily was up there at London. Or why the Makou athletes have the most fans in the live-stream chats. IMO World Athletics should spend a load of money creating the equivalents to 'Drive to Survive' or the UFC 'Embedded' videos. That way we could get to know the personalities of the top-athletes without them having to fund their own production teams and there would be a viable alternative to following these YouTubers. But for now, these creators are the best us running fans have got.
Why? That will be a big waste of money. World athletics is not a production company, and should not try to become one.
Why? That will be a big waste of money. World athletics is not a production company, and should not try to become one.
Because they could dramatically increase interest in the sport by marketing their athletes like other sports do. The reason the men's 1500m in Paris was basically the most anticipated of all the races outside of the 100m is that Kerr and Ingebrigtsen's beef had gone mildly mainstream- Kerr was even on primetime BBC before the event saying there was genuine animosity. If there were personalities and stories like this in every event, suddenly the Diamond League is a bit more fun than watching some anonymous nobodies running in circles.
How to fund it? Completely drop all funding and events for the 'sport' of Race Walking and use that money to hire a couple of good videographers to put out quality content about selected athletes taking part in the next event, just like UFC Embedded.
Right on cue, first episode of Olympic Trials or Die Tryin' has just dropped from the mongoloid himself.
I'm really looking forward to seeing him fail at this. This dude is such a meathead but I don't think there's any way that he genuinely has no idea how big the difference is between 2:29 and 2:15:xx. He's experienced enough at running at this point that he has to know. Right? It's just for content, surely.
Or maybe he really is that stupid. Perhaps he really is like Floberg before the plateau at 2:32, thinking the gains will just continue forever.
I don't consume much YouTube, but I was watching some trail stuff the other night and the Olympic Trial's or Die Tryin' popped up.
I gotta be honest...it was kind of a nothing burger for me.
I didn't even finish watching it. The dude is just bland. It would almost be better if he were more antagonizing, a la Roche, but as is I just couldn't get myself to care one way or the other.
Some of his inspirational stuff almost seemed like a parody, but it's clear he's being 100% earnest. It's almost endearing how earnest it is.
Anyway, maybe it says something about myself that I wish I could hate the dude, but I just don't.
P.S. Yes he's a lot faster than me and looks better with his shirt off. So take my opinion for what it's worth.
I feel honored that he quoted me in his little monologue.
Andrew Huberman is in the comments wanting to bet that Truett will do it. I might take him up on that if the money wasn't going to charity. Anyone who thinks this is possible doesn't understand elite running.
Does anyone have a saved version? I think the reel is long gone.
I’ll grant that an engaging personality would help buckets, but that’s true of any channel. I think there is something to be said for someone consistently running PRs over several years. That’s when we see a lot of these channels blow up—and when people hit plateaus, it gets less interesting if it goes on too long.
And you don’t have to be fast enough to be aspirational, you just have to be relatable, and if you show the journey of how you become fast (and show how to do it), even better. Imagine if sirpoc had POV footage of each of his races from his ~28 min 5 k through to present?
Ben Felton has zero personality and is doing well. Nick Bester and Phily Bowden has forced, awful, cringy personas which are doing well for them.
I have no idea what the public want but it appears they watch whatever trash the algorythm tells them to watch. Most people have no thoughts in their head, theyll watch what they think is cool or what theyre told to watch by other people or the algorythm
Rhythm is a tough word, don't feel bad about that.
Why? That will be a big waste of money. World athletics is not a production company, and should not try to become one.
Because they could dramatically increase interest in the sport by marketing their athletes like other sports do. The reason the men's 1500m in Paris was basically the most anticipated of all the races outside of the 100m is that Kerr and Ingebrigtsen's beef had gone mildly mainstream- Kerr was even on primetime BBC before the event saying there was genuine animosity. If there were personalities and stories like this in every event, suddenly the Diamond League is a bit more fun than watching some anonymous nobodies running in circles.
How to fund it? Completely drop all funding and events for the 'sport' of Race Walking and use that money to hire a couple of good videographers to put out quality content about selected athletes taking part in the next event, just like UFC Embedded.
I dont see other sports federations trying to become production companies. Seems like a better idea that professionals handle that than the cronies in the sport. I have 0% belief that a 70 year old fossil is able to make something people want to see. In your example you say that it was the athletes themselves who marketed the event. Why should Seb Coe take over for that?
Mesa does not have the maximum drop allowable. It about 900-1000 feet of total loss and it's not that easy of a course. It's also hot. It's a cold start and incredibly sunny when the sun rise comes out and usually 50-60 which is very warm with a strong Arizona sun. Don't forget Boston is also a net downhill course. There are easier courses out there with less drop. (Like Chicago) so there's not any crazy assistance in Mesa. I ran Mesa and then PR'd in San Diego shortly after. A much more difficult course with 1K of uphill. Mesa is fast for miles 1-3 with a climb miles 3-5. the rest is pretty flat with maybe 10-20 feet of drop per mile sometimes less sometimes a small climb
Mesa does not have the maximum drop allowable. It about 900-1000 feet of total loss and it's not that easy of a course. It's also hot. It's a cold start and incredibly sunny when the sun rise comes out and usually 50-60 which is very warm with a strong Arizona sun. Don't forget Boston is also a net downhill course. There are easier courses out there with less drop. (Like Chicago) so there's not any crazy assistance in Mesa. I ran Mesa and then PR'd in San Diego shortly after. A much more difficult course with 1K of uphill. Mesa is fast for miles 1-3 with a climb miles 3-5. the rest is pretty flat with maybe 10-20 feet of drop per mile sometimes less sometimes a small climb