The Trials and Tribulations of Running YouTubers

She has a LiRF certificate. So not a coach.

She is allowed:

To provide safe and enjoyable running experiences for runners over 18 years of age and of any ability.

Let the man enjoy his winnings, of all the things to hate for, actually putting out a decent performance isn't the one surely?

Come on: 10 years ago everybody had that big SD mug!!! Whole europe!

I wonder how many other videos she could make with the strap line - I emailed this brand before and told them we'd be the perfect fit for them to sponsor me. Like I get that's the nature of the game, but we all know you didn't just email Lululemon because you believed in them and only them, you just emailed every brand saying variations on the same thing til one of them agreed to pay you money.

In her Farnborough half video she talked about an a and b race plan from Steph - as well as doing runna coaching Steph Kessell does do some individual coaching, so it's possible she's getting more hands on coached still. Although any interview or segment when she talks specifics shows she's not really absorbing coaching knowledge imo...

Enjoyed the bit where she made sure to point out really clearly that she hadn't taken any bicarb or beetroot juice before the race, probably unrelated to anything she's done in the past few weeks... Still not sure I like the video styles - they're become a lot more arty with all the cuts and scenes like in the pool. Taking itself far too seriously watching someone gearing up to run 2:39 or so in Tokyo

Is Philly really going to run in Lululemon shoes? They can't be very good...

Did a local half marathon yesterday and saw a few Fordy Runs T-shirts. Always nice to know who I’m going to be passing

She even said she emailed them 2 years ago in one shot, then 3 in another. It's part of the game, I guess.

She also is still talking about the Olympic dream, still. Surely, a move to a "premium" lifestyle brand is sign she's in it in for the content creation and money now.

She must have been leaving money on the table being back by ON; however, it was at least aligned to her goal. Surely, now, this is a sign she knows she can't even make the European Marathon Championships, let alone the Olympics.

good authority that the contract well exceeds the £100k/year she earned at ON, that’s direct word from a brand employee

This is probably true. With coaching and brand/affiliate deals she is doing very well.

But why did ON invest so much and not really even acknowledge they were supporting her? She was not on any of their socials even their website and there was not a big launch like with the current brand. I wonder what went down.

Yeah easily. Anya was on 50k/yr with them in her first deal, that was before Runna came in with them and she continued to blow up.

Lol, never ever that number with ON.

She is not an international sportsstar. Not on TV, not in magazins, no worlds or even european championship she was in. Maybe 100 follower buying ON running shoes because of her ;). And again: ON is selling sneaker to the middleclass.

Goddards barca half vlog is a new low - don't know why I'm still hatewatching his content but its like a car crash you cant take your eyes off of.

He seemed to have a bike riding with him and filming him round the course, not sure if that is allowed.

Worst part of the video is at the end where he scramble's to explain his time and tells us that he has already messaged OMTIU to explain why his chip time is incorrect as if anyone actually cares that much. I think he doesn't quite understand running and thinks these little things matter way to much when its actually everything else that hes doing hilariously wrong that people are ridiculing him for.

To top it off his girlfriend exclaiming at the end of the video that she could've gone way quicker if she didn't stop for 5 minutes with 5k to go ... What an incredible bit of insight and knowledge that is, lets just say neither of them come across as the brightest bulbs in the box.

We always circle back to these conversations. With a few notable exceptions (e.g., Kipchoge) there are no long distance sport stars! I just had to look up who ran the marathon runner of all time, Tigst Asseffa.

Ultimately, if brands want visibility, they Phily and Anya will provide this. Yes, it's a sad state of affairs. Running is hugely popular but no one cares about the world class end of the sport. Tigst Asseffa would go unnoticed at most park runs!

*** the second fastest marathon runner of all time

Dont think so. She isnt even on team GB or england. In every country there are national stars.

2026 the european athletics championships are in birmingham. Is she on a banner to promote this event? No.

Now she is with Lululemon. Lululemon sells tights for fitness ;).

I think people who are critical of influencers massively underestimate their reach. The vast majority of people just watch the content and keep scrolling whilst the advertised products seep into their subconscious, eventually leading to sales or trust/legitimacy of the brand - "They must be decent, that elite runner on instagram was raving about them".

Genuinely, a 50+ year old guy at my run club turned up with a new Coros watch, and when I asked him about it, he said "I'd never really considered switching from Garmin, but I follow this runner Phily Bowden who swears by them".

And to the person asking about Lululemon shoes: No it appears to be a clothing contract, shes running in Asics in her announcement video. Ideal really, get to pick the best shoes available at any time.

The banter section with Jenny Manion saying good evening and him correcting her that it's morning at the Runna shakeout... Sad that mere mortals don't get invited to the inner Runna circle to be part of those moments, the chance might inspire a lot of people on to greatness. For all the talk of Ben Fenton's personality I'd rather be at Barcelona with his friends than have to be part of the Runna group.

I know some content creators have gone with opening up their personalities - or curated personas - more for the viewers; but if this is the personality that you have please just keep it hidden.

The OMTIU thing was weird, like if you think it's fine - which it seems to be - why would you be worried about them? Maybe Runna, and Ben Parker in particular I guess, are going hard at their influencers about timings and highlighting the OMTIU as a real sticking point. Or maybe he is the man behind the account and it's just an easy way for him to plug his alt account?

your source is deluded

her running talent is worth free kit, maybe a retainer for 5k or so if the company have excess budget. the influencing side would be worth more but would likely go to a heavy poster and usually someone attractive

even pros arent on 100k contracts. UK wise, you would be looking at Hodgkinson and Bell would be over that figure, perhaps Asher-Smith. the rest will be well below, McColgan - 50-60k perhaps but shes never going to win anything so theres no real reason to funds Brits to finish 10mins behond the winner of the London marathon