You’ve never heard this before, and sorry for spoiling this huge news, but Aubrey Bigger Than Running is the first 6 Stars Finisher from Malawi!!! You’re hearing it from me first, because Aubrey has been keeping this secret like nuclear launch codes.
I actually think Aubrey is quite a likeable guy. His reel production quality on Instagram is very good.
My gripe, and this is a gripe at ALL 6 stars finishers is about environmental (air travel caused) and financial cost implications of getting 6 stars. There's a huge privledge and selfishness (climate) in doing so. Aubrey is first person from Malawi to do it, a country which is one of the most impacted by climate change. I'm not sure it's actually something that he should be so proud of. He should be immensely proud of some of his other amazing running achievements and journey sharing, but to me, not that one.
This is a joke right, otherwise what is wrong with you? I agree he shouldn’t be proud because his times are pathetic but climate change? Are you a complete NPC?
At the start when it was big influencers, or people with brand deals and responsibilities or things to gain from the running community I could get behind it. But now it's just weird targeting randomers to keep feeding the content machine, and posting weird official notices to people to prove that they value honest effort and such bs.
Meanwhile continues to ignore Ben Parker - argument that the 2:34 is beyond your remit is weak anyway imo if you want to say you care about integrity in the influencer community that's peak bad practice. But Runna is posting yet more of his non-pbs, few days ago in their meet the coaches section they've got him as having a 15:59 pb for 5K. Obviously hasn't run that in any official measured race, hasn't even run it on Strava. Will OMTIU touch it? Course not
Aussie named Will Gibbo runs this account. Always been a grifter. Now doing cash grab with the shirts for $35. He wont touch any Runna Account and verified Tommy Fury's run in attempt to gain clicks and followers.
He's now going after a guy with a few thousand followers on a post from two years ago about a marathon run 15 years ago.
Both happened way before Will set up Omtiu, which was a big part of his excuse for not going after Ben Parker. Maybe he's changed his mind and we'll see him square up to Runna soon
(Not banking on it, agree with the above that they're just desperate for content so throwing as much as they can at the wall)
Aussie named Will Gibbo runs this account. Always been a grifter. Now doing cash grab with the shirts for $35. He wont touch any Runna Account and verified Tommy Fury's run in attempt to gain clicks and followers.
He's now going after a guy with a few thousand followers on a post from two years ago about a marathon run 15 years ago.
Both happened way before Will set up Omtiu, which was a big part of his excuse for not going after Ben Parker. Maybe he's changed his mind and we'll see him square up to Runna soon
(Not banking on it, agree with the above that they're just desperate for content so throwing as much as they can at the wall)
And in the comments on the joint post with Heaps Good Runners (v disappointed she’s got on board with it) he pretends not to know about Parker when someone queries it.
RTJ hitting the track for a 5k this weekend, how curious. Predictions?
Don't think he's going fast... As I understand it, he has to do this track race to do local ekiden races in Japan. He's not doing London and has said his focus is training with the team
This post was edited 1 minute after it was posted.
Just watched the latest Goddard vlog and i have to wonder what sort of cool aid they give the Runna ambassadors. Mentions that he will be making a video with Ben P and Anya to go over his race day pacing strategy to attack a sub 3 (with a negative split?).
In the same week he did 2x5k tempo @4:07/k and a 3x6k marathon pace @4:11/k. Surely he can feel that his marathon pace is only just slower than his 'tempo' pace and understand that something isn't right.
Looking at his training i think hes in shape for a 3:10-3:20 marathon which would be a PB but if the Runna crew actually trick him into attempting to run back to back half marathon PBs on raceday then he deserves the blow up that is going to happen.
Just watched the latest Goddard vlog and i have to wonder what sort of cool aid they give the Runna ambassadors. Mentions that he will be making a video with Ben P and Anya to go over his race day pacing strategy to attack a sub 3 (with a negative split?).
In the same week he did 2x5k tempo @4:07/k and a 3x6k marathon pace @4:11/k. Surely he can feel that his marathon pace is only just slower than his 'tempo' pace and understand that something isn't right.
Looking at his training i think hes in shape for a 3:10-3:20 marathon which would be a PB but if the Runna crew actually trick him into attempting to run back to back half marathon PBs on raceday then he deserves the blow up that is going to happen.
For these workouts his HR is literally the same as when he ran his just under 1.30 half PB, about 175! How can someone who's life is running and training managed to be tricked into thinking he can run back to back halfs?
whats happened to Ben Parkes?? used to be the OG youtuber and a decent runner.
admitedly hes now pretty sh1t (which i dont understand given hes a full-time runner) but i used to like watching his race vids, they were usually mildly entertaining but obviously now hes pretty useless he doesnt make many of them but where is he? has he jacked in it or is he posting different stuff?
Just watched the latest Goddard vlog and i have to wonder what sort of cool aid they give the Runna ambassadors. Mentions that he will be making a video with Ben P and Anya to go over his race day pacing strategy to attack a sub 3 (with a negative split?).
In the same week he did 2x5k tempo @4:07/k and a 3x6k marathon pace @4:11/k. Surely he can feel that his marathon pace is only just slower than his 'tempo' pace and understand that something isn't right.
Looking at his training i think hes in shape for a 3:10-3:20 marathon which would be a PB but if the Runna crew actually trick him into attempting to run back to back half marathon PBs on raceday then he deserves the blow up that is going to happen.
For these workouts his HR is literally the same as when he ran his just under 1.30 half PB, about 175! How can someone who's life is running and training managed to be tricked into thinking he can run back to back halfs?
its pure delusion and i cannot wait for it to backfire, he is simply nowhere close to sub 3 shape. Wonder if he'll DNF or jog it in from canary wharf
whats happened to Ben Parkes?? used to be the OG youtuber and a decent runner.
admitedly hes now pretty sh1t (which i dont understand given hes a full-time runner) but i used to like watching his race vids, they were usually mildly entertaining but obviously now hes pretty useless he doesnt make many of them but where is he? has he jacked in it or is he posting different stuff?
When people talk about what is the end game for runfluencers Ben Parkes seems to be a good example. He will never run a PB again, but has managed to keep a good viewership and has set up a decently successful merch business. I don't really find him as interesting these days but he seems like a nice guy and I wish him all the best.
For these workouts his HR is literally the same as when he ran his just under 1.30 half PB, about 175! How can someone who's life is running and training managed to be tricked into thinking he can run back to back halfs?
its pure delusion and i cannot wait for it to backfire, he is simply nowhere close to sub 3 shape. Wonder if he'll DNF or jog it in from canary wharf
Also a good chance of a DNS - panic will set in knowing his goal is way too ambitious so he will claim he had some dodgy seafood the day before.
its pure delusion and i cannot wait for it to backfire, he is simply nowhere close to sub 3 shape. Wonder if he'll DNF or jog it in from canary wharf
Also a good chance of a DNS - panic will set in knowing his goal is way too ambitious so he will claim he had some dodgy seafood the day before.
The old "RTJ" trick. Get all the gullible people to buy in to a story they're going "all in" on a block, then change the goal posts 3 or 4 times as the block progresses and then either get injured or just DNS (I know I can't speak ill of the boy here but there you go)
whats happened to Ben Parkes?? used to be the OG youtuber and a decent runner.
admitedly hes now pretty sh1t (which i dont understand given hes a full-time runner) but i used to like watching his race vids, they were usually mildly entertaining but obviously now hes pretty useless he doesnt make many of them but where is he? has he jacked in it or is he posting different stuff?
I like Ben, so admittedly I'm a bit biased, but he's done well to maintain his channel and livelihood.
Those race videos made good content, but then when he got a series of injuries he realised he couldn't run the kind of times he was before. I think he also struggled with mental health in this period, which is not unreasonable given his whole life revolved around his running and YouTube output.
Since then, he's diversified by selling his own gear, coaching and a mixture of travel type vlogs (running Mumbai marathon as an example) and shoe reviews.
Maybe it's not quite as exciting as those older race videos but it's sustainable and doesn't rely on being injury free all the time. He also (as far as I can tell) doesn't try and shill endless products, trinkets and brands that other influencers do, so I do think he has integrity and he seems to actually like running. Again not something you can say about all running content creators.
Also a good chance of a DNS - panic will set in knowing his goal is way too ambitious so he will claim he had some dodgy seafood the day before.
The old "RTJ" trick. Get all the gullible people to buy in to a story they're going "all in" on a block, then change the goal posts 3 or 4 times as the block progresses and then either get injured or just DNS (I know I can't speak ill of the boy here but there you go)
He's still a great story teller. It was quite obvious he was not going to do London. The "will I run London?" click bait video title was annoying. I know they need to "game the algo" but just straight up tell us. I never watch the complete click bait and often disengage from a creator for a while when they do this.
I have a feeling he's washed! Does not really seem to be able to run currently. Fingers crossed I'm wrong! None the less, he probably can still grow the channel with his cultural content.
Yeah, Ben Parkes seems like a nice guy. I actually met him once at the London Marathon, and he came across as genuinely kind, though much more introverted than his YouTube channel might suggest. I think it’s probably best for his mental health not to put too much pressure on running. At this point, I think everyone kind of knows he’s more of a hobby runner who makes travel videos and shoe reviews. The only thing I’d personally drop is that he still calls himself a 2:25 marathoner. I’m not denying it, but at this stage of his career it doesn’t really feel necessary to emphasize it anymore. He could just say he ran 2:25 years ago. His recent videos have been fairly generic and a bit flat, but they probably work well for beginner runners, given that he has hundreds of thousands of followers. He’s still clearly much better than The Running Channel and similar channels.
Aussie named Will Gibbo runs this account. Always been a grifter. Now doing cash grab with the shirts for $35. He wont touch any Runna Account and verified Tommy Fury's run in attempt to gain clicks and followers.
He's now going after a guy with a few thousand followers on a post from two years ago about a marathon run 15 years ago.
Both happened way before Will set up Omtiu, which was a big part of his excuse for not going after Ben Parker. Maybe he's changed his mind and we'll see him square up to Runna soon
(Not banking on it, agree with the above that they're just desperate for content so throwing as much as they can at the wall)
"Could you please provide a written explanationfor this infringement?"
I don't know if I can articulate how angry that page makes me
He's now going after a guy with a few thousand followers on a post from two years ago about a marathon run 15 years ago.
Both happened way before Will set up Omtiu, which was a big part of his excuse for not going after Ben Parker. Maybe he's changed his mind and we'll see him square up to Runna soon
(Not banking on it, agree with the above that they're just desperate for content so throwing as much as they can at the wall)
"Could you please provide a written explanationfor this infringement?"
I don't know if I can articulate how angry that page makes me
Same! It’s the combination of pouring scorn onto people who just don’t know (and why should they, it’s a hobby for gods sake) and unleashing trolls on them, but doing so in that “I am official and in charge and opening a case file on you” way… who made this pompous little grifter the arbiter of all running rules?
Yeah, Ben Parkes seems like a nice guy. I actually met him once at the London Marathon, and he came across as genuinely kind, though much more introverted than his YouTube channel might suggest. I think it’s probably best for his mental health not to put too much pressure on running. At this point, I think everyone kind of knows he’s more of a hobby runner who makes travel videos and shoe reviews. The only thing I’d personally drop is that he still calls himself a 2:25 marathoner. I’m not denying it, but at this stage of his career it doesn’t really feel necessary to emphasize it anymore. He could just say he ran 2:25 years ago. His recent videos have been fairly generic and a bit flat, but they probably work well for beginner runners, given that he has hundreds of thousands of followers. He’s still clearly much better than The Running Channel and similar channels.