When did the hobby jogger 3 hour + marathon types begin to saturate Letsrun?

Well over a decade ago.

The "sub elites" were always the worst part of this board when it comes to running. They invent a term with elite in the title to gain some respect. They are a group that looks down on both elites (who are always doing something they think is wrong or are washed up) AND slower people. The demand respect at races. They brag about dusting middle age people and kids at the local 5ks.

I don't miss them

I for one draw the line between serious runners and hobbyjoggers at 2:58.

An actual piece to the puzzle is that runners world closed their message board. A quick Google used to show two obvious and active message boards for running.. It was easy to see which message board you fit in better and gravitate towards that one. Now, the "who cares about your time. Finishing is a big enough accomplishment" board has been closed

“Many of the OG posters that were fast if still here are now 20 years older. “

This. But still like to run and still a fan of the sport…

I don't mind someone who is a 3:34 marathon runner asking for advice about their specific situation, assuming they detail out the post with stuff like their current race times, mpw, weight, time frame etc. and if it's obvious that they've done some research. But when someone comes on here with "guyz I did HAL HIGDON 1 and nearly died and ran a 5:34 marathon OMG IS IT MY SHOES?" it makes the board look weak. Bad optics, same thing when vegans spam-post on here.

market is way larger

Observation wrote:

This place used to be for people who ran on the track. If they ran a marathon, they were well under 3 hours.

Slowly but surely, the 3 hour + types have come to dominate this board.

Sad!

I’d far rather hear about a 3:30 marathoner and his/her goals than I would about non-running related topics. This IS a running forum, and we come here to talk about running.

A 330 marathoner asking questions is about running.

Observation wrote:

This place used to be for people who ran on the track. If they ran a marathon, they were well under 3 hours.

Slowly but surely, the 3 hour + types have come to dominate this board.

Sad!

Joan Samuelson - 2019 Boston Marathon - 3:04:00

Yeah, let's keep these 3+ hour "hobbyjobbers" off of LetsRun.

I would have given this a -10/10 but you actually ruffled a bunch of feathers and got responses. I give this obvious troll attempt a 7/10 due to being way too obvious.

I don't judge people by their marathon finish times or how fast they run their interval workouts. I judge people by their personalities and ability to get along with others, and maintain a civil conversation, even with someone they disagree with. You an be slow but still smart & nice. You can be fast but still be an a$$hole. I think we've all seen that from time to time, even here on these boards.

Who's to say that they even run at all? We've had anti-vaxxers and Trumpers blanketing the boards with trolling posts ever since the beginning of the pandemic.

Supralapsarian wrote:

Observation wrote:

This place used to be for people who ran on the track. If they ran a marathon, they were well under 3 hours.

Slowly but surely, the 3 hour + types have come to dominate this board.

Sad!

I’d far rather hear about a 3:30 marathoner and his/her goals than I would about non-running related topics. This IS a running forum, and we come here to talk about running.

A 330 marathoner asking questions is about running.

Someone gets it. I have more respect for a 3:30- to 4-hour marathoner who is humble, but loves the sport and constantly wants to get better, and wants to know more training tactics/strategies.

round and round wrote:

Observation wrote:

This place used to be for people who ran on the track. If they ran a marathon, they were well under 3 hours.

Slowly but surely, the 3 hour + types have come to dominate this board.

Sad!

I would never run a marathon if I felt I didn’t have a chance of running under 3 hrs.

I don’t see the point in the accomplishment (yes, I know that’s arbitrary). But mostly because running so long just isn’t any fun.

That’s funny, I won’t run a marathon if I think I have a chance at breaking 4 hours. I want to get my monies worth out of the race and being out there longer makes me feel better about spending $$ on a race.

Banana Nut Crunch Fan wrote:

Cool, let's continue to make this place even less welcoming to anyone who doesn't fit inside a tiny box.

Good work.

Well said

Observation wrote:

This place used to be for people who ran on the track. If they ran a marathon, they were well under 3 hours.

Slowly but surely, the 3 hour + types have come to dominate this board.

Sad!

You’re slow. Tell us why you are here.

9990 wrote:

Umm, more like when did all the corona and politics threads begin to dominate this forum... those are far more annoying.

Would 100% rather see posts about how to finish your first marathon in under 5 hours than the endless vaccine/masking nonsense that's clogging the boards today.

frankgalleger wrote:

The "sub elites" were always the worst part of this board when it comes to running. They invent a term with elite in the title to gain some respect. They are a group that looks down on both elites (who are always doing something they think is wrong or are washed up) AND slower people. The demand respect at races. They brag about dusting middle age people and kids at the local 5ks.

I don't miss them

And they post on every thread telling you how much better the website was at (insert the era they leaked in life).

Indeed, we really need to change the name to "Let'sRun, but only if you can do a sub 3 hour marathon".

All I see when I read this post is "hey, give me attention, I think I am fast".

Unless you are running a sub 2:10 - get over yourself.

the great thing about a message board is that you can just chose to not read threads that don't interest you. Maybe just click on the threads discussing the top runners, or if someone is posting asking about breaking 14 min 5k....