Influencers getting rich off poor suckers *cough Matt Choi cough*

We apparently have vastly different definitions of rich.

This guy pops up on my IG, comes across as super dorky. Divison I football player -- who went to Monmouth. Like, come on. Not a lie but also not impressive.

That said, he's probably making a living do what he likes so good for him.

Thanks for giving him attention?

Monmouth is D1 football, not that they're the greatest. And I'm a guy who went there for a semester and transferred

One of his short videos popped up on YouTube. He talked about how he warms up for a workout. I almost died laughing at it.

Is BQ really that hard that one has to buy a training program? Just go out there and run enough miles and do whatever to not get injured. This Choi guy is slow. All that work at that age and that's it? At least run 2:30 first.

You are certainly focusing on an obscure person who interacts with almost no one and likely does not create problems as starkly as you portray them.

$1000 is too much money to waste for most people, but not for some people, who have lots of it.

$1000 for a multi month training program that can positively influence their running for a year, till the progress to a higher level, is less than many people reading this spend on coffee in a year, or dessert in a year or cable TV in a year and it may well do more for them than any of those things.

Most people as in 95+ percent were never college athletes. In most every venture, the 5% who did something have useful information for the other 95%. It's not what impresses you that they are paying for, but what they see they lack will pay to learn.

Part of what the purchase may give them is a commitment to improve and some inspiration.

My best teachers were not Nobel Prize winners, or by any measure leaders in their field. They were the best people that I encountered when I needed to learn or be inspired. I surpassed some of them within a few years (depending on the subject) or some never, but their role was important and cherished.

The 100 best high school track and cross country coaches in the country are almost always not the fastest person those athletes can find, but but/he she is the best coach for them and superior to many other coaches.

Be more chill about letting people advance at their pace and don't see only the negative about the transactions, the customer, or the provider. You condemned a lot of people for no good reason. A lot of good can come from such transactions, even ones that are objectively sub -optimal.

Every world record holder had inferior coaches and teammates from a performance perspective. If the greatest get to the top that way, then the ordinary runner who wishes to improve can learn from someone inferior to the most talented person you could name, or who overly fussy you could be inspired by.

Sometimes, the piano player at the local coffeehouse sounds really good to everyone who paid for admission and it does not have to be Stevie Wonder or Billy Joel, just someone good enough to provide what the customers need.

Step #1: Purchase Daniels Running Formula, Pfitzinger's Advanced Marathoning, Hanson's Marathon Method, Higdon's Marathon: The Ultimate Training Guide, and maybe a couple others.

Step #2: Read them.

Step #3: Adapt their training to fit your life/work schedule

Step #4: Use all the extra money you saved to pay for your hotel/flight/registration to a WMM.

Step #5: Run your PR

You're a dumb ass. Paying for a training programme is for suckers when the info is available for free online.

Welcome to the internet economy, the new playground of grifters.

Where's this 3:55?

All I see are 2021 Philadelphia 3:08:58, 2022 Austin 3:05:27, and Tunnel 2:57:24.

So basically he has barely improved at all since the free fall on the Tunnel course probably gave him at least 5 minutes.

I never paid a $1 for a training program let alone $1000 (I am reluctant to spend generally), but I have bought some books over the years. I just don't think the people who do it differently are necessarily fools or victims. I obviously never bought or reviewed any Matt Choi program, so I am not solely talking about him or his customers, just the general idea that people can advance themselves in ways differently than you do and the difference is not necessarily proof that your way is better.

Part of 2022 "reasoning" appears to be that stating one's conclusions more harshly is evidence of a better argument or a stronger conclusion. No, but it is a good indicator of that behavior, nothing more so far as I can tell.

Monmouth in New Jersey? They have a pretty good program for a small school. Anyway, if you give money to an influencer, you’re too dumb to be allowed to have money 💰

Seems as though people who distinguish among "influencers," however you may define that, could have an advantage over you in the short term and the long term, by picking and choosing wisely among them for information and motivation, all of which you apparently reject with one characterization of "influencer."

As far as money, I've never had a lot, but enough not to be in actual need and enough not to need to be jealous of those who have more. I have seen many ways for people to get money and whether honest, dishonest, or lucky, they usually smartly executed a strategy to acquire it. It's almost never accidental, but the result of something they did and evidence of a skill that most of us without that money have less of, as well as less money. I never presume people who accomplished something that I did not are dumb, even though they may act that way for strategic reasons, or to fit in with others generally. I do make the assumption that those who see one possibility where there are many, leave actual and metaphorical "money on the table," every time they see their one way and one way only perspective as the only smart one. One principle, however good sounding, or correct sometimes, such as "nothing good ever happens after 2 a.m." might benefit from at least one other principle to achieve better results. Some great work and inventions were accomplished in the wee hours of the morning, for example.

Also, although I am against waste, if someone is really good at earning money, unwisely spending $1000 of it is not as dumb as earning less and critiquing those who have a better balance of income and expenses than their critics might.

Finally, the Matt Choi guy might be actually bad. I don't know, but if he is, then it's easy to find someone better, but I would not assume that those who see the good in him are only foolish, if he advances their fitness and training significantly.

$1000 is straight stealing. Dude been running a couple years and he knows enough to write training plans and charge $1K?

I guess some have more money than sense.

Totally! Now, I'm going to go pick up some shoes for $250 that will marginally improve my time that nobody really gives a damn about anyway.

Who's really being influenced?

In general, I don't have an issue with someone being a running influencer, until they start spreading mis/disinformation.

I saw one of them going through their favorite every day running shoes, and they were all $200+ carbon plated racers. The same person was saying you need to extensively fuel before almost every single run. And of course they're selling training programs.

If someone wants to make a fool out of themselves, be my guest. But when they start ushering beginners down the wrong, pricey path, that's when I get upset.

I’m so glad someone else has seen this crap. This guy is all over my Instagram feed and I absolutely despise it. Every day is a reminder that he ran a sub 3 marathon even though that was at the tunnel on a ridiculous course.

look at his profile and see how many videos this guy posts of himself eating food. Seriously, it is so weird, the guy is a straight narcissist through and through. His video from New York running around and screaming in front of people is insane. Running influencers need to be stopped