Three categories of runner on letsrun

This post smell like hobbyjogger

I think you've just split the behaviours that people would typically put under the one umbrella of hobbyjogger into two parts; placing all of the good qualities into the rebranded "hobbyjogger" and all of the bad qualities into the new term "athlete wannabe".

In my experience, all the gear (hydration packs, super-shoes for jogging, etc) is quintessential to the hobbyjogger. They're also far more active on Strava, and definitely have egos (blasting off at the start of road races at paces that are 30/secs km+ faster than they can sustain).

I did say I’m my original post that I was a hobbyjogger and proud to be one…

There's a fourth category, ex runner/coach/spectator.

My own preference is to use the term hobbyjogger for those people who run for their health, both physical and mental, and who have no desire to enter a race, let alone pursue race times, placings, medals and PB’s.

The athlete wannabe however is consumed by all these things and constantly searches for that magic bullet approach or new training format that will get them to their goal ( which will then move again, because they are rarely satisfied) or next level. Hence the thousands of questions on here about training approaches and the booming market in running apparel, equipment and nutrition.

I think most people are somewhere in the middle between your characterisation of hobbyjogger and athlete wannabe. Im a hobbyjogger (got into running as an adult during COVID) and run 4x a week, but like to optimise training/gear/nutrition since I would like to do better.

Right now I run a 24 min 5k but I don’t tie my self worth to it and am happy posting my 7min/k easy “runs” on Strava. If I don’t ever break 20 I’ll be fine with it.

If you not within 1% of the WL you are a hobby jogger

Why do we have to label everything? Putting people in boxes just leads to bickering (see "left", "right" politics for the best example). People are messy. And different. And there are lots of grey areas and lots of nuances. Just live and let live ffs.

I would say that hobbyjogger is one of the categories of runner on here…and in my opinion there is nothing wrong with it. I regard myself as one.
A hobbyjogger runs for the love of it. They probably run for the peace and mental health benefits, as well as the physical. They enjoy the process far more than the results. Any results are largely side effects of what they are doing. Goals are not set and are more abstract than concrete.

That's interesting. The HJ's I've come in contact with are often attention whores. They will do anything to get noticed (except train and race hard). Run with a weighted vest, do an ultra on 15-20 mpw.

Most of them are very kind and caring people but are really in it for the health benefits and the craft beer that they can feel good about drinking because they run a few times a week at a fast walking pace.

Agree. I fit in the “group” of dedicated “hobbyjoggers” with a Half-century of running, racing, coaching who follow reasonable levels of mileage (50-100) mpw, diet, road and some track workouts, weekly club runs, and all mainly for actual friendly competition, personal goals, and fun. I do not blast off at the start and then crap out (well, there was that onetime at the Double Bay to B!) nor do I feel any of my racing or training was an exercise in futility. No envy or resentment toward you superior runners: maybe a little envy…I T’s a great obsession and I’ve loved it. Categories and dogmas are setups for unnecessary squabbles .

It doesn’t matter how fast your 5K 10K, or marathon time is, if running, isn’t your primary source of income, you’re a hobbyist. Sorry.

99% of posters here are Hobbyists myself included.

True. That term”hobby” is the unfortunate diminutive that, like so many others, unfairly reduces the value of someone or something. Labels are for witless debaters.

As an ex runner/coach I think it is important to differentiate two types of people with running "hobbies. First you have the people back in my day were known as "weekend warriors". What I think most people are calling a "hobby jogger"... is different than people who train to be competitive at a certain level (that is not elite). And while this is somewhat of a continuum, I think most true "hobby joggers" would not be terribly interested in bothering with this board.

You seem to be implying that amature/recreational runners having goals to improve is somehow a negative thing. For that, I find myself disagreeing with your point of view.

There is a very large "Used to run" contingent on here. The previous runners come from all 3 of your groups. Being here satisfies some sort of nostalgic desire.

It’s actually more honorable as the recreational athlete is doing it for the thing in itself as opposed to those trying to make money via competition or coaching.

If I set goals and have a schedule, I am more likely to remain committed to something. This is true even of things I truly enjoy. In fact, I especially try to have some kind of goal for things I greatly enjoy. That includes even vaguely the amount of time I spend: (a) out in nature each week, (b) running, (c) reading. Goal-setting in that way is less concrete, I'll grant you, but I set goals. And time goals make me more likely to run consistently; consistency in running makes me happier. That's a more concrete goal. The effect is pretty far from turning that into something onerous or of being focused on results at the expense of the process.

Thank you so much for starting a thread trying to define who is and isn't a hobby jogger. I don't believe we've ever had one on letsrun before, and it was just what we were needing.