I still have more respect for a guy running 18 minutes as a goof than I do for a guy that threw away family, career, personal relationships, and growth to perpetually run 18 minutes at his local Turkey Trot.
He’s ran like three races since this and already back down to a 16 low. He’s been out at small races and park runs every weekend racing himself into shape.
Wouldn’t say I’m a fan but this is actually some of the most fun content he’s had in a while. Just out having fun and running. Not taking things too seriously.
Wouldn’t say I’m a fan but this is actually some of the most fun content he’s had in a while. Just out having fun and running. Not taking things too seriously.
Well, as he said in an earlier video, he is done with competing at a high level. He has now just joined the ranks of all of us who are now "hobby joggers". At least he is having fun with what he is doing.
I don't understand TAS haters. Let's say he pops off and runs 3:55 shattering his mile pr... that is no where near world class, but will qualify you to be a poorly compensated low-level pro whose biggest incentive should probably be getting to brag to your grandkids about how fast ol' granpappy used to be. How many pro runners will never achieve anywhere near their dreams and will remain in almost total obscurity outside of a boomer running board? No one cares unless you are one of the best. TAS KNOWS he will never be a world champ much less an American champ. It is mental illness to feel compelled to chase arbitrary times to the detriment of your fiscal, mental, and physical health when you almost certain you will get nothing out of it. Isn't running sub 4 more than enough bragging rights?
Now, TAS videos are showcasing the King county running community, promoting park runs, and highlighting the simple joy of getting faster and meeting new people. TAS videos have had the futility and stress of pro running looming in the background ever since he joined Brooks and it has been hard to watch. Now he finally seems to have let that go and is just trying improve to see how much he can improve without any pointless expectations or lofty goals that no one really gives a hoot about anyway. Fostering the running community and promoting what makes running worth it in the first place is by far the best content he has made in a long time and it has been great to see. Kids dreaming of being a world champion is 99.9999999% disappointment. The dream of being the local run legend will be WAY more enjoyable in the long run. Isn't that the point?
I don't understand TAS haters. Let's say he pops off and runs 3:55 shattering his mile pr... that is no where near world class, but will qualify you to be a poorly compensated low-level pro whose biggest incentive should probably be getting to brag to your grandkids about how fast ol' granpappy used to be. How many pro runners will never achieve anywhere near their dreams and will remain in almost total obscurity outside of a boomer running board? No one cares unless you are one of the best. TAS KNOWS he will never be a world champ much less an American champ. It is mental illness to feel compelled to chase arbitrary times to the detriment of your fiscal, mental, and physical health when you almost certain you will get nothing out of it. Isn't running sub 4 more than enough bragging rights?
Now, TAS videos are showcasing the King county running community, promoting park runs, and highlighting the simple joy of getting faster and meeting new people. TAS videos have had the futility and stress of pro running looming in the background ever since he joined Brooks and it has been hard to watch. Now he finally seems to have let that go and is just trying improve to see how much he can improve without any pointless expectations or lofty goals that no one really gives a hoot about anyway. Fostering the running community and promoting what makes running worth it in the first place is by far the best content he has made in a long time and it has been great to see. Kids dreaming of being a world champion is 99.9999999% disappointment. The dream of being the local run legend will be WAY more enjoyable in the long run. Isn't that the point?
I simply just think he's gone the "Influencer route". Which honestly....who can blame him?
There was a recent article talking about Allie O as an "influencer" too (despite the fact that is also a pretty fast "sponsored pro" who just made a US World team in xc).
The line between "pro sponsored athlete and influencer" in my mind is a lot of gray area these days and it's blurry. Generally influencers aren't elite level fast though (more like the 2:30-3:30 marathon types).
Influencers in the running space are all about "the vibes" and "having fun" and connecting to the community in a more relatable way (compared to a super fast and super serious sponsored pro). You go for clickbait thumbnails and titles (i.e. "what will i run for 5km off of Zero Training?!") or ("I tried to run a marathon barefoot and this happened!") or you go for product reviews of the latest and greatest shoes and "capturing experiences/travel/food" with your content themes.
Honestly some of the deals influencers get (just based on social media followings and online engagement) are probably a lot more lucrative than that of many pro sponsored athletes who might be tied/loyal to a single sponsor/brand and can't post content all the time.
I don't understand TAS haters. Let's say he pops off and runs 3:55 shattering his mile pr... that is no where near world class, but will qualify you to be a poorly compensated low-level pro whose biggest incentive should probably be getting to brag to your grandkids about how fast ol' granpappy used to be. How many pro runners will never achieve anywhere near their dreams and will remain in almost total obscurity outside of a boomer running board? No one cares unless you are one of the best. TAS KNOWS he will never be a world champ much less an American champ. It is mental illness to feel compelled to chase arbitrary times to the detriment of your fiscal, mental, and physical health when you almost certain you will get nothing out of it. Isn't running sub 4 more than enough bragging rights?
Now, TAS videos are showcasing the King county running community, promoting park runs, and highlighting the simple joy of getting faster and meeting new people. TAS videos have had the futility and stress of pro running looming in the background ever since he joined Brooks and it has been hard to watch. Now he finally seems to have let that go and is just trying improve to see how much he can improve without any pointless expectations or lofty goals that no one really gives a hoot about anyway. Fostering the running community and promoting what makes running worth it in the first place is by far the best content he has made in a long time and it has been great to see. Kids dreaming of being a world champion is 99.9999999% disappointment. The dream of being the local run legend will be WAY more enjoyable in the long run. Isn't that the point?
I don't understand TAS haters. Let's say he pops off and runs 3:55 shattering his mile pr... that is no where near world class, but will qualify you to be a poorly compensated low-level pro whose biggest incentive should probably be getting to brag to your grandkids about how fast ol' granpappy used to be. How many pro runners will never achieve anywhere near their dreams and will remain in almost total obscurity outside of a boomer running board? No one cares unless you are one of the best. TAS KNOWS he will never be a world champ much less an American champ. It is mental illness to feel compelled to chase arbitrary times to the detriment of your fiscal, mental, and physical health when you almost certain you will get nothing out of it. Isn't running sub 4 more than enough bragging rights?
Now, TAS videos are showcasing the King county running community, promoting park runs, and highlighting the simple joy of getting faster and meeting new people. TAS videos have had the futility and stress of pro running looming in the background ever since he joined Brooks and it has been hard to watch. Now he finally seems to have let that go and is just trying improve to see how much he can improve without any pointless expectations or lofty goals that no one really gives a hoot about anyway. Fostering the running community and promoting what makes running worth it in the first place is by far the best content he has made in a long time and it has been great to see. Kids dreaming of being a world champion is 99.9999999% disappointment. The dream of being the local run legend will be WAY more enjoyable in the long run. Isn't that the point?
I wouldn't call myself a hater but I was someone who regularly watched Spencer's content over the years and then unsubscribed a little while ago and have stopped watching. The reason I unsubscribed is because Spencer continued to claim he was training to get back into PR shape but had dropped his dad's coaching and gone with training under Ari and doing "threshold training" that read like they had heard someone describe Jakob's training across a bar from them.
I still rooted for Spencer but the results were getting pretty predictable that he'd float around in the 1:54-1:52 range or 4:10- 4:05 mile. Then he got injured and it was just over for me following him beyond checking that massive thread on here every now and then to see if something interesting happens.
I think the "hate" (I'd call it more disappointment than anything) comes from Spencer not making the most of his running abilities and opportunities he had after college. In the other thread I compared his journey to Adam Fogg and Callum of The Distance Project. Fogg and Callum both made the GB team and if you followed their channels for a while, you saw them come up and struggle to make that indoor team. That's such a cool journey to follow and you can respect the sacrifice they put in to make that happen. Spencer wasn't making a US team but he had a pretty clear goal to make the US trials this year and it would've been a cool moment to end the channel on. But, once he got out of Georgetown he just never captured the magic or desire again. He never "trusted the process" but would often talk the talk on his videos.
Now, Spencer can do whatever he wants with his channel but the guys who subscribed when he was in Georgetown and were following his journey in competitive athletics are gone. Totally cool if he wants to become a more casual running influencer but part of me feels he'll try to make a comeback because, in his heart, he knows he wants to be a serious runner.
Six World Championship qualifiers. Four national titles. 1 world champion. In 2024, the Brooks Beasts Track Club is after more. CITIUS MAG and Brooks Running...
I don't understand TAS haters. Let's say he pops off and runs 3:55 shattering his mile pr... that is no where near world class, but will qualify you to be a poorly compensated low-level pro whose biggest incentive should probably be getting to brag to your grandkids about how fast ol' granpappy used to be. How many pro runners will never achieve anywhere near their dreams and will remain in almost total obscurity outside of a boomer running board? No one cares unless you are one of the best. TAS KNOWS he will never be a world champ much less an American champ. It is mental illness to feel compelled to chase arbitrary times to the detriment of your fiscal, mental, and physical health when you almost certain you will get nothing out of it. Isn't running sub 4 more than enough bragging rights?
Now, TAS videos are showcasing the King county running community, promoting park runs, and highlighting the simple joy of getting faster and meeting new people. TAS videos have had the futility and stress of pro running looming in the background ever since he joined Brooks and it has been hard to watch. Now he finally seems to have let that go and is just trying improve to see how much he can improve without any pointless expectations or lofty goals that no one really gives a hoot about anyway. Fostering the running community and promoting what makes running worth it in the first place is by far the best content he has made in a long time and it has been great to see. Kids dreaming of being a world champion is 99.9999999% disappointment. The dream of being the local run legend will be WAY more enjoyable in the long run. Isn't that the point?
I simply just think he's gone the "Influencer route". Which honestly....who can blame him?
There was a recent article talking about Allie O as an "influencer" too (despite the fact that is also a pretty fast "sponsored pro" who just made a US World team in xc).
The line between "pro sponsored athlete and influencer" in my mind is a lot of gray area these days and it's blurry. Generally influencers aren't elite level fast though (more like the 2:30-3:30 marathon types).
Influencers in the running space are all about "the vibes" and "having fun" and connecting to the community in a more relatable way (compared to a super fast and super serious sponsored pro). You go for clickbait thumbnails and titles (i.e. "what will i run for 5km off of Zero Training?!") or ("I tried to run a marathon barefoot and this happened!") or you go for product reviews of the latest and greatest shoes and "capturing experiences/travel/food" with your content themes.
Honestly some of the deals influencers get (just based on social media followings and online engagement) are probably a lot more lucrative than that of many pro sponsored athletes who might be tied/loyal to a single sponsor/brand and can't post content all the time.
You can't even do simple math and have zero credibility. How much is Spring paying you? What are you? You're not even an influencer, just a pathetic shill who will say anything to keep getting paid and avoid real work in his life. Spencer is a better runner and a better YouTuber than you are - go sell out someplace else.
I simply just think he's gone the "Influencer route". Which honestly....who can blame him?
There was a recent article talking about Allie O as an "influencer" too (despite the fact that is also a pretty fast "sponsored pro" who just made a US World team in xc).
He went the influencer route because he wasn’t talented enough to be elite and barely talented enough to be semi elite. The kid clearly dreamed of turning pro for years. It never really happened.
I simply just think he's gone the "Influencer route". Which honestly....who can blame him?
There was a recent article talking about Allie O as an "influencer" too (despite the fact that is also a pretty fast "sponsored pro" who just made a US World team in xc).
The line between "pro sponsored athlete and influencer" in my mind is a lot of gray area these days and it's blurry. Generally influencers aren't elite level fast though (more like the 2:30-3:30 marathon types).
Influencers in the running space are all about "the vibes" and "having fun" and connecting to the community in a more relatable way (compared to a super fast and super serious sponsored pro). You go for clickbait thumbnails and titles (i.e. "what will i run for 5km off of Zero Training?!") or ("I tried to run a marathon barefoot and this happened!") or you go for product reviews of the latest and greatest shoes and "capturing experiences/travel/food" with your content themes.
Honestly some of the deals influencers get (just based on social media followings and online engagement) are probably a lot more lucrative than that of many pro sponsored athletes who might be tied/loyal to a single sponsor/brand and can't post content all the time.
You can't even do simple math and have zero credibility. How much is Spring paying you? What are you? You're not even an influencer, just a pathetic shill who will say anything to keep getting paid and avoid real work in his life. Spencer is a better runner and a better YouTuber than you are - go sell out someplace else.
I don't understand TAS haters. Let's say he pops off and runs 3:55 shattering his mile pr... that is no where near world class, but will qualify you to be a poorly compensated low-level pro whose biggest incentive should probably be getting to brag to your grandkids about how fast ol' granpappy used to be. How many pro runners will never achieve anywhere near their dreams and will remain in almost total obscurity outside of a boomer running board? No one cares unless you are one of the best. TAS KNOWS he will never be a world champ much less an American champ. It is mental illness to feel compelled to chase arbitrary times to the detriment of your fiscal, mental, and physical health when you almost certain you will get nothing out of it. Isn't running sub 4 more than enough bragging rights?
Now, TAS videos are showcasing the King county running community, promoting park runs, and highlighting the simple joy of getting faster and meeting new people. TAS videos have had the futility and stress of pro running looming in the background ever since he joined Brooks and it has been hard to watch. Now he finally seems to have let that go and is just trying improve to see how much he can improve without any pointless expectations or lofty goals that no one really gives a hoot about anyway. Fostering the running community and promoting what makes running worth it in the first place is by far the best content he has made in a long time and it has been great to see. Kids dreaming of being a world champion is 99.9999999% disappointment. The dream of being the local run legend will be WAY more enjoyable in the long run. Isn't that the point?
I simply just think he's gone the "Influencer route". Which honestly....who can blame him?
There was a recent article talking about Allie O as an "influencer" too (despite the fact that is also a pretty fast "sponsored pro" who just made a US World team in xc).
The line between "pro sponsored athlete and influencer" in my mind is a lot of gray area these days and it's blurry. Generally influencers aren't elite level fast though (more like the 2:30-3:30 marathon types).
Influencers in the running space are all about "the vibes" and "having fun" and connecting to the community in a more relatable way (compared to a super fast and super serious sponsored pro). You go for clickbait thumbnails and titles (i.e. "what will i run for 5km off of Zero Training?!") or ("I tried to run a marathon barefoot and this happened!") or you go for product reviews of the latest and greatest shoes and "capturing experiences/travel/food" with your content themes.
Honestly some of the deals influencers get (just based on social media followings and online engagement) are probably a lot more lucrative than that of many pro sponsored athletes who might be tied/loyal to a single sponsor/brand and can't post content all the time.
That is an excellent point. I don't know of any non-runners who watch a single race online or on tv outside of the Olympics, so if you want a broader audience you are going to need something more interesting than just running fast most of the time. Even Hayward field seems to be experimenting with having a disco alongside the races to make things a little more interesting (though that seemed more for the in-person crowd).
I think a comparable sport would be something like chess. Most folks can barely play the game, but when there is a fun narrative like Fischer Vs USSR or anal bead cheating allegations then there is massive increase in follows and views. The Ingebritsen-Kerr drama seems like a good (cheesy) example of that in the running world. Neither sport is very appealing without a juicy narrative that makes people interested in the outcome. With that being said, I think TAS' recent content has greater potential to get people out to a park run which is just fine in my book. Better than farming drama content at least. I suspect you have inspired quite a few folks to get off the couch and onto the trails as well!
I don't understand TAS haters. Let's say he pops off and runs 3:55 shattering his mile pr... that is no where near world class, but will qualify you to be a poorly compensated low-level pro whose biggest incentive should probably be getting to brag to your grandkids about how fast ol' granpappy used to be. How many pro runners will never achieve anywhere near their dreams and will remain in almost total obscurity outside of a boomer running board? No one cares unless you are one of the best. TAS KNOWS he will never be a world champ much less an American champ. It is mental illness to feel compelled to chase arbitrary times to the detriment of your fiscal, mental, and physical health when you almost certain you will get nothing out of it. Isn't running sub 4 more than enough bragging rights?
Now, TAS videos are showcasing the King county running community, promoting park runs, and highlighting the simple joy of getting faster and meeting new people. TAS videos have had the futility and stress of pro running looming in the background ever since he joined Brooks and it has been hard to watch. Now he finally seems to have let that go and is just trying improve to see how much he can improve without any pointless expectations or lofty goals that no one really gives a hoot about anyway. Fostering the running community and promoting what makes running worth it in the first place is by far the best content he has made in a long time and it has been great to see. Kids dreaming of being a world champion is 99.9999999% disappointment. The dream of being the local run legend will be WAY more enjoyable in the long run. Isn't that the point?
I wouldn't call myself a hater but I was someone who regularly watched Spencer's content over the years and then unsubscribed a little while ago and have stopped watching. The reason I unsubscribed is because Spencer continued to claim he was training to get back into PR shape but had dropped his dad's coaching and gone with training under Ari and doing "threshold training" that read like they had heard someone describe Jakob's training across a bar from them.
I still rooted for Spencer but the results were getting pretty predictable that he'd float around in the 1:54-1:52 range or 4:10- 4:05 mile. Then he got injured and it was just over for me following him beyond checking that massive thread on here every now and then to see if something interesting happens.
I think the "hate" (I'd call it more disappointment than anything) comes from Spencer not making the most of his running abilities and opportunities he had after college. In the other thread I compared his journey to Adam Fogg and Callum of The Distance Project. Fogg and Callum both made the GB team and if you followed their channels for a while, you saw them come up and struggle to make that indoor team. That's such a cool journey to follow and you can respect the sacrifice they put in to make that happen. Spencer wasn't making a US team but he had a pretty clear goal to make the US trials this year and it would've been a cool moment to end the channel on. But, once he got out of Georgetown he just never captured the magic or desire again. He never "trusted the process" but would often talk the talk on his videos.
Now, Spencer can do whatever he wants with his channel but the guys who subscribed when he was in Georgetown and were following his journey in competitive athletics are gone. Totally cool if he wants to become a more casual running influencer but part of me feels he'll try to make a comeback because, in his heart, he knows he wants to be a serious runner.
Totally fair point. That was the time period I found hard to watch. I imagine his girlfriend being a highly motivated professional runner with her own struggles makes it that much harder to let go. He probably hasn't fully, and if he can back into decent shape I think there is a good chance he may start to believe he can make it again. It's a brutal cycle. He has dug his own grave many times with lofty goals and giving up early on when things don't look to be going well. Rather then getting some sustained momentum he sandbags for months and then has to start over. It's hard to watch. I hope his attitude this time keeps him from giving up so he doesn't throw away months at a time due to being discouraged from disappointing himself and his fans. Big goals may get clicks, but if you don't even get close you are going to lose more folks than you gained. He's gotta be more realistic and deliberate with his goals if he's going to be competitive again.
He was just in a few clips of them running an indoor workout at the UW. Was that back in December? I don't think that he is back with the Brooks Beasts team.