Hey Running Times...

Anyone else see it?

Is it at the Barnes and Noble yet?

I got it in the mail Tuesday.

Pisses me off. I still haven't got my copy...

cool cover but better article on fam. really good.

This is the issue in which it is announced Pfitz's column is no more. I like the new guy's piece, but losing Pfitz after an 11-year run is quite a blow. I wonder if his departure had anything to do with the sale of the mag to Rodale. The publisher left too.

Yeah, but ... wrote:

This is the issue in which it is announced Pfitz's column is no more. I like the new guy's piece, but losing Pfitz after an 11-year run is quite a blow. I wonder if his departure had anything to do with the sale of the mag to Rodale. The publisher left too.

Pfitzy has taken increased duties in helping NZ athletics gear up for Beijing, and felt he simply had too much on his plate to continue doing the column at the standard he'd established. Big shoes to fill, to be sure, but we hope Greg will be a good replacement.

When a magazine is sold, it is common for the business mgmt. side to be replaced (and often edit, but not in this case). Hence the change in publisher.

The departure of the publisher is no loss

Preach it, brother!

Surely Pfitz has been a busy man through much of his tenure as a columnist. I still suspect there's more to it than has been stated. But thanks, JimG, for sharing almost word for word the sanitized explanation that appeared in the editor's column.

RT said next to nothing about the magazine's sale. How come?

Noz4nuz wrote:

RT said next to nothing about the magazine's sale. How come?

Because everyone had heard everything about the sale already via LetsRun.

Seriously, it was pretty much old news by the time the issue came out, and had been reported on in all the mainstream press.

As to Pfitzy, I think there was also a bit of burnout after 11 years - not in his enthusiasm for what he does, coaching and writing, but more that there is a finite number of topics to be covered. He may have felt he'd written all that could be said, and didn't want to start repeating himself.

JimG wrote:

As to Pfitzy, I think there was also a bit of burnout after 11 years - not in his enthusiasm for what he does, coaching and writing, but more that there is a finite number of topics to be covered. He may have felt he'd written all that could be said, and didn't want to start repeating himself.

This is true of all running topics, yet RT and RW keep pushing out the verbiage month after month.

Go to the mirror, boy!

Noz4nuz wrote:

RT said next to nothing about the magazine's sale. How come?

Wasn't it the subject of the editor's note in one of the last two issues?

Maybe, but calling the sale "old news" sounds like a cop-out and a capitulation to your new owners. How a publication covers itself, or doesn't, is always very telling. If you had taken a full disclosure approach, rather than assuming everyone knew about the sale, you would have shored up a lot more confidence amongst readers who feared your independence would be compromised. Instead, your silence and now the loss of Pfitz make it look like RT's in trouble, whether it is or not.

I hate to say it -- because I'm a subscriber to RT and have little use for RW -- but I think we are witnessing a decline in the quality of RT. The current issue, with cover boy Fam, leaves me conflicted. I'll just have to take each issue as it come.

Noz4nuz wrote:

RT said next to nothing about the magazine's sale. How come?

Here's what was said in the June issue:

Since our last issue came out, we have been purchased by Rodale, Inc., the company that also owns Runner’s World magazine. Many have written with concern that we will be changing our focus and our tone. Rest assured that this is in no one’s plans or best interest. While Runner’s World has as its mission to speak to all who run, our content will continue to be on and for dedicated runners. Our editors and writers are all still here, and we will continue to celebrate the challenge and the difficulty and the excellence of our sport, with the resources and experience of Rodale behind us.

Our "writers are all still here."

Me thinks they spoke too soon.

Fatigued wrote:

Here's what was said in the June issue:

Since our last issue came out, we have been purchased by Rodale, Inc., the company that also owns Runner’s World magazine. Many have written with concern that we will be changing our focus and our tone. Rest assured that this is in no one’s plans or best interest. While Runner’s World has as its mission to speak to all who run, our content will continue to be on and for dedicated runners. Our editors and writers are all still here, ...

...except Pfitz.

Do not trust those Runner's World scumbags for a second. They bought out 'The Runner' in the 1980s and promised to integrate the style and substance of that magazine into Runners World. That effort lasted maybe 6 months if that. I cancelled after the subscription ran out and rarely look at their magazine.