lauraestewart

I love reading about people’s running journeys. Whether they’re training for a marathon, plodding along country trails, or competing for first in their age group in club championships. Give me all the running stories and I’m a happy commuter on my morning bus.

That said I see a huge difference in the running blogs/twitter accounts I read and the ones that are in mainstream press. I’m mostly talking about the running magazines, marathon sponsored “bloggers”, and sponsored training programs here. I have been seeing the same type of runners featured again and again. I’m no PR or communications manager, but I know what I like to read about and what captures my attention so here’s what I want to see more of when you’re picking bloggers:

What I want to see more of:

Creative types. Running is full of athletic inclined people. I love it when people from the creative community get into running and bring a whole new approach to the same step-step-step-stepx26.2 miles thing. I follow a load of runners in Run Dem Crew for this exact reason. They’re running, creating, and inspiring.
Youth. Where are all the 18-24 year olds! Get running and get sharing. I’d love to hear how you run and balance the epic 22-year old nights out.
Honest writers. I want over-sharers who will tell me everything about their run. I want the stats, I want the gear, I want the bowel movements, and I want to know what you really think about each run.
Committed writers. Remember how the London Marathon recruited some bloggers to blog about their journey to the marathon? Oh yeah, probably not because they’ve disappeared from the online running community since it launched. It’s easy to start a blog, but work to keep it up. If you’re committed to sharing your journey it makes for a better read for everyone.
Fast & Far people. I know I said above that I’ve heard enough from the athlete-types, but that’s a bit of a lie. I love reading about those who go faster and further than I can even dream possible. Sometimes I am so inspired by them I start to think that 6:30 miles over a marathon is possible… and then set out on my max 9:00 mile pace. Recently I’ve been swept into some ultra running blogs and the way they write about running 50-100 miles make it sound like such a lovely experience I *almost* think it’s a great way to spend a Sunday.
Risk takers. Everyone knows that feeling of setting a high goal and the sheer panic of trying to achieve it. I want to read about you and yours!

I also have a list of those who I am bored of, but at the risk of offending everyone I’ve decided to leave this as a positives-only list. Please please please publishing world can we hear more about these people and their running adventures?