The Trials and Tribulations of Running YouTubers

I'm no Kofuz fan, but he did run 18:52 at the IPA 5k, who knows whether the distance was accurately measured though.

I'm not aware of him running any accurately measured shorter races. But recently the algorithm, maybe because I watched the Steeplechase highlights from the Trials, recommended a Kofuzi video from three years ago to me. In it, he goes to the Master's Championships and runs the 3k Steeple. His form wasn't all that bad over the hurdles, the water jumps are a disaster (as they are for most novice Master's steeplers). He ran a 12:54 and placed third in his age group. That converts to a 20:38 5k. Way, way better than Thomas!

Anywhere he's the video of Kofuzi running the 3k Steeple!

Especially funny since the shoe that “didn’t work” was the choice of Emily Sisson in her American record and she even opted for the original over V2 for the Olympic marathon trials.

This is my pet peeve with shoe tubers. Thomas when the SC Pacer comes out, "I do think it is a good shoe."

Thomas when the SC Pacer 2 comes out, "the original Pacer was I don't know, it was funky. It didn't all come together." I wonder if the New Balance-sponsored NYC Marathon bibs & travel factored into the first statement.

Obviously the world doesn't need another Youtuber, but...

I'd love to see a shoetuber run with a normal shoe rotation for a year and keep track of costs. Even if brands send them a shoe it still goes to the yearly total at the RRP. No more wearing supershoes on easy runs because you have 7 pairs in the "shoedio" or whatever you call your weird dark little dungeon. If you burn through that pair of Vaporflys on easy runs it goes onto the total for the year.

Lets see what $$$ they end the year on, because I bet they find that shoes that get rated really well by all these idiots dont last that long, which is something I'm growing increasingly tired of and which is being perpetuated by brands seeking a good review video after 50k of running. The rest of us mere-mortals (that beat all these clowns at races working actual jobs anyway) need to get 400 miles out of shoes, and don't expect to be paying $200+ for a shoe that goes half that distance.

SJD rolling in for second today at the Kendall Mountain Run.

Patrick Martin (a 2:24 Marathoner) ran 1737 miles in the Endorphin Speed 3:

Bowden charges £150 pcm which is about the most of any UK online coach, though I think she has only 2 or 3 years of coaching though unlike the snake oil POS's has years of experience in the sport. She started out at £125 then as soon as she did 2.29 gave herself a 20% performance related pay rise.

That's not very unreasonable given how much some coaches charge these days (or worst yet coaches that "upscale" and do "individual coaching" with like 100-150 athletes all at once but essentially use the same template/workout sequences and plans for basically all their athletes and still charge $150-$200/month). But some charge over $500/month easy. The demand is there.

Money and time considerations aside though it's about value, experience and what should be "best for the runner" for their money, time and effort. And the morals/ethics of the coach/business. But yeah, the "influencers" who just started running a few years ago and have barely broken 3 for the marathon usually are still caught up on the most simple concepts of "zone 2 training" and "doing some strength work and pylos" and looking for the latest fad in ketones/fuel/diet and new carbon superfoam shoe models or whatever.

As far as shoe reviews go....well I gotta laugh sometimes (and this is coming from someone who worked in speciality shops on the retail floor for 3 years fitting hundreds of runners of all levels in all brands). Obviously there is always bias when you are comped or sponsored for product by a brand. There is bias with your own running form and foot shape and style of running as well. A good shoe design for me is probably not going to be good for you necessarily!

With the content then: it all comes back to raw consumerism, raw marketing and the "in your face" aspect of social media and building hype/clickbait/ads. Sheer materialism (and yes I have made a living out of it as well....but I'm not going to hide that or try to glamorize it as some noble cause or message). We're all in "Sales" in some aspect of our lives....whether we like it or not! It's certainly not rocket science. And some of it could be harmful to humanity as a whole imo.

A lot of Running Youtubers seem to have quite a drastic switch in personality and attitude. As others have said, they start out just wanting to share their hobby and get the most out of themselves whilst providing some information to people with no massive expectations.

Then the free things start appearing and for many there's a clear shift of expectation. Expecting free running shoes. Expecting all races to go perfectly (and often hiding the ones that don't). Expecting never ending progression.

Ben Feltong posting "not my day" on every other race. FODRunner burying himself for 2 months and blaming an illness from 5 months ago because the progression has stopped. Matt Rees not posting content for months on end. It all gets a bit tedious and reveals the real personalities behind the scenes I imagine.

Thoughtful honest stuff Mr Canaday, I think you'd be interesting to talk to. Partly I think that the sort of person who gets into selling coaching with the primary goal of making as much money out of it as they possibly can, and adding on any feasible options to do so, is fundamentally not the right sort of person who should be coaching in the first place. Because that mindset is surely bound to not be optimal for the people they coach; the coach will inevitably be seeking shortcuts to maximise financial return. I would tend to use the word we don't use in polite company to describe these people.

A lot of those that pay for online coaching are probably aware of their coach's credentials but they lack guidance so they'll just call anyone that criticizes them haters and they'll have someone to latch onto. I don't pity any of them.

wow going back and watching these older videos is painful.

Ok, I see many of the same people brought up over and over, and while I do enjoy getting to follow along without having to watch these people's terrible videos, I'm curious on the board's opinion on a few people who frequently pop up for me.

The first is Ben Johnson on instagram. He's got 145k followers and I used to see him constantly, showing off race medals or posting before and after photos of his weight loss. I will say, he's a very solid runner by influencer/shoetuber standards as he has a 2:31 marathon and some 16 minute 5ks in his 30s so I don't want to hate on him. I would just get annoyed because I saw him on my explore page A LOT at one point and it was just the same thing over and over. He's also a Nike and Dicks Sporting Goods partner so looking at his page now, he has nothing but Nike gear. Also Parker Valby follows him, which must be cool!

Another is In The Long Run. I don't see this guy much on YouTube anymore but I watched a few of his videos about putting huge mileage on shoes and then his videos were in my feed for a period. He's a chiropractor, which makes me a little skeptical of what he says, but overall a solid runner with I think a sub 15 5k. He also ran at one point for the BTC sub elite group. I've just never seen much discussion about him.

I think you guys do a great job covering the biggest offenders in shoetubing but I'm curious about these guys just because at one point, I saw a lot of them but never heard much discussion on the boards.

New Seth vlog today. I would love for him to explain how punishing by his kids withholding for his failures to win a race, get an FKT or a PR helps build character. They have no input in his training or racing style.

*abandons kids and wife to run 100+ mile weeks and mountain races*

”Here’s why I really do it… for my boys. Love them. It’s all about family and love.”