Does Running Have a Content Problem?

Sometimes, I think we’re so focused on how we present our running journey that we forget to actually be present.

At the Boston Marathon this year, I had a front row seat to five-plus hours of runners crossing that iconic finish line. Runners raised their hands to the sky, they cried, hugged, staggered, vomited, they fell to their knees—but, more than anything, they raised an arm in that familiar 0.5-selfie mode angle to document every second of the end of their race. I’m not going to lie, it kind of gave me the ick. 

It was a perfect example of something that’s been bothering me lately in the running space. Sometimes, I think we’re so focused on how we present our running journey that we forget to actually be present.

This isn’t about elite sport coverage, where we need more—and better—content. A few months ago, I wrote about how pro athletes need to be more than just athletic; they need to be storytellers invested in documenting and sharing their own journey. The connection with fans can drive growth of the sport in a really genuine way, and we’ll get to see how that might pay off this summer track and field gets the Drive to Survive treatment via a new Netflix documentary series.

It’s about how we’ve all designated ourselves the stars of our own social media shows, and whether we’re too focused on the content we’re creating that we’re losing sight of the bigger picture. Movement is supposed to be joyful. It’s something you do for yourself. But in a sport that’s inherently numbers-based and a social media landscape that rewards high view counts, likes, and other metrics of engagement, it’s hard not to compare yourself to others and to separate your experience from those external motivators. I think there are a lot of runners out there who could benefit from some real introspection as to why they feel the need to post everything, and do it immediately.

Look, you can do whatever you want in your own time. But I worry about when content creating in public starts to infringe on other runners’ experiences. The last few races I’ve run, it seems like more and more people are more focused on turning the race environment into their own stage than actually running the race. There’s a sense of entitlement behind this kind of behavior—the ‘I want to film here and everyone else must accommodate that’ mindset. (And that’s exacerbated by certain influences who have whole camera crews, including bikers, join them on race courses while flouting the rules.) Someone on Threads likened it to people “listening to videos without headphones and having conversations on speakerphone in public bathrooms.” Is it hurting anyone? Probably not. But is it annoying and distracting? Yep. 

Because there’s a mental component to this, too. While I was talking to friends about their spring marathon experiences, multiple people mentioned feeling like they had to get their post-race recap up on social media immediately and had to spin their race experience in a certain way that would a) come off as inspiring and b) help them reframe how it went. I’m not judging, I’ve done it, too! I know I’ve felt the pressure to paint my race experience in a more positive light when it didn’t go the way I wanted, because saying “shit happened and I had a bad day” doesn’t exactly come off as inspiring. 

It all comes back to how we talk when we talk about running. Social media has created this pressure to perform in all aspects of life—and running is no exception. There was a survey done back in 2018 by the Pew Research Center that found that 43 percent of teens felt pressure to only post content that made them look good to others, and 37 percent felt pressure to post content that will get a lot of likes and comments. I don’t think that mindset is limited to teens, and I think, if anything, it’s gotten worse in the past five years.

That’s the whole reason I kept the fact that I was running the St. George Marathon to myself before race day last year. I realized that every time I participated in a major marathon weekend, I had a hard time separating the image I felt I was supposed to present on social media from my actual goals for the race. So I removed the self-imposed stress of the former so I could focus on the latter—and I PRed as a result. And you know what? I still got plenty of content out of that race, even though I kept my phone in my sports bra pocket the entire time. 

There’s a lot of content coming out of the running community that I really love. “Influencing” is a type of storytelling, and storytelling is how the community grows. The more storytellers a community has, the more likely it is that new and different voices can be elevated. But sometimes I feel like we’re in an echo chamber, with a certain type of influencer drowning out the really compelling stories and fact-based, scientific information. “…There is a whole group of people who essentially trade in the same ideas, inflating their reach,” I read in a recent Growth Equation newsletter. “And because they tend to be simple solutions to huge issues, the reach is significant. These people are world-class at marketing but they don't know much about what they are talking about, which creates a real disaster.”

If everyone’s a content creator, it becomes the content consumer’s job to separate the quality content from the noise. And as someone who came to content creating or influencing or whatever you want to call storytelling on multiple platforms from a journalistic background, I do think it’s the creator’s job to be careful about what they’re promoting (cough, don’t document yourself banditing a race and expect kudos), vet the information they’re sharing (with scientific backup whenever possible, not just anecdotal experiences),  and keep their “highlight reel” as real as possible. When they do that, everyone wins.

the rundown

Rabbit Dream Chaser
Apparel brands have been branching into running footwear over the past year or so, to mixed results (Tracksmith: yay, Lululemon, nay). Rabbit recently launched the Dream Chaser, and so far I feel meh. It’s designed to be an everyday trainer, and—as you might expect from Rabbit—it’s super soft and super comfortable. The marshmallow heel has the kind of squish I dream of from running shoes, but I’m very confused by the two carbon fiber strips on the medial and lateral sides of the midfoot. They’re meant to provide stability and energy return, but having them on the outsole meant they got dinged up almost immediately on my first run, and I would be very nervous to run in these on any uneven terrain (even a gravel path). 

The New Quarter-Life Crisis, The Atlantic 
It only took two paragraphs for this Atlantic article to reference the onslaught of marathon training content on social media as a catalyst for the surging percentages of runners in their 20s completing 26.2 miles. What’s more relatable, though, is the discussion around how running promises a sense of control that 20-somethings may be lacking elsewhere in their life. The idea is that a marathon is a reachable milestone, especially when others—job security, buying a home, finding a partner—feel out of reach. (The article also talks about people using running as a coping mechanism, and fortunately highlights the negatives of that kind of focus). But, overall, the takeaway is about how marathoning can make the impossible feel possible, and I can definitely relate to that.

COROS Vertix 2S
At the end of last month, COROS released a new version of their beefiest wrist-bound supercomputer last week. The Vertix 2S has an upgraded optical heart rate sensor—the same as you’ll find in the Pace 3 (my go-to watch) and APEX 2 Pro—as well as a new satellite chipset and redesigned antenna construction to improve GPS performance and accuracy. It’s also a tiny bit lighter and now comes with two bands, nylon and silicone, although it has lost just a bit of battery life—it offers 118 hours of continuous GPS with 40 days of daily use, down from 127 and 43 (likely due to the improved heart rate monitor, and a negligible difference IMO). Most runners won’t need this watch unless they tend to venture off the beaten path more often, but I really like the toned down planetary colors compared to my bright orange Vertix 2. 

BCAAs Reduce Muscle Soreness
I’m still feeling the effects of a gnarly trail climb from last week, so this news is extremely welcome. A new meta-analysis of 18 studies, published in Sports Medicine Open, concluded that BCAA supplementation reduced creatine kinase (CK) levels—which are associated with muscle pain—immediately after exercise-induced muscle damage, and significantly improved delayed onset of muscle soreness (DOMS) at 24, 48, 72, and 96 hours post-exercise (although not immediately). Longer supplementation periods (> 7 days) and higher daily doses of BCAAs (> 5g per serving) could be most effective in reducing CK and soreness, respectively. 

Track Is Back
Last week was a big one for the track and field community. Alexis Ohanian announced that he was partnering with two-time Olympic medalistGabby Thompson to launch The 776 Invitational, “a first-of-its-kind track event bringing the fastest women in the world together to compete for the largest purse *ever* for a female-only track event.” And Olympic champion Michael Johnson revealed he has secured more than $30M from investors and strategic partners to launch a track league next year. I was never a track girl, but I am here for this investment—and I’m very excited to see how both of these initiatives capitalize on the buzz that comes with an Olympic summer to convert those every-four-years fans into year-round supporters of the sport.