By Susan Rinkunas
Its time to out myself: I am the person behind RWs tweets and Facebook posts. But not for much longer. Im leaving the best running magazine on the planet for the best womens magazine on the planet (Womens Health, published by RWs parent company Rodale), but before I go, Im passing on some tibdits Ive learned from managing RWs social media pages for the last 18+ months. Without further ado, I hereby present 6 Things I Learned About Runners as RWs Social Media Editor:
Runners are nice to each other. Cliche but true: Runners support other runners who are total strangers. Even a simple comment like Thats awesome Brian! on a post about running with asthma warms my heart. Elites like marathon world record-holder Paula Radcliffe offer encouragement, too. And when the errant jerk does say something mean to someone, others swiftly jump in to defend that person. I dont want to point out the meanies, but trust me when I say that Ive seen this more times than I can count.
Runners love a good comeback. Runners understand the come-from-behind mentality—after all, a Runnersworld.com poll revealed that 66 percent of respondents had suffered an injury in 2009. So its no surprise that this tidbit was 126 times:
Holy comeback: Serena Burla lost half her hamstring to cancer, ran 1st marathon in 2:37:06
Runners can be gross. Apparently some women run with cell phones and iGadgets tucked in their sports bras. (Some put their items in plastic baggies which makes it totally OK, right?) And after our own started the hashtag #confessionsofarunner, I learned lots more of runners deep, dark secrets. Like the fact that they re-wear gear without washing it (I must confess; I do this sometimes.) You can see Miles first #confessionsofarunner tweet about sniffing his running shoes here.
Runners love a good quote. And who doesnt, really? Exhibit A, 312 ; a gem from Editor at Large Amby Burfoot:
The most powerful lesson you can learn in running? Youre capable of much more than you think.
Runners find more than just dead bodies. Certain TV shows, ahem, give non-runners the impression that runners find corpses all the time. But a quick scroll through tweets using #seenonmyrun reveals that this is not the case. Runners see lots of wacky and interesting things like this cool piano or this spotted frog, but very few dead bodies.
Runners love Bart Yasso. RWs Chief Running Officer has one of the coolest jobs in the world—most weekends, hes at races meeting runners and, sometimes, racing. The Mayor of Running also has Twitter cred; hes got more than 10,000 followers. Ive seen scads of breathless tweets that read Just met @BartYasso! or OMG I GOT MY PICTURE TAKEN WITH @BARTYASSO! I just like him because he owns a lobster print shirt.
I may be leaving but, fear not, running Facebookers and Tweeters, you will still get updates from RW on your favorite social networks. Heres a directory, if you will:
Facebook
Runners World Were kind of a big deal—literally. More than 245,000 runners already like us.
Runners World Challenge Running tips and advice from our online coaching program, the Runners World Challenge.
Bart Yasso Post your pictures with Bart on his wall. Lobster shirts optional.
Twitter
The best running twitter feed that ever existed.
The ultimate purveyor of #runningtips.
The Justin Bieber of running.
You know and love him from the Ask Miles column in the magazine.
Sports and nutrition research from Editor at Large Amby Burfoot.
Nutrition news and tips from senior editor Joanna Golub.
Executive editor Tish Hamilton, who tweets things like Before the feet can be revealed in public, the toenails must be painted purple. You know, for consistency.
RELATED: Running Hashtags for Twitter
Similar Posts:
- What You’ll Have to Do to Burn Off Your Holiday Feast…
- Runner’s Digest: 7.15.2011
- A Mom’s 30 Minute Guide for Running Beginners
- The Dirty Side of Distance Running
- Ask the Sports Dietitian
