Running Podcasts - My local billion-member running club

Chris Russell — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:29:19 GMT

Running Podcasts - My local billion-member running club

Running Podcasts -The new running community phenomenon - coming to an ear bud near you.

A couple years back I spoke to you about the explosion of the iPod trend in running. Now I bring you tidings of a new iPod related wave sweeping our sport. In an amazing outgrowth of communalism the worldwide running community has become sentient and it wants to run with you. As usual I thought I was doing something unique with my own efforts in this new venue only to find out I was joining a grand new community that is open to us all and growing fast!

The other day I ran with a gentleman named Krister as he took me on his favorite 8k loop along the farms and narrow paths of Sweden. We chatted about his wife and kids and his dreams. We were joined by a young married couple from Fall River MA, an engineer from Oxford MA, mutual friend from Staffordshire UK, another friend from the small island of Tiree off the Scottish Coast, a volunteer firefighter from BC Canada and a semi-mystic from Florida.

We all ran together.

We run together often. We share our personal stories. We converse together about the wondrous pain, mystery and revelation that is running. We commiserate. We share tips and tactics. We plan races and events. We know each other intimately. We are comforted by each other's acts and voices. Our conversation encompasses everything that a good running club brings to the table.

We've never met.

This is the phenomena of running podcasts that is sweeping the running community. Like most things that our community births, it is inclusive and nurturing. This running club opens its arms to new comers and welcomes new voices to sit around the running club table and jump in to the conversation. It is a club vibrant, active and enthusiastic.

What the heck am I talking about? How can I run with these folks and share the intimacies of their lives without ever meeting them? For that matter, you may ask, "What is a running podcast?" and "Why is it a phenomenon?"

In the simplest terms it is runners, of every stripe projecting themselves audibly into the universe. In the grander sense it is the coalescence of a running mastermind.

Here's a quick definition from the new media encyclopedia Wikipedia...

A *podcast *is a series of digital-media files, which are distributed over the Internet using syndication feeds for playback on portable media players and computers. The term podcast, like broadcast, can refer either to the series of content itself or to the method by which it is syndicated; the latter is also called podcasting. The host or author of a podcast is often called a podcaster.

Mechanically it manifests as a runner recording their thoughts in audio, perhaps in a ‘radio show' format and setting those shows free on the internet. Many use iTunes in particular and spread the love through syndication.

Podcasts were made available by the great success of the Apple iPod and the now ubiquitous MP3 players. Whether you love or hate the entrance of personal digital audio players into our sport - they are here to stay. Tens of millions of runners all around the world strap on their MP3 listening device every day the same way they strap on their shoes.

Why this is important is that running uniquely lends itself to podcasting. Running has both an opportunity and ‘fit' with podcasting. Running has advantages in both the listening and the creation of podcast content.

On the listening side we already know what the fit is. We've seen iPods for the last 3-4 years take over the mid-pack of the sport. The simple fact of being a mid-pack marathoner is that you will spend hours and hours of time alone with yourself on the road and trails training. From the beginning of the iPod introduction runners have filled these long hours with the audio distractions available to their ear buds. It's a custom-made opportunity for undisturbed listening. We are a fertile field because there is so much dead space to be filled.

At first we filled these long hours with our favorite music. Soon we became jaded with our old music files. How many times can you listen to the White Album? The medium began to naturally produce books on tape and spoken audio.

At some point lightening struck. Some technically savvy running geek (of which there are many for some reason) decided to take a digital recorder with them on their run. They thought it might be cool to try and capture those wisps of perfect thoughts and inspiration that come to us on our runs. A new genre was born and with it a community.

As runners we have long known that inspiration and epiphany come to us while we are out on our runs. What if we could share this inspiration and epiphany? What if we could record our thoughts in situ, in the moment they take fanciful flight from our subconscious as those happy running chemicals sauté our brains?

What if you could take someone with you on your lonely long runs? Someone who really knows the great joys of running? Someone who shares your passions, shares your challenges and can counsel you in your hour of need? The combination of these attributes has made running podcasts (or "runcasts") a run-away success.

What makes this generation of technology-enabled long distance community different? Haven't runners been building remote communities on the internet for years?

Yes it is true that this is an extension of the internet enabled worldwide running community. The main difference is the intimacy. It is intimate because you are hearing that person's voice and all the emotive content in that voice. It is different when that voice comes to you while you are running and was recorded when they were running. It is a perfect storm of running intimacy.

You know from your experience as a runner that going for a run with someone makes them an instant friend. This thing you share on that run creates a strong bond. You may otherwise never have met or befriended this person but through running together you have become linked in your shared humanity. That is what the running podcast brings.

At this point in its development the wave is driven by amateurs. They record and publish because they love the sport and the people in it. This gives the running podcasts that fresh authenticity that is so lacking in our world. It's real - in a good way. The charm is the way they laugh with you - at themselves.

These podcasters are just having fun, but they are changing the world one new runner at a time. They chide and inspire non-runners to leave the couch. They support those new to the sport and keep them with it. They inspire through deed, thought and spoken word. They leave a trail of hope in the wake of their disembodied voices.

The reach of this good news; this ministry of the mid-pack is global. The internet knows no bounds. Recently a few of the podcasters put together a series of virtual races. So far there are over 700 people signed up from 33 different countries. They have signed up to run a race that only exists in our minds! (and on the internet) the tag line is "Think Global, Run Local".

I'm sure it won't be long before our favorite behemoth running shoe company or running magazine publisher seizes control of this phenomenon and injects it with corporate blandness. Until that time go check out a running podcast and join the new revolution or pick up your microphone and jump in. We're all here and we'd love to have you.

My Podcast is available by searching on RunRunLive in the iTunes store or go browse http://www.runningpodcasts.org/ for the whole basket of fruitful flavors!

See you out there,

Chris,

Chris Russell lives and trains in suburban Massachusetts with his family and Border collie Buddy. Chris is the author of , short stories on running, racing, and the human comedy of the mid-pack. Chris writes the Runnerati Blog at http://www.runnerati.com/. Chris' Podcast, RunRunLive is available on iTunes and at http://www.runrunlive.com/. Chris also writes for CoolRunning.com (Active.com) and is a member of the Squannacook River Runners. ChrisRunner@runrunlive.com

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Running Podcasts - My local billion-member running club