It's week 21 of 2024 and a new week of snarking on our "favorite" healthy living and running influencers. What's in store for this week? Let's discuss!
Healthy Living and Running Influencers, May 20 - 26
Fitness & Wellness InfluencersShe's another one who is religious when she feels like it. So weird and exhibitionist!
I imagine she’ll get injured. And I don’t wish that upon her or anyone! But marathon training requires SO MUCH self care, especially when it comes to sleep and nutrition. You can’t half ass it the way you might be able to for 5k, 10k, even halves. The marathon is HUMBLING. I wish her the best but I don’t see this ending well.
I also feel like the marathon is something that a lot of burnt out college runners do when they don’t want to give up running, and then they end up burning out worse. Amber runz has talked about doing one. It’s happened to me! Just take some time off girlies. You’ll come back to running. I promise.
Nothing more snark-able than EClor shilling Expntl Athletics and advertising the clothes for “attracting male attention” 🤮
also i was thinking, wasn't that whole crew using Laken Riley and Eliza Fletcher for content? whatever happened to "runner safety" now?
I can't imagine no one said something about this. I wonder if she deleted those comments.
her comments are "limited"-so only those she follows can comment. so basically creating an echo chamber
ETA, hmm not sure how "limited comments" work?
I can comment and she doesn’t follow me 🤷🏻♂️
oh that's interesting! i assumed she needed to be following you just from my experience of trying to comment on accounts w/ limited comments.
or...maybe it's just limited to those who follow her regardless of who she follows?
I think it’s just followers who can comment? I also don’t know how it works, but Fast and Flow and comments limited as well.
Immediately after closing Reddit and opening threads this popped up
Wonder why she stopped short of calling her out by name
I just watched it and it is so tone deaf, I never ever want to attract male attention on my runs. Also the outfit is meh
I don’t understand if she was trying to joke that it attracts the attention of that specific man in her video. Regardless, it was a poor joke considering what women deal with from men while running.
I think the spirit of the comment was you can easily be seen in this bright red color...maybe I'm giving her too much credit? But thats not what she said and it came off terribly
I think the spirit of the comment was you can easily be seen in this bright red color
see THAT you could make an argument for and it might have been fine if it were left at that-it's just the "male attention" part that upped the cringe factor
I totally don't think she had bad intentions. But I still think it was inappropriate.
that looks like it was what she was intending ("completely not planned" that GClor found her on the run, sure Jan 🙄) but boy that "joke" missed so hard, it landed in another state. or even in the Atlantic.
and of course, the echo chamber in the comments is just @ -ing expntl (or however the hell it's spelled)
Then who was filming them?? And I saw her discount code was 8% - is that a typo haha
He is holding a GoPro stick in his hand. Which makes the “unplanned” part all the more laughable.
her remote-controlled video cam! (not making this up, she had a whole reel about it once)
ETA-and apparently 8% is not a typo, its been mentioned before so the standard company discount i guess?
That must be wild to look out your window and see someone running with a remote video cam in front of them haha
between that, the drone, the swimsuit shots in the middle of the street, "geek in the pink"...her neighbors must have had quite an eyeful over the years lol
I would also like to mention that I love Coldplay and her cover did not do them justice :(
tell me, did you make it to the milky way to see the lights all faded
I found heaven to be overrated
I would actually buy running clothes that proved that they DON'T attract male attention and leave me the fuck alone.
Right! Was that meant to be a “here’s a reason NOT (wink wink) to buy these” 🤮
Why am I somehow not surprised 😵💫
Ew. Nothing ruins a good run like male attention
I was trying to write a comment about that but struggling to put into words how icky that felt
Did anyone see the Pre Classic results? So many PBs, NR, and a WR in the 10k for the women broken! And a 3:45 mile from Josh Kerr? Geez, this sport is so fun!
Sucked that Hobbs had to step off, I’m still excited to see what he can do. Loved Yared sticking on the front runners, and glad Olli got the OTQ. Team GB will be a force to be reckoned with!
I just realized they actually still count convicted drug cheats’ results, in that Houlihan’s record is still considered the AR. I realize it’s because it was “before” the bust but for any convicted doper people question the integrity of any of their results as a professional. I really hope ESP breaks it soon.
I did a spit take when they put that on screen! Her ban is over soon too 😒
i can't imagine how her reception is gonna be when she does return to competition. and who's even gonna let her into races? i know NYRR has a zero-tolerance policy so she won't be doing Millrose or the 5th Ave Mile, for example
Men’s 100m was exciting and am glad to see Sha’Carri racing so strong. Happy that the Goose was in the top three!
Why do some people wear just one arm sleeve?
OMG so much to unpack!
ESP only 1 second now off Shelbo's AR...it's definitely going down this year. and Nikki finally under 4! (they were using Nikki's 1500 split in their mile AR as their "1500 PR")
Kelati I gotta think now with the standard in both the 5K and 10K is as good as a lock for the Olympic team, bar anything unusual happening in the next month
Sha'carri I think might have been fighting some jet lag in the two DL 200s in China...she's definitely in form
Val Constien has now re-entered the steeple chat in a big way...she smashed the OS and is now the number 2 seed (when you take out Coburn)
that mile...as always Kerr lets his results do the talking! but NBC being NBC, of course had the camera post-race on Jakob going home DEVASTATED. great effort from the Goose too...manifesting a medal for him this year!
and the 10K WR going down...with it being won by the one who wasn't initially going for it! just goes to show that with these WR/AR attempts...you can't curate who actually gets it in the end!
the Olympic trials can't come soon enough!
I want Shelby’s record to go down so badly! I feel terrible saying that but 🤷
i don't think you're alone in that thinking.
(ngl, i was a little excited when I saw they had set the pacing lights for the AR...)
What I’m sure wasn’t shown on TV… but Jakob wasn’t that devastated. He was all smiles and did a cool down lap greeting fans. If THAT is how hos first race in almost 9 months goes… I think he’s still the Olympic favorite. Personally I’d like to see Nuguse figure out how to close a race!
they VERY briefly showed him high-fiving fans and signing autographs. but the immediate reaction just seconds after the finish...you know NBC and their drama porn. agreed that's a good first race back and as for the Olympics...I can't call it! Kerr was ballsy to go for it from 600 out...he's definitely hungry for it!! either way, the fans win! and as for the Goose, he's a nice guy and I think he races "nice" too. he needs to be grittier at the end and he came close at the end of the Pre mile last year!
you had the finish line seats right? that had to have been awesome...anything else that might not have been shown on TV?
Trackclubbabe waking up everyday like
How can I weaponize my breastfed 3 year old so I can get internet headpats 🥺🥺
Can’t stand her. What a martyr
I hate how Women’s Running May pushes her shit so incessantly.
Same. She’s an embarrassment
This is not shade at Hollie but there has to be more to this. It's hard to believe a charity sends an influencer a list of applicants and says drop us an email with the list of people you've chosen.
I would hope that anyone applying for a charity bib picks.a cause that they are passionate and want to raise money for. She acts like she's SO unique for wanting to do a good thing... Charities get lots of applications for bibs and many people get passed over. Maybe they picked runners with a more compelling story/tie to the cause. I doubt the charity had some random influencer pick the entire team, it was likely a collaborative effort.
It is pretty strange that a race director would allow an influencer to pick the charity runners. I don’t understand the purpose behind that, especially if they might be biased towards/against certain runners.
She often vague books about races she doesn’t get into (as a race ambassador), or events she isn’t invited to, and I feel like that’s because she’s passed over for many brand opportunities despite her following. She has mentioned before reasons brands have turned her down - can’t remember specifically what the reasons were but it seemed to really bother her.
Pure speculation on my part here: I wonder if the lack of oppertunities she has is because of the cliqueiness among the big influencers. Do the big influencers have connections Hollie might not have? Hollie has also commented about running things she doesn’t like (running ins/outs) that many of the influencers do, and I can’t imagine they appreciate being called out. She obviously isn’t the type of person to suck up to someone just to be part of the group. I commend her for that.
Matt Johnson is such an edge lord douche bag. Posting a reel of him lighting up a cigarette before he runs saying “fuck normal” smh.
Huuuge ick from this guy. He acts like he’s a professional athlete when I think he’s run like a 2:50 marathon? The marathon he won was a tiny BPN influencer race….he’d be like 3000th place in any marathon major lmao.
That's barely sub elite for women.
He’s my bec for sure thinks every reel is a big joke or dig at the sport
He is def embracing the “heel” of running. Just comes off like an immature 17 year old trying to be edgy for attention.
He and Paul Johnson…
And all the comments telling him how cool he is.
Yeah it was really disappointing see how many people were praising him for it. He comes off like such a wanna be tough guy edge lord. I do not like his vibe at all, he makes Matt Choi seem super likeable.
He gives me the ICK!
CW: weight talk, body dysmorphia, fatphobia
Kendall Toole from Peloton posted this on TikTok and the tl;dr is that she was walking with her mom and randomly saw this ad of herself and was shocked because she's "not actually that big in real life." This doesn't come as a shock to me considering she edits the hell out of her pictures, but I don't think this landed the way she wanted it to. At least not to me 🙃
Not a big Kendall fan but I think she is referring to her height here. I've seen posts where people comment on how short she is in real life (5'2?) vs how tall they expect her to be from just seeing her on the bike screen. She could probably have been a bit more clear with this though.
I also thought it was a height reference.
Where did she say she looks fat? 🤔 Think you're reading out of context and putting words in her mouth.
Agreed, I think she’s talking about height. Even with it being enlarged for a window she looks like she’d be super tall from the proportions
Peloton instructors have a huge problem with this IMO. I'm not sure if it's supposed to trigger aspirational vibes in people or they're really this tone deaf?
I look at that picture and think wtf is she talking about not being that big. I'd like to hope she meant she's not 8 or 9 feet tall, because I'm guessing some of it is lost in the photo only because we don't know how high the store windows are (like are they 10 or 12 feet and she's just "big" because the windows are big?) But knowing how she is on SM she probably means body big. I don't see it. I think most people would look at it and not see what she sees either?
Yea, I hope she is joking and means big as far as length. Because otherwise, she is NOT big by any standards.
Katherine Kelly @fastandflow is disappointed with a vo2 max of 60 and wants to work to get it up to 66? First of all, it’s a little crazy she finds that disappointing, second of all why does she feel the need to get it to 66? Rosnerperformance has made a video why vo2 max is not the most important thing for marathon runners (which she claims she prefers long distance events) and Jason Fitzgerald has said that running influencers place too much value on vo2 max workouts and that they just temporarily increase it and really just consistently train for good races and the numbers will follow.
I will say, she does refer to herself as delusional so at least she’s self aware lol. Truly no hate, she’s progressed so much it’s awesome. But 60 is a really good vo2 max.
Could she be humblebragging?
Yeah I'm admittedly not an expert BUT my impression is that a high VO2 max is an indicator of fitness but isn't the only thing that helps you run fast-- running economy is also really important. Just seems dumb to obsess over VO2 max numbers as a non-elite athlete when there are so many more relevant metrics to predict race performance.
Vo2 max is a dick measuring content at best. Its not that important in my opinion if you are not training hard and not a career athlete or have a realistic hope of standing on any podiums or getting sponsor / prize money.
i know there are *mixed* opinions of Lindsey Hein's podcast, but she had Amy Begley on it last week (2008 Olympian, now works for USATF) and there's actually a good discussion about the US men's marathon team drama (note-it was recorded before the universality places came down) the interesting thing is Amy seems to echo quite a bit of what several of us have been discussing-the men seem to move up to the marathon pretty late these days, USATF needs to do a better job of incentivizing the men to run the fast marathons like Valencia or Seville when it means passing up appearance fees from NYC and Boston. I get the feeling they know that they will have their work cut out for them during the next quad (and if there is anyone who knows the importance of a qualifying standard it's Amy-she was really the big story of the 2008 women's 10K trials!)
if you don't want to listen to the full thing, this talk starts around I think the 16 minute mark? (i'll admit I didn't listen to the whole thing-just this part when I saw it brought up in the Fast Women newsletter)
I love AOTR. I've been loyal and love listening every week -- and, I had to turn Thursday's episode off because what I thought was a live interview started with an intro about her health updates ... after that long solo episode we already got. I love her, I wish her well, and I just want more running interviews and a little less about the health.
I love AOTR episodes so much, and I 100% understand why she’s not putting out new episodes as often right now - but, it’s an Olympic year!! I’m so sorry but I don’t want to hear life updates every episodes, I want to hear from athletes as they prepare for the trials!!
I know I’m just being rude but. Does anyone actually want becs gentry as a guest 💀
No!
Anyone who has been listening to her most recent podcasts in full, myself included, knows at this point about her current flare and her ongoing issues. I’m not sure why she keeps saying the same thing over and over again, particularly in the intro before a completely unrelated episode. She talks about how she’s in therapy, then uses the solo time like another therapy session. She also talks a lot about the friends who have supported her, and I think it’s really awesome that she has that level of support, but maybe she should be having those conversations with them rather than talking about them with everyone. I understand that she has shared this level of information since her blogging days, but I hope she doesn’t look back and feel as though she gave too much away.
I think this happens a lot with podcasts that get big - are people listening because they want to hear about you, or are they listening because of the subject matter?
I had to turn it off once Becs Gentry came on. Idk if Ali has some sort of partnership with Peloton now or what-but no thank you. I like Ali and also wish her well but the pod is just repetitive and barely abt running anymore.
Ali doesn't have a partnership with Peloton as far as i know-but NYRR does
I don't like the Peloton episodes, either.
I do feel that in the future she may look back on these episodes and realize how much she talked about it..I feel like she has a lot of trauma from all of this and is likely barely hanging on so I am giving her grace.. I know I tend to talk a lot about my “stuff” to friends, but the unfortunate part of her situation is that she is such a public figure so probably doesn’t even realize how many people are listening to her
I agree. I respect that she’s going through a lot, but it does seem like it’s hard for her to stop making every episode about her. I also don’t love how much she blasts her social media pages with content about her daughter. For someone who didn’t want to talk about her divorce on the podcast to protect her (which I totally respect!), she sure is cataloguing every second of that kid’s childhood on a very public forum.
I was just sharing with my friend this week that it makes me uncomfy how much she shares about her daughter. I understand talking about her more abstractly, but I wish she wasn’t sharing her face and life events with the world. There are so many creeps and honestly it’s not fair to kids to be content when they don’t even understand that they are.
Totally agree. I have a daughter a couple years younger than hers and I cringe every time I see the deeply personal moments she chooses to broadcast to tens of thousands of people. I think her mindset is still stuck in the days of when Twitter was a safe space and all the bloggers were besties - not the reality of today in which she is a very public figure.
Yeah I agree, and I find this interesting given that she’s best friends with Laura green who has publicly advocated against posting about kids on socials. This conversation must have come up between them, right?
Ohhhh great point! Laura was just on Lindsey Hein’s podcast and while they talked a lot about creator economy stuff, they didn’t touch on the kids thing at all - possibly because Lindsey obviously posts her kids a lot and they’re a huge part of her brand
I just said this below: I agree. I have a public running IG account (with like 3k followers) and I don't post any pictures of my kids. I have personal account with photos of my kids and it's private and only followed by people I actually know. IMO she posts wayyy too much about her daughter.
Same - I have about the same amount of followers on my run account and I very rarely post pics of my kids.
Since my last comment was deleted, I’ll rephrase!
I sincerely hope Ali stops putting all of her daughter’s information and images on Instagram. I know more identifying details about A and her whereabouts than I do my own closest friends’ kids. It is scary to think of what a malicious person might do with that info.
Agreed. It isn’t hard to piece stuff together with all the details out there.
Absolutely. I have a big issue generally with the whole mummy blogger = child monetisation movement anyway.
Just got the email for Believe in the Run’s summer Grit. I’ve always liked doing Grit but the swag seems stingy this time. A singlet and some cherry juice for $50??? I’ve done it for years and like the stuff I’ve gotten before but questioning if I’m going to shell out $50 for a singlet I can’t even try on first.
Fwitw, The tank from last summer grit is one of my faves. I wear it constantly
I know! I think that’s why I’m still torn 2hrs before registration, ha. I do like and wear all the stuff I’ve gotten from previous Grits. I’ll probably still go for it. I just hope they don’t keep getting stingier as they grow in popularity. I feel like they have enough sponsors they should be able to send out cool stuff just for the cost of shipping. I’m assuming the cherry juice is a free sample since they are a sponsor.
I tried to sign up for Winter Grit (I’m in Canada) and couldn’t, and in the end I was like well, ¯_(ツ)_/¯. (Also they showed their ignorance about Canada on today’s episode of the Drop talking about housing and taxation here lol.)
Ignorance is a key theme of those clowns
Is anyone watching Clayton Young's YouTube series?The videos are really well done. I'm surprised to see them running around on such busy streets! I'm excited to see how their training goes and what happens in Paris.
That whole crowd is super sophisticated on branding and social media, it’s really interesting and smart of them
Yes, loving the fourth one!
I’m loving them too! They’re so interesting!
This was my reaction too! I’m scared a car will sideswipe them and then we lose the entire US men’s Olympic marathon team. 🫣
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OK not snark: Who's watching the Bowerman mile on Saturday? I'm getting hyped
also...it looks like the women's 1500 may be one to watch...it seems like someone's national record is being targeted 👀
(which i am all in favor of)
I really hope Yared or Beamish smokes them both.
Really interested in seeing Ingebrigsten after his injury, and Nuguse. Women’s 10k for sure.
I need to stay offline because clips from various events pop up and I’m trying it to spoil it for myself until I watch!
shame no one can watch the 10ks 🙃
as for the Goose-im always rooting for him, and wouldn't it be something if he pulled off the upset? show that he's more than a cute side story (seriously, he got asked some pretty fluffy questions about Taylor and Pokémon in the press conference)
lol at those questions. I would really like to see them both win - I want Ingecanneverrememberhowtospellhisname to win over Kerr but would love Goose to pull out the ultimate victory.
Just realized the broadcast starts at 4 PM. womp womp.
ME. I’ll be there! Some people spend $$$ on Taylor Swift. I spend $$$ on finish line tickets to Pre’s. 😆
i'm not sure what i'm more hyped for, that mile or tomorrow's press conference
could you imagine Ingebrigtsen rolling up to the start line in a blindfold to troll Kerr 🤣
This is as close as we are getting to a boxing press conference
I’m OOTL!! I know they’ve trolled each other in the past, but blindfold??
hehe...was after Kerr set the 2-mile WR at Millrose
https://www.runnersworld.com/news/a46817307/jakob-ingebrigtsen-digs-at-josh-kerr/
(also, I give RW troll points for the headline 🤣)
oh my gosh that headline is peak petty
Does anyone listen to Claire on the Eat for Endurance podcast? I’ve started listening to it. Some of the episodes are great…. Some of the people she’s interviewed have some wild takes though
She did my nutrition plan for a marathon a few years ago and I have to say it was an ace in the hole- i ran a 5 minute PR. She’s had some good people on but doesn’t shy away from the way out there ones either
I do! I haven’t been keeping up though, what wild takes have there been?
It was the one with Kirsten Screen? Maybe wild take isn’t quite the right term but I felt like I was getting yelled at the entire time and some of her “it’s science, but not science” claims just rubbed me the wrong way.
Ohh that one. Yeah it wasn’t my favorite and I kind of disregarded it because gut microbiome is such a hot subject these days and the tests they were recommending aren’t really reasonable for the avg person
She also seemed to be putting herself on a pedestal. Idk I get really wary when someone pushes the GI Map, DUTCH Test, and HTMA testing so hard and just see it as a money making scam.
Just putting this out there as an FYI - I had a GI Map test done (with a dietician who was shilling it), it came up with a whole bunch of red flags. Then I went to a GI doc (who did not recognize the GI Map test and didn’t know if it was legit) and did a bunch of other tests (blood, breath, stool) which basically disproved the results from GI Map.
Please don’t waste your money.
I'm an internal medicine doc and have had patients bring some of these tests in. Similarly to your GI doc there are just not enough high quality studies to guide us on how to interpret these. We have actual validated tests for pathogenic bacteria, viruses, parasites that we know how to interpret in the context of a patient's symptoms and risk factors but these tests just kind of shit out (pun intended) any and every random microorganism living in your GI tract which may or may not be causing symptoms or issues. It is super predatory how these are pushed on people and I immediately lose respect for any practitioner who recommends them!
Yeah I really dislike when people bring those up, because it’s very much not accessible to the average person. It also doesn’t seem scientifically significant enough to justify the cost of someone doing it.
For what it’s worth, I’ve worked with her before she started her own practice, and she didn’t push or suggest any tests to me. The podcast might just be her branching out into corners that she doesn’t usually get to
does anyone follow/watch Phily Bowden? I only just started watching her videos and following her story from leaving Oregon, dealing with her ED, and now trying to qualify for the Olympics. She ran a 2:29 (pb) marathon in Copenhagen but failed to run her 2:25 goal in Dallas. Her newest video talks about how she is not sponsored by New Balance anymore. I'm not sure if this counts as snark but wow, it honestly seems like she's a good runner but never is able to perform to the level she (and others) expect her to perform at. I'm interested in seeing her journey.
I’m a huge Phily fan. One of the few running influencers I can stand. She’s genuine, goofy (in a way I appreciate), undeniably elite (as another commenter said), and humble. Plus Daniel is really lovable too.
My thought was that the topic she was tiptoeing around is that it is currently more lucrative for her to be treated as an influencer then as an athlete. I don’t think New Balance would want her outright saying that since it makes their athlete contracts look bad.
i definitely think it's this. i don't remember which publication it was, but there was a whole article a few months ago about how influencers in general make more than the pros, which is a travesty tbh.
Grayson Murphy even commented on this in a tweet last year (not on whatever article it was, just the sad state of affairs that she could be making more as an influencer instead of a pro runner)
Yeah, it is such a weird situation. Like I would guess New Balance’s athlete program is based on performance so they don’t want to offer her more at a sub Olympic level, but I also bet there are influencers getting 5 figures from NB for a single social media collab.
I like her quite a bit. Being in her current position (undeniably elite but still just below the threshold of being a factor in most races/a contender for your national team) is fascinating too, and it’s interesting to get a glimpse inside that life. I’m very curious what happened with New Balance - the most obvious explanation seems to be that they offered to renew her with shoes and kit only, but doesn’t seem like that would account for all the legal references.
It's so funny that you mentioned her. I was going to write something yesterday about Phily. She's one of my favourite runners on social at the moment. She's definitely not snarkable IMHO, but we're all like minded runners here right?
I enjoy watching Phily - she isn’t not obsessed with her appearance or lifestyle in a way lots of running influencers are, and the love she has for her chap is endearing (which appears completely mutual).
lol I love Daniel, Phily is cool too though a little silly at times. I think the NB gear deal probably did include a bunch of NDAs honestly (a lot more "pro" runners are on these types of deals than you would think, stipends maybe but not enough to live on especially in relatively high cost of living areas)... plus as an influencer and with Youtube revenue plus the combined income with Daniel's editing of other channels they are surely able to make it work for the time being.
I really appreciate her commitment to the process and her documentation of her progression but unfortunately, so far, I think she is not quite good enough to bridge the gap from national class to world class. There are a few British women marathoners who are very good (Charlotte Purdue, Callie Thackery, etc. Eilish McColgan and Jess Warner Judd in 10k, etc) and British selection team is known for recently having stricter selection criteria than just meeting the qualifying standard. The 2:26 standard for this Games is almost surely going to go down (Amy Yoder Begley who now works for USATF predicts 2:23 for Tokyo Worlds 2026 so I'm not sure about Phily's chances for LA 2028...).
HOWEVER, she has a very loyal fan base, obviously she is a very good runner, and her content is well done and pretty creative plus her career earnings are now not tied to her race results really at all. So, at least from a financial standpoint, she's in a better position than most other Olympic hopefuls.
I like her a lot. I appreciate her honesty and candor. I got the impression that NB wasn't happy with her race result at Houston and that led to a fall out.
I really like her and enjoy her content. She is a bit silly but I like that she doesn’t take herself too seriously
Yep, seen a bit of her stuff. She seems level headed and just showing the journey and inside line
I think there was a bit more with her exiting New Balance than she is letting on.
Yes she implied that there was a lot she wasn't able to discuss... I'm guessing for legal reasons? But damn I am dying to know!
My guess is the runners sign very very tight contracts with iron clad NDA's
Philly was implying it might only be for some gear and shoes too. Crazy
I generally like resiliencyinrunning, but the literal 50 stories of pictures of every moment of her “unplugged” mini vacation is sending me rn
I know it’s sponsored but the irony 😭
The level of self absorption is through the roof with this lady.
I chuckled at that. Seems like “staying in the moment” only means uploading content at a later time. If it was sponsored, she was likely beholden.
Honestly, seeing all the influencers document the crap out of their trips has influenced me to do just the opposite.
Kofuzi has given us a window into peak influencer
I present Camp Krusty, i mean Camp Strava
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Whv3s4ov1b8&ab_channel=kofuzi
I dont dislike Kofuzi, but this whole things sums up how companies have zero time for their actual consumer (you know the one that actually pays to use it) and roll out the red carpet for a pile of bobble heads to write key insights like dark mode is coming.
what’s the deal with kofuzi? I only recently became aware of him through another person in the trail “scene” and I don’t fully get what his deal is - he’s primarily a shoe reviewer/merch guy? Sorry for being in the dark!
I met him at a race a couple months back , nicest guy ever , he took a good amount of time to chat with me and give me course and logistic tips on another race that I had upcoming that he had already done. Solid dude
He’s a classic full time influencer who left his job to review shoes for every brand that sends him stuff and go on brand trips. He has ran races with influencer bibs before and he’s always shilling the latest and greatest shoe to his audience aka classic capitalist overconsumption.
Far be it from me to defend any influencer on this thread, but I'm pretty sure Kofuzi buys most of the shoes he posts reviews about, and for the ones that were gifted, he does very honest reviews IMO. He has always been very brand agnostic and none of his reviews are sponsored - though I know plenty of his content is sponsored. There are plenty of other "runfluencers" that fit the description you shared, but I don't think he's one of them.
I think he used to buy his own stuff before he exploded. But his videos now always have a disclaimer and it usually says he was sent gear for purposes of review. There was a few times at the end of last year or early this year where he talked about being surprised about not getting sent a shoe for review.
I do like his reviews and his race recaps though. I think his reviews are well balanced and not always pushing expensive or boutique stuff. I watched one of his videos about how to gear up for winter runs and I liked that he gave a spectrum of options from boutique to Amazon to straight just wear a hoodie lol.
I absolutely unapologetically love Kofuzi's Runner's Weekend videos though it's pretty obvious he is completely on the payroll of Big Shoe at this point (and the videos are one big look at the same combination of running content creators/ media/ athletes complete with their individual instagram handles on screen when they appear). But, I've been fortunate to have run many of the same races the same years as Kofuzi so watching them allows me to relive my own races.
The shoe reviews really aren't my thing (no matter who is making them) but yeah, it seems like now he's getting sent most of them (just like Believe in the Run for instance). They both have probably built enough goodwill to give somewhat honest opinions about bad shoes (maybe tempered a bit due to personal friendships with brand representatives and employees) and they do at least have a certain amount of technical knowledge from connecting with those brands at events like TRE and sponsored trips even... the influencers shoving any random shoe they happen to be sent are imo worse. though I think the trend of everyone thinking they need a vast "shoe rotation" to be needlessly wasteful.
buy shoes to run not the other way around.
Oh my bad I forgot that buying new shoes every other week is only “promoting overconsumption” when it’s a female runfluencer. And when it’s a man it’s “being brand agnostic” but when it’s a woman how many threads have there been calling them out for “not being loyal and shilling for every brand”. But you’re right Kofuzi doesn’t deserve the snark because he’s “not like the other influencers” who quit their jobs and spend all their time going to brand events, training, and racing majors on influencer bibs… oh wait
I wonder if anyone will ask him who’s taking care of his kids while he’s out galavanting around at camp strava and chasing his six star medal.
Hey I get that you may not agree with everything being posted, but it’s pretty obvious that this sub makes you really unhappy. You’re a new account, maybe explore other subs that don’t make you so angry?
Hey I get that you may not agree with everything being posted on social media but it’s pretty obvious that following many of these influencers makes you really unhappy. Maybe explore following other accounts that don’t make you so angry.
I think that would be awesome advice for you to follow, as well! I genuinely hope things get better for you. Sincerely.
I already upvoted your other comment about men vs. women and run streak content - there is 100% a disparity in how man and women are treated on this thread. That wasn't the point I was making. The point was Kofuzi isn't "shilling for every brand" he's reviewing. He is giving people data to make informed purchases so they don't have to buy a million shoes to find the right ones. Does he go on brand trips and run *some* of his races on influencer bibs, yep. He also qualifies for a lot of the races he runs, too. I just thinking you're picking the wrong person to direct your anger at...
You can get the same info from Doctors of Running, who are actually qualified to dispense data on shoes.
The only race he qualified for was Boston. Every other major he’s done has been a freebie influencer bib that we love to snark on in this sub so not sure why he’s not getting the same dogpile that all the other women did when they accepted sponsored spots at the world majors. Whether you want to recognize it or not he has done the majority of things that get snarked on in this sub so I’m just wondering why he’s not getting the same dogpile.
Thats not true, he has run Chicago many times before influencer land.
Im also pretty confident he wont work with Nike due to their piss poor treatment of female athletes.
Not saying he isnt a shill (especially for Asics) but he isnt a scatter gun either
i would say it's because he's transparent about his sponsorships/freebies and he works really hard at running. He respects the sport and is knowledgeable. He's also talked a lot about the sacrifices his wife and family make so he can do this as a career. I find a lot of his content boring TBH, but I can't hate on him as a creator and he seems like a genuine person.
Same; idc abt shoe or gear reviews. It’s boring to me. And I do think the overconsumption of shoes is still cringe-gifted or not. But he’s way more transparent than most influencers. He’s also turned down gifted bibs. And I believe he could get Into any of these races with his own time qualifications anyway. He’s also mentioned not running certain races anymore bc he’s run them already and wants to give other people a chance. All that said, there’s a huge double standard when it comes to female vs male influencers - males getting away with a lot less hate for the same things.
Hellahgood officially finished 7 years running every day. Streaking isn’t my thing but he’s still one of the only male running influencers I can stand
Streaking also isn’t my thing, and I pretty much wholeheartedly think run streaking is toxic. However I DO appreciate hearing about an influencer that isn’t insufferable!! Thank you!
If it makes someone else happy, whatever, go run streak. I also appreciate learning about other influencers that aren’t terrible and enjoy recommendations.
https://www.reddit.com/r/blogsnark/s/V6cLiK0vi2 lol love the switch up
I know, it would be outrageous for someone to change their opinion. SO glad you’re here to duke it out with everyone on this sub; you’ll show them! shakes fist at keyboard.
So glad you’re here to defend a blatant misogynistic double standard! I genuinely hope from the bottom of my heart that you realize hating on other women won’t make you any less insecure.
Aww, have a better week.
I hope things get better for you!!!!!
The fact that DifficultyOk has this much time on their hands is creepy.
And that they know everyone’s posting history and activity, which means they’re doing the exact same thing lol
Right????? Taking time to screenshot comments from months ago is wild to me. A hobby could be good for them!!
Hmm maybe they’re already working on compiling a spreadsheet. Seems they have the time!
I briefly perused that group and they basically spend a lot of time reading here to go back there to talk about it. Which sounds similar to what they accuse us of doing …
The purpose of that group is to make fun of this group. And they think wishing someone well is passive aggressive 🤣 sad group of the pot calling the kettle black. They want to call us out for checks notes doing the EXACT same thing they do. Some of us are actually friends IRL, and they don’t seem to understand that either.
They also don’t seem to understand that commenting and being active in a group is vastly different from stalking and harassing members active in a group.
I also VERY briefly looked at that group and sorry, but anyone defending influencers or what they do is…wild.
You have been active on this sub almost every single day for months.
Right back at ya! Maybe one day you’ll even get picked!
Yes and yes, you’re right. If it makes someone else happy, wtf ever!
I’ve seen many posts on this sub about how toxic run streaks are and criticizing female influencers for running every day because it “promotes overtraining”. It’s surprising (but also not) to see a how different the energy in this comment is when it’s a male influencer, because when it’s a women not taking rest days it’s considered toxic. It wasn’t that long ago there was a whole thread on here slamming Savannah Sachdev for her run streak. The double standard on here is almost comical.
well the sad reality is unfortunately a lot of females who participate in this behavior likely do have unhealthy relationships with food and exercise. that could of course apply to men too but I don't think it applies to Hellahgood which is likely why the above posters stated that they were happy for him and his accomplishment
I didn’t see those but I don’t see what the problem is for someone to have a streak. Unless a runner is promoting dangerous information I don’t know why anybody cares so much. Both Hellah and Savannah seem to just share their journeys vs promote adopting their exact lifestyle.
https://www.reddit.com/r/blogsnark/s/4qGCdk4V31 here you go incase you missed it this is the way women are talked about when they run streak so I hope we make sure we’re holding everyone to the same standards.
I only know about Matt Choi from snark here, but I figured everyone would get a kick out of him generating more haters here: https://www.reddit.com/r/RunNYC/s/zYU60g3GJU
This was a fun one too: https://www.reddit.com/r/RunNYC/comments/1c9kwmo/matt_choi_question/
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C3nlFUmOqNJ/?igsh=ZnZuNG10cmJ0ZzM%3D
God this pisses me off. That guy is entitled to run his race without being filmed. And all the comments? OMG Matt you are SO positive! If he wants to be private he should stay home! Haters gonna hate!
Is the world this stupid?? (don't answer that)
Some of Matt's delusional followers tracked down this guys insta account and he's since deleted it
Ugh that sucks.
Emily Abbate posted a picture of all the products in her bathroom cupboard and said “nothing says Memorial Day like a full bathroom clean” I’m sorry what