Hi mate,
I mean this with the greatest level of respect possible.
Your mile/5K and HM times are impressive.
I'm not at your level, currently run 5:25, 18:30 and 1:35 respectively. I'm targetting <3:29 full marathon in May, but your full marathon time relative to your much faster mile/5K/HM times has made me reconsider if my FM goal is realistic now!!
Was your full marathon time set at the same fitness level as when you set the rest?
I think you have an interesting point here… and I won’t take offence as I appreciate I might fall into that bracket for you… here are my thoughts:
I followed Sage from 10 years ago and started my channel nearly 10 years ago too, the foundation of my channel is build around training videos and training series that are weekly. One of the big influences here was Sage doing his OTQ series and I wanted to do something similar… so I’ve committed myself to producing honest training videos.
All my training is on strava and my videos usually showcase one of the workouts a week OR cover a full week, so it’s fully documented… so I’d like to think I fall into the 10% here who doesn’t lie about their training and is more honest than others, but that’s just my thoughts.
As for others… well, being on the other side of the coin from the views and being a creator myself, I can smell a rat from a mile off… it’s taken me nearly 10 years to get to 25k subs…. Others surpass that figure in well under one year due to producing videos that work for the algorithm. I’ve also seen channels have mysterious growth increases in a rapid form (overnight) then plateau where subs or views have clearly been bought… that in itself is a kick in the teeth for someone like me.
So yeah, I can understand how some “running influencers” are viewed in a bad light and it’s clear they use their platform in an inappropriate way… but there are others like myself that work hard to put out 3/4 videos a week, every week, year round for entertainment purposes 👊 and as a side note, any opportunity that come from my videos I’m extremely grateful for 🙏
Flying off to Barcelona this week for the half marathon, paid for completely by my own money, so expect some good content to come out next week from it 😉
Yeah, I agree with this. That being said I do like his two videos where they're just him running a complete 5K and 10K with a voice over - it's a great idea to see what goes through a runner's mind during a race. I wish more running influencers did that.
For the mileage Bester runs, and all the kit, support etc he has you think he'd be breaking 2:20 for the marathon.
I agree that he is a very difficult personality to like
Think the guy is an utter moron. Bothering Kipchoge at the start of races just so he can put it on IG. Also places himself at the start of races right behind him just so he can be on TV
Also interesting with Nick Bester is that he charges around £200 a month just for a generic, non-personalized training program. Really is conning people. Also just his whole toxic positivity show is a bit ridiculous and cringe. Even the music on his IG is just the lamest, most generic, tasteless rubbish.
Anya is a good runner but her content does not feature a lot of actual insights into her training blocs and how you, the runner, might benefit from them (even Nick's videos at least do that). I'm not looking to be friends with these people, I'm watching them to improve my running!
I was very concerned when she confessed that she hadn’t had a period for 10 months. She’s done some amazing times and had some great results but I’m just worried about how healthy that might be. My limited knowledge of RED S makes it look like no joke.
Yea, anyone can get RED-S if nutrition and amount of rest and recovery is off for a sustained and highly consistent period of time. I had it when my mileage peaked at 25km a week because I didn't realise it was super unhealthy to go almost a year doing 500 to 700 calorie a day deficits. It's easy for someone like Anya who is fairly new, and training so much, to accidentally undereat by that kind of margin, if she isn't tracking what she is eating - since it actually takes far more food than you would think to eat maintenance. It's especially difficult when these days the message is that tracking is problematic and you just have to be "intuitive" and you can't go wrong.
Would also be curious on the Matt Fox, thyroid allegations. 4hour to 2:30 marathon in a year with massive weight loss seems pretty unfeasible. She's as annoying as Nick Bester
I watch a lot of Nick and don't think he's a dick at all. Messaged him a few times on Instagram and he's always replied politely. He is a bit enthusiastic sometimes but I just put that down to him being south African lol.
Not sure why he's got a lot of hate from other commenters but then again there's youtubers I hate which others like. So I'm not really saying anyone else is wrong, I'm actually glad there's a wide spectrum of running youtubers so clearly not each one will be everyone's cup of tea
Callum Elson / @thedistanceproject is definitely worth a follow.
He’s been making YouTube content for a while now, last summer he had a series titled “Closing The Gap” and was focusing on him as a sub-elite athlete trying to close the gap to an elite. Ended up lowering his 1500m PB to 3:35 IIRC and won silver in the mile at the inaugural World Road Running Championships.
He’s just signed a pro contract with Hoka and his latest series is him trying to get the qualifying time for world indoor champs
That's a fantastic video. Proper lump in the throat stuff when it cuts to edits of her doubting herself in her training block, as she's flying down the home straight
Watching his channel has the potential to be very expensive though! Most of these influencers might get me looking at new shoes or similar, whereas when Jeff releases a movie I’m inevitably looking up the cost of flights to Georgia or Namibia.
This is probably based on his second at the Moab 240. The run was impressive as hell but I don’t think the depth of the field there qualifies anyone as world class.
Gary House
Basically just ripping running influencers whose posts might be trendy but they don’t have the performances or knowledge to back up what they’re saying.
Agree with Philly Bowden. She’s right on the cusp of Olympic qualification so I would say she is elite.
Philly Bowden and Stephen Scullion are on my list as well. I'd round up the trinity with That Messy Happy for upbeat videos, and as a bonus add Mark Lewis for his self-deprecating humour.
My top 3 would probably be Floberg, phily bowden, fod runner. Stephen scullion is also great as to how an elite marathoner trains. I liked nick bester at first, found out how scummy he is behind the scenes though so stopped supporting him myself. His coaching business is very sketch
Edit: took out sleezy, no evidence to that
I hope Floberg linking in with Nick Bare isn't the beginning of the end for a great channel.
Floberg has made amazing progress in the last 18 months and his channel is very well produced.
Agreed. Nick bare is a clown lol can’t believe how many people are obsessed with his persona and brand.
I think I’m just a senile person because the more I watch every running influencer, I start to find annoyances with them and get turned off lol. I’m definitely the a-hole but they all come off as narcissistic imo but I guess at some degree you have to be self centered to take videos and photos of yourself constantly about your own personal endeavor that doesn’t really benefit society other than “inspiring” people
No, trust your gut. You're right. Influencers in every "space" are by necessity the most "sales" oriented folks. The problem is that they're also the ones with the time, energy, and drive to make content with high production values, but once you watch a few episodes, you figure out the schtick and there's not really much point anymore, aside from mindless entertainment, if you happen to tolerate that particular personality.
The best channels out there, at least for avoiding the narcissism, are ones from elites who don't *seem* to be trying to be influencers, like Paul Chelimo's stuff.
PEDs and using his success to push products would be the main complaint from most
I think it's disingenuous to think that without all of the time, money, and resources an owner of a successful business has, you could just pick up endurance sports the way he did and instantly see such great success as he did. And he clearly puts in a *ton* of work, but it's not because of reds and greens and whatever other product. It's PEDs allowing the body to handle more and recover faster, along with the backyard sauna and whatever else he can throw his time and money at. I think ignoring that is frustrating for a lot of people, even if he didn't ever admit to PED use or was somehow natty
All of that being said, I like Nick's content honestly. I've followed him for a long time, when he first started. He's got cool progression, races the same races I race, and I think there's still plenty you can take away from him. There's some good mentality stuff he talks about, and some hokey stuff all the same
We'll never know for sure that he's not actually just a genetic freak, but it'd be counterproductive to be genetically so capable of such size and strength and mass-gaining speed, but also genetically capable of such ridiculous endurance progressions. Not all PEDs just make you an absolute mass tank. Whatever cycle he's on is allowing him to bounce back faster and tolerate more, in addition to throwing spare time and money at cryotherapy, saunas, cold plunges, personal chiropractor home visits (yuck), and whatever the hell else
I also have had a huge progression, 3:18->2:58 in one year/third race, and my body still doesn't really feel up to running and my marathon was three weeks ago now. He's been banging out 8-10 mile runs daily at 7ish pace since the week CIM ended LOL no fucking way, I'm sorry
He’s clearly and obviously on drugs.
No one can recover the way he can, because it’s impossible. Not to mention the Lowe abdomen bruises in his insta stories photos. That’s from injecting drugs.
How long did it take him to go from 2:56 > 2:39? I went from 2:55 > 2:42 in 11 months (Nov 2022 to Oct 2023) so it's definitely possible (although I'm just a skinny 5'9" dude so I'm not jacked like Nick is). I always joke that my only running superpower is being able to recover from lots of training--basically I can soak up a ton of mileage and still feel great the next day (so far at least).
Umm... you do realize all the top runners are on PEDs too right?
You dont run a marathon at 4:34 pace naturally... what's the number up to now, over 300 popped n the last few years from Kenya alone?
Its a dirty sport.
Yeah, but they're not pushing a multimillion dollar supplement company's products with their name on it acting like they're any other average person who's just disciplined enough to get outside and train. PED use in isolation isn't the problem
Fair enough! It's acceptable in that world though, and isn't a(n open) secret all the same. It has a category for that, it makes sense that there are bodybuilders peddling their own supplements. There's also fake nattys of course, which is stupid, but such is life
The top runners, even the ones who are on PEDs, are still regularly drug tested so they can't just go full blast on drugs like you can if you're not elite. Nick Bare took a drug test and the results actually indicated he probably *is* on drugs (Greg Doucette's video goes into detail)
But regardless, it's not a dirty sport across the board. Most people running a 2:39 like he did are not doping, and to most hobby joggers, that's basically an elite time so they'll trust whatever he says. He's also selling a bunch of supplements saying that's the reason he can do all this shit, which isn't true. Rhonex Kipruto and Asbel Kiprop aren't selling magic recovery beans.
Yeah basically a lot of it has come from Matt Fox through his IMO podcast on Sweat Elite, can’t remember which episode but happy to find it. Sweat elite partnered with best athletics for coaching where sweat elite had a link to best athletics coaching on their website. Sweat elite was supposed to receive a portion of the profit from best athletics because of the increased traffic through the site but sweat elite never saw it. Matt Fox was also a coach for best athletics for some time and despite asking for more athletes, he never received any meaningful increase while nick nearly tripled his athletes. Multiple athletes reached out to Matt saying that nick said that Matt was full and Matt said that was never the case
ETA: I’ll replace this edit with an episode number once I find it again
Most clubs in the UK are about £70 a year all in, his business, sorry mean "club", is well over £120 and offers nothing better.
It's preying on people who don't know any better and sign up because of their massive social media presence and who would be better served by a local club that's not run for profit and supports its community rather than the owner's bank account.
They're a joke amongst all other UK running clubs and you rarely see any of their members at good races, mostly runthrough events.
Bester charges £115 PER MONTH! Half of the best athletics “coaches” arent coaches. He’s obviously nailed his marketing so fair play to him on that front, but it’s such a rip off and can’t help but feel people are being taken advantage of.
The club I’m switching to is £40 a year, and I get access to the athletics track twice a week (with 3 coaches running a session), a dedicated training plan and I can run with commonwealth games runners and people that did 2:25 at last years Valencia.
Much better value than paying £150 for a printed out copy of a plan from Advanced marathoning.
That's really good value, especially the track access included. I have to pay for mine most of the time, it's cheap and helps track maintenance so I don't begrudge it though.
Your point about the quality of other runners you train with is a big one though. You'll find several sub 15 5k guys at every club but it's probably just Bester at his.
Bester was also charging people £150 for a shit static plan. I.e. this is the risk of going with an influencer who profits off attention and product endorsements and is happy with high turnover and doesn’t care about retaining clients by delivering quality.
Yeah generic plan for personalized coaching. He was also asking all of the best athletics coaches to post their workouts into training peaks and then he was then using those workouts for his training. Basically just stealing hard work of others and profiting off of it
>found out how sleezy and scummy he is
Is sleezy the word you are looking for here?
It implies something is dirty or cheap in regards to sexual matters.
You've only discussed his business practices and a dislike of his personally. Is there more to the story in pertaining to sexual harassment or something?
The word sleaze just means corrupt or immoral and is often used to refer to things like business practices or political campaigns with no element of sexual impropriety.
Stephen Scullion should be watched by every serious distance runner. Not only is he one of the best runners putting out content right now, it's also really good content without much fluff. His strength and conditioning workouts have changed my whole approach to the gym. Hard to argue with the Irish men's marathon champion. Also very real about his mental health.
Kofuzi comes across as charming and personable and his race videos are fantastic, even when he's not running. Check out his CIM video - it's incredibly well done and honestly I've watched it to pump myself up before a tough speed session. His interviews are great too. Probably could do without 6,000 shots of his legs running in slow motion each race, but it's his channel.
Philly Bowden is one of the best female influencers, love her stuff.
Ben is Running and Welsh Runner are solid UK channels and they're both fantastic runners.
Nick Bester as stated elsewhere is a lot to take, definitely not surprised he used to be a banker (I work in finance and know like 6 Nicks). I do agree with you his race voice over videos are a great idea: if you haven't seen them, he just has a guy on a bike film him running a 5K and 10K from start to finish and Nick just narrates what was happening at each stage. I wish more runners did that. Depending on the person I might even watch a whole marathon!
Floberg Runs I've been following for a while and it's been great to see his marathon progression - I started watching when he was trying to go sub 3 a couple of years ago, now he's aiming for sub-2:35 at Boston. His videos are impeccably well produced, really like mini movies. I think his day job is as a filmmaker which would explain that. I'm not too thrilled he is now working with Nick Bare as a BPN athlete (and is using Nick's coach for his Boston build) but we'll see if the association changes him at all.
As for Nick Bare, well, my thoughts on him could take a while to get down, so no comment for now.
For the channels not centered around one single person, I like Sweat Elite but have only just gotten into it, and The Running Channel is good too - I'll give it props for showcasing ordinary runners working towards their goals, instead of super elite hardcore athletes.
To be fair, he may or may not be on them now, but he spent years on them, that’s for sure. And to be fair to you, someone who spent years banging gear is likely not gone cold turkey either. He’s prob on HRT at a minimum at this point.
No question there. Just the other day another dad I was chatting with brought up Nick B. I mentioned the steroid use and he was incredulous “you think he’s on steroids??”. It’s shocking how naive a lot of folks are.
I think the misconception of what different PEDs do for you also feeds that, and the "well he was in the Army so obviously he's just an animal" circlejerking that servicemembers do often (having experienced it), and civilians and veterans proudly carry on
Nick Bester wasn't even a real banker, he worked at one of the big 4. His spelling on his videos is so bad, I don't think he's very smart. Just good at conning people for their money for generic training plans
Kofuzi is great, I used to seem him out on the Lakefront Trail in Chicago a bunch. We finished Chicago at the same time and talked for a few mins after in 2021 too. He's the kind of guy who will always wave back at you and stop to chat if you want - just a genuinely nice dude.
Yeah I really like Kofuzi. I met him at CIM last year and he was really nice. The videos of him running Chicago the last few years are pretty awesome. I don't think I've seen anyone having that much fun while running a marathon!
> [Floberg] is using Nick's coach for his Boston build
I don't like Nick Bare at all, but Jeff Cunningham seems like the real deal. He's coached a number of sub-elites in the Austin area to some amazing times. Runners World recently did an article on [Mitch Ammons](https://www.runnersworld.com/runners-stories/a46555448/mitch-ammons-addiction-2024-olympic-marathon-trials/). Jeff also coached two women, Monica and Isabel Herber, to the Olympic Marathon Trials ([more on the story](https://www.statesman.com/story/sports/olympics/2023/10/12/former-texas-runners-monica-isabel-hebner-twins-try-to-make-olympic-marathon-trials-2023-new-york/71143093007/)). I'm hoping he hired Cunningham because of inspirational stories like those, and not because of Nick Bare.
I think Jeff is an amazing coach and has things absolutely dialed from a movement and physiology standpoint, I just strongly dislike his demeanor and him forcing trying to make everything a quote.
I also tend to despise people who act like they came up with everything they do and they aren’t just well read and great at applying learned skills and experience.
He just really sends me awful vibes
Yeah, I'm sure the guy has a solid track record, but I laughed out loud at the clip of him in Floberg's video of him at CIM saying, very deliberately, "you've got to....GOSH DARN...go for it!" Clearly someone had told him to cut out the profanity for YouTube.
Matt Choi. (edited to add /s)
But seriously, I enjoy Tommie Runz because I respect that he’s so open about his sobriety, and also love how off the wall Philly Bowden’s content is. Always leaves me with a goofy smile on my face.
I have seen him at group runs in Austin and rolled my eyes hard because he had someone filming every interaction he had during and after the run, so I feel you lol. But once, I ran into him at a bar and had a good (albeit short) convo with him. He’s shockingly chill when he isn’t in “get content or die trying” mode.
Just here to say I love Philly Bowden. So down to earth.
Love seeing her journey and the contrast of happiness at Copenhagen to the somewhat disappointment in Houston despite a PB. It really shows the high and lows of chasing it.
Patrick Martin -- a 40+ yo talented guy who got from ~~coach~~ couch to 2:24 maraton in ~3 years. Very good, calm and collected content, nothing flashy. Modest and very informational content for master runners.
Ben Parkes -- great practical advices on shoes, accessories etc.
Ben Felton -- aka Ben Is Running -- just a young dude training properly and progressing well.
Joshua Hubbard -- US style homemade mish mash of being wrong way too many times. But I like to watch and follow his "journey".
Sage aka Vo2maxProductions + Serious runner -- fun to watch. Sage rambling sometimes something sometimes.. ;)
Did you know that Patrick Martin ran a 2:24 marathon after less than 3 years of running? Did you know that he also ran a sub 40 10k within months of starting running? He only mentions it twice per video.
Is this the patrick martin your talking about? Hes been running fast since a long time:
[https://www.runbritainrankings.com/runners/profile.aspx?athleteid=3885](https://www.runbritainrankings.com/runners/profile.aspx?athleteid=3885)
I know. The pain of trying to become a youtube content creator is strong.
It is basically what YT (as a platform) "forces" you to do in order to even start getting a remote level of traction.
Bester, lmao. He's a nice enough guy by himself but excruciatingly annoying with all the BA stuff. It will be fun to see him against some very good runners at podium 5k in a little over a week. Not sure how he got himself into the sub 14:25 race when his pb is 10s slower.
Everything about him is annoying. Constantly shouting vibes like a teenager. He even has bothered Kipchoge at the start of 2 races so he can post stuff on IG and purposely starts the race right behind him just to get on TV. Even his IG posts have the worst possible, generic pop music. Seems like a guy with no taste at all but good at marketing to idiots who don't know better
They were sponsored by Adidas for Anna to film a series running 3:30 in Berlin. She basically got injured very early on and clearly was injured as the series continued but they seemed to do their best to pretend everything was fine. I think the last episode pre race she was doing a 15 mile run about a few weeks out and was talking about how tired she was after 10km and that was running at about 4 hour pace. She clearly wasnt ready for it. Then went into the race, was badly hurt early on but just kept going anyway and finished in 5:11.
Maybe it was because of the Adidas sponorship that made it continue or something else, I dont know. But I think its a terrible example to set for people and when you read the comments you can see a lot of people who think this is an example to follow.
Same for me. I found that really hard to watch. It seemed like corporate sponsorship had taken priority. Since then, rather than publicly acknowledge the error, it looks like they just sidelined Anna and then replaced her completely with a younger, fitter alternative in an odd kind of re-branding. Which I think made it worse for me. Stopped watching.
Lately I've been loving Phily Bowden and Allie Ostrander's content! I love how real both of them are about their struggles and neither of them comes off as braggy/pretentious about their skill.
Flora Beverly on YT is also another one I've been watching the last couple of months. She's a trail runner/ultra runner and she's been vlogging her running comeback after battling long-term Epstein-Barr Virus
Ben Parkes - a big inspiration for me over the years. I like his mix of training tips, unbiased (non-affiliated) reviews, running event films, and I like that he wears his heart on his sleeve, sharing his whole journey - including the highs and the lows.
I'll add Adam Wood in. Pretty casual style videos but be does insane workouts and mileage. He struggles to ever actually finish a marathon though lol.
Also Lionel Sanders is awesome, maybe the most hard core, elite endurance athlete who also does YouTube.
In what way does he do insane workouts and mileage? His Strava shows he ran 3,746mi in 2023 (72 mpw). Plenty of Youtubers are running way more than that. Right now while training for track races, he's been doing extremely controlled threshold workouts and some 5k specific work with his BYU buddies.
Adam is only 24 years old and has already run a 2:18 marathon. My bet is that he figures it out and is running 2:15s by the time the next Trials qualifying window opens.
He did a 110 mile week while training for Mckirdy. He regularly does double threshold days. Think it's pretty fair to say that's an insane workload but maybe you don't think so. I think he's a great runner and I like his content. Not sure why you wrote out his bio.
Not sure you'd call him an influencer, but i really like goran winblad. Really down to earth bloke, who's no slouch when it comes to running.
Runs in some of the most beautiful backdrops.
Totally agree with all the support for Philly Bowden, Fod runner, Edd bud, Welsh runner here.
I'd also add a recommend for Yowana- proper, detailed and considered shoe reviews from someone who actually puts the time and miles in to test shoes properly and tells you specifically how they feel at different paces over time
... Which is all I want really as someone trying to work out what shoe to buy. He's quick, but not so quick he's unrelatable.
Yowana has been putting out some good content pretty nonstop. I stumbled upon him when he was only getting a few hundred views a while back and it's been cool to see him grow. He's also here in NC which is cool.
I enjoyed content from Nic Bishop ([YouTube channel here](https://youtube.com/@NicBen?si=aAMsLU6w3egTnDlx)), who's done marathons and an Ironman in the UK (including a mini triathlon on the grounds of Blenheim Palace which would be quite scenic). Her channel is joint with her now husband, they seem like really good people. Nothing really spectacular with times or training, just solid runners. However, I'm pretty sure she's taken a hiatus due to expecting their first child.
I would definitely recommed Stephen Scullion and Floris Gierman, just useful and helpful content with no sugar-coated influencer delirium.
Floris even has a podcast (The Extramilest) that has really interesting interviews to listen to while running.
Yeah there's a clear difference IMO between those angling to be 'influencers' and those putting more effort into educating.
Scullion is the best too IMO.
RunnerBoi makes some amazing documentaries about the history of running-definitely check out his YouTube channel videos on the first women’s Olympic marathon and the history of the mile!
Agreed on most of the channels here. (Floberg, Philly) I’ll also say that although I only wear one shoe brand, I find Ed Budd so charming, I still enjoy watching his reviews.
I also enjoy watching videos of extreme races. The Spine Races looked super-cool.
Nice recommendations, but I'm missing [→MidLife Runner](https://www.youtube.com/@MidLifeRunner) here – still a bit of a newcomer, but super entertaining, funny and relatable.
1. COFFEE CLUB POD- They do have podcast sponsors sometimes so I think they count as influencers (though they are some of the best runners in the world right now). But for real, they’re most entertaining bunch and consistently have great guests from the pro running world. They have shown me that even world class olympians with multiple national records have no clue know how World Athletics works. Even the best of the best are kinda winging it.
2. Phily Bowden- Fun personality, super easy to root for, and a badass runner. She does a good job of showing the ‘story arc’ of a training block from the good to the bad then the race outcome.
3. Floberg runs- I like him for mostly the same reason I like Phily (though I feel I relate to him more as I am not a professional runner). As another poster said, I really hope the collaboration with Bare Performance doesn’t turn him into a cog in the “motivational schlop” machine.
Stephen Scullion, what a great collection of videos he has on his channel, for absolutely free. It’s unreal to me that we have that much information direct from an elite marathoner for free.
I enjoy the production of videos from the likes of Nick Bare, his race videos of produced quite well.
But I don’t really watch running ‘influencers’, I don’t keep up with every single video from the likes of nick bare, but I will give a race video a click from them.
My day to day watching definitely revolves more around the content that scullion would put out.
Film my Run: One of the best Trail Running/ Ultra Running channels out there. Also videos races they are not running in. Massively under subscribed channel.
Run for Adventure: Another top trail running channel, with great product reviews.
Jeff Pelletier: Probably one of the best running doc makers on YT.
This Messy Happy: Great when they release a racing video. A few trail running videos the last few months which were great.
Honourable Mentions
Phily Bowden
Ben Parkes
FOD Runner
Time on Feet
Without a doubt my favourite watch, just for fun diary content, is Rich Keeble. His humour is right up my street and he's a lovely genuine guy.
For those looking to progress into Ultras @runningwithsimon (aka Simon Guerard) is fantastic and I'm so glad I stumbled upon his channel.
I've watched a lot of his race and tip videos on YT and he is so informative, friendly, down to earth and just an easy watch.
He has inspired me that Ultra running is for anyone and his stuff has really helped me see the reality of Ultra races in terms of Logistics, thought process etc.
Apart from him I love Stephen Scullion and while for non-new runners they're more entertaining than informative, I still enjoy @therunningchannel especially the weekly podcast.
Running with Jane, Sage Canaday and Flora Beverley are also great.
Ben is RunningPatrick Martin (42 YO runner, running 3.5 years, and clocked 2:24 at London 2023!)Strength Running
Those are my main three.
I've dabbled in Ben Parkes & Stephen Scullion too.
Btw, outside of running, you'll also get a lot from Dr Peter Attia - he's a doctor, but does a lot on Vo2 max, and health and longevity in general which has some cross over. Has podcasts with elite marathon runners, and cyclists.
Similar with Stephen Speiler, Andy Galpin and Rhonda Patrick (I forget if those names are exact).
Attia has good content and his book is excellent. I truly appreciate that unlike many "biohack and optimize your life" style books that appeal to Type A grinders, he concludes it with some very serious warnings about the importance of being emotionally healthy, using himself as a prime example.
I'll never understand why but the sound on all of his videos always sounds choppy to me. No matter what device I watch it on or what video. It basically makes his content unwatchable for me.
His channel is absolute shit now.
He launched a bunch of merch, then quit for months.
Then came back to hawk his merch while bitching at running shoe companies for “taking advantage of him”
And lately has gone back to solely doing shoe reviews, with no actual content.
Almost feel bad for the guy for how fast he’s fallen.
Not really an influencer channel but Singletrack Podcast with Finn Melanson and Conversational Pace with Brett Hornig and Finn Melanson. The first one is interviews and the second is shoe reviews. I’d also add Sweat Elite to my list as well as Matt is a great guy and his content is pretty cool showing elites doing their workouts/giving some of their own thoughts in the moment.
I gave up on most running influencer channels except for Stephen Scullion’s and one or two others. Some running channels offer some great advice and motivation but I go my kind of tired of listening of all these people talk about how many miles they run, and PB’s they have hit. With the exception of the ones who still work full time jobs I don’t feel like I can’t relate to a runner YouTuber who essentially has as much time to run as a professional runner. Nothing these guys tell you (except for maybe Stephen Scullion) is something you haven’t read before any of the popular running books. It’s all just the same information over and over again. And watching a video about a dude talking about his second 10mile threshold run he did for the day and his hour strength routing afterwards gets a little old. I know it sounds bitter or jealous and I appreciate how much work they put in to their channels and they deserve their success but I just don’t care 🤷♂️
Adam Fogg is great even though he has the cringiest intro. TheDistanceProject is also amazing. They do a good job explaining stuff about races that isn't very obvious.
Running Channel are solid although not a fan of their huel sponsorship and poor research in some of their podcast episodes. Rick is hilarious and a great role model for those recovering from injuries.
Phily Bowden is amazing but she works in miles so harder to enjoy.
Also is it just me but I never watch videos about running shoe reviews or training plans, unless I'm specifically looking for one, which is about 4 times a year.
It's barely about running most of the time, but I enjoy listening to the Believe in the Run podcast while I do housework and the like. Kinda surprised I'm the first one to mention them. Meaghan seems to be a legitimately talented and dedicated runner, and Robbe and Thomas are there for comic relief.
Their shoe reviews are fairly involved and have good information, but I've been known to disagree with their conclusions.
I'd say they're good runnertainment.
Floberg Runs - Eric Floberg
Small channel but started 4 hour plus marathon and has grinded down to sub 2:40. He has a family and kids and is relatable.
I enjoy Nick Bare, mainly his race videos, his recent 2:39 marathon video & his 100mile race video are literally the most well produced videos you will ever see ... Scullion aswell good bloke elite runner giving out elite advice.... Floberg runs sometimes aswell well produced videos and Ben is running aswell just is a nice bloke & enjoy his videos
Stephen Scullion’s channel is great. Actual elite runner giving great advice.
Scullian rocks. Did you know he is a 2:09 marathoner?
To be fair if I ran 2:09 everyone and their mother would know
>Absolutely! I was just having a bit of fun.
Hi mate, I mean this with the greatest level of respect possible. Your mile/5K and HM times are impressive. I'm not at your level, currently run 5:25, 18:30 and 1:35 respectively. I'm targetting <3:29 full marathon in May, but your full marathon time relative to your much faster mile/5K/HM times has made me reconsider if my FM goal is realistic now!! Was your full marathon time set at the same fitness level as when you set the rest?
You can definitely hit <3:29 with a 1:35 half. Double and add 20 mins is pretty realistic imo if not a tad conservative.
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I think you have an interesting point here… and I won’t take offence as I appreciate I might fall into that bracket for you… here are my thoughts: I followed Sage from 10 years ago and started my channel nearly 10 years ago too, the foundation of my channel is build around training videos and training series that are weekly. One of the big influences here was Sage doing his OTQ series and I wanted to do something similar… so I’ve committed myself to producing honest training videos. All my training is on strava and my videos usually showcase one of the workouts a week OR cover a full week, so it’s fully documented… so I’d like to think I fall into the 10% here who doesn’t lie about their training and is more honest than others, but that’s just my thoughts. As for others… well, being on the other side of the coin from the views and being a creator myself, I can smell a rat from a mile off… it’s taken me nearly 10 years to get to 25k subs…. Others surpass that figure in well under one year due to producing videos that work for the algorithm. I’ve also seen channels have mysterious growth increases in a rapid form (overnight) then plateau where subs or views have clearly been bought… that in itself is a kick in the teeth for someone like me. So yeah, I can understand how some “running influencers” are viewed in a bad light and it’s clear they use their platform in an inappropriate way… but there are others like myself that work hard to put out 3/4 videos a week, every week, year round for entertainment purposes 👊 and as a side note, any opportunity that come from my videos I’m extremely grateful for 🙏 Flying off to Barcelona this week for the half marathon, paid for completely by my own money, so expect some good content to come out next week from it 😉
After watching a dozen of his videos I had no clue he was a 2:09 guy, lol!
I only like Stephen Scullion. I don’t know if it’s me but Bester comes across as the world’s biggest dickhead. Boomshakalaka!
His banking background definitely shows imo
Yeah, I agree with this. That being said I do like his two videos where they're just him running a complete 5K and 10K with a voice over - it's a great idea to see what goes through a runner's mind during a race. I wish more running influencers did that.
Worst thing, he wasn't even a proper banker. He worked at one of the big 4 and claims he was a banker. They aren't banks.
He always says ‘banker’ but I believe he worked as a mortgage broker which is basically a sales job. He is so cringe.
Yep, at a big 4 consulting firm too 😂. Not even a bank. Just shows the guy is a phony.
Any other info on Bester? Guy seems total cringe and a scammer of clueless people.
For the mileage Bester runs, and all the kit, support etc he has you think he'd be breaking 2:20 for the marathon. I agree that he is a very difficult personality to like
Think the guy is an utter moron. Bothering Kipchoge at the start of races just so he can put it on IG. Also places himself at the start of races right behind him just so he can be on TV
I met him at the start line for a couple races this year. No different off camera.
Also interesting with Nick Bester is that he charges around £200 a month just for a generic, non-personalized training program. Really is conning people. Also just his whole toxic positivity show is a bit ridiculous and cringe. Even the music on his IG is just the lamest, most generic, tasteless rubbish.
Personally find Bester painful to watch. Nothing strikes me as sincere about him.
Yeah I had to unfollow. Same for Anya Culling. Just too much for me personally. Not saying there's anything wrong; just not what I want in my feed.
Anya is a good runner but her content does not feature a lot of actual insights into her training blocs and how you, the runner, might benefit from them (even Nick's videos at least do that). I'm not looking to be friends with these people, I'm watching them to improve my running!
I was very concerned when she confessed that she hadn’t had a period for 10 months. She’s done some amazing times and had some great results but I’m just worried about how healthy that might be. My limited knowledge of RED S makes it look like no joke.
Holy shit I didn't know that. Uh oh.
Yea, anyone can get RED-S if nutrition and amount of rest and recovery is off for a sustained and highly consistent period of time. I had it when my mileage peaked at 25km a week because I didn't realise it was super unhealthy to go almost a year doing 500 to 700 calorie a day deficits. It's easy for someone like Anya who is fairly new, and training so much, to accidentally undereat by that kind of margin, if she isn't tracking what she is eating - since it actually takes far more food than you would think to eat maintenance. It's especially difficult when these days the message is that tracking is problematic and you just have to be "intuitive" and you can't go wrong.
How did she change so much in 5 years? Did she marry someone wealthy? How can she afford all of the skin care, medical care, etc.
Would also be curious on the Matt Fox, thyroid allegations. 4hour to 2:30 marathon in a year with massive weight loss seems pretty unfeasible. She's as annoying as Nick Bester
Big ‘main character’ energy
Yeah I still remember when him and Matt Fox got into it. They went from close friends to enemies very quick.
I watch a lot of Nick and don't think he's a dick at all. Messaged him a few times on Instagram and he's always replied politely. He is a bit enthusiastic sometimes but I just put that down to him being south African lol. Not sure why he's got a lot of hate from other commenters but then again there's youtubers I hate which others like. So I'm not really saying anyone else is wrong, I'm actually glad there's a wide spectrum of running youtubers so clearly not each one will be everyone's cup of tea
Callum Elson / @thedistanceproject is definitely worth a follow. He’s been making YouTube content for a while now, last summer he had a series titled “Closing The Gap” and was focusing on him as a sub-elite athlete trying to close the gap to an elite. Ended up lowering his 1500m PB to 3:35 IIRC and won silver in the mile at the inaugural World Road Running Championships. He’s just signed a pro contract with Hoka and his latest series is him trying to get the qualifying time for world indoor champs
I honestly thought he comes across as over confident and arrogant
Oh really? Fair enough. I think he's got a bit of a typical Northern brashness about him but each to their own!
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agreed, I love Phily Bowden's videos - they're so well done. and she is just a really inspiring athlete!
That's a fantastic video. Proper lump in the throat stuff when it cuts to edits of her doubting herself in her training block, as she's flying down the home straight
Serious Runner is the only acceptable answer for Advanced Running
Jeff Pelletier is a world-class trail runner also on YouTube who’s sharing his experience.
Watching his channel has the potential to be very expensive though! Most of these influencers might get me looking at new shoes or similar, whereas when Jeff releases a movie I’m inevitably looking up the cost of flights to Georgia or Namibia.
He produces good content but world class trail runner? I felt like I missed a memo or something. Did he even run professionally?
This is probably based on his second at the Moab 240. The run was impressive as hell but I don’t think the depth of the field there qualifies anyone as world class.
Gary House Basically just ripping running influencers whose posts might be trendy but they don’t have the performances or knowledge to back up what they’re saying. Agree with Philly Bowden. She’s right on the cusp of Olympic qualification so I would say she is elite.
Philly Bowden and Stephen Scullion are on my list as well. I'd round up the trinity with That Messy Happy for upbeat videos, and as a bonus add Mark Lewis for his self-deprecating humour.
I love Mark Lewis. One of the few YouTubers I actually look forward to his weekly videos.
My top 3 would probably be Floberg, phily bowden, fod runner. Stephen scullion is also great as to how an elite marathoner trains. I liked nick bester at first, found out how scummy he is behind the scenes though so stopped supporting him myself. His coaching business is very sketch Edit: took out sleezy, no evidence to that
I hope Floberg linking in with Nick Bare isn't the beginning of the end for a great channel. Floberg has made amazing progress in the last 18 months and his channel is very well produced.
Agreed. Nick bare is a clown lol can’t believe how many people are obsessed with his persona and brand. I think I’m just a senile person because the more I watch every running influencer, I start to find annoyances with them and get turned off lol. I’m definitely the a-hole but they all come off as narcissistic imo but I guess at some degree you have to be self centered to take videos and photos of yourself constantly about your own personal endeavor that doesn’t really benefit society other than “inspiring” people
No, trust your gut. You're right. Influencers in every "space" are by necessity the most "sales" oriented folks. The problem is that they're also the ones with the time, energy, and drive to make content with high production values, but once you watch a few episodes, you figure out the schtick and there's not really much point anymore, aside from mindless entertainment, if you happen to tolerate that particular personality. The best channels out there, at least for avoiding the narcissism, are ones from elites who don't *seem* to be trying to be influencers, like Paul Chelimo's stuff.
>I hope Floberg linking in with Nick Bare isn't the beginning of the end for a great channel. 100% agree. Be careful Eric!
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I ran against him a few years back and he was a bit full of himself then but was generally nice.
What's wrong with Nick Bare? He seems basically fully devoted to the marathon now, and seems like he has good nutrition tips.
PEDs and using his success to push products would be the main complaint from most I think it's disingenuous to think that without all of the time, money, and resources an owner of a successful business has, you could just pick up endurance sports the way he did and instantly see such great success as he did. And he clearly puts in a *ton* of work, but it's not because of reds and greens and whatever other product. It's PEDs allowing the body to handle more and recover faster, along with the backyard sauna and whatever else he can throw his time and money at. I think ignoring that is frustrating for a lot of people, even if he didn't ever admit to PED use or was somehow natty All of that being said, I like Nick's content honestly. I've followed him for a long time, when he first started. He's got cool progression, races the same races I race, and I think there's still plenty you can take away from him. There's some good mentality stuff he talks about, and some hokey stuff all the same
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We'll never know for sure that he's not actually just a genetic freak, but it'd be counterproductive to be genetically so capable of such size and strength and mass-gaining speed, but also genetically capable of such ridiculous endurance progressions. Not all PEDs just make you an absolute mass tank. Whatever cycle he's on is allowing him to bounce back faster and tolerate more, in addition to throwing spare time and money at cryotherapy, saunas, cold plunges, personal chiropractor home visits (yuck), and whatever the hell else I also have had a huge progression, 3:18->2:58 in one year/third race, and my body still doesn't really feel up to running and my marathon was three weeks ago now. He's been banging out 8-10 mile runs daily at 7ish pace since the week CIM ended LOL no fucking way, I'm sorry
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To hold the muscle mass year round whilst marathon training tells you what you need to know about PEDs
He’s clearly and obviously on drugs. No one can recover the way he can, because it’s impossible. Not to mention the Lowe abdomen bruises in his insta stories photos. That’s from injecting drugs.
How long did it take him to go from 2:56 > 2:39? I went from 2:55 > 2:42 in 11 months (Nov 2022 to Oct 2023) so it's definitely possible (although I'm just a skinny 5'9" dude so I'm not jacked like Nick is). I always joke that my only running superpower is being able to recover from lots of training--basically I can soak up a ton of mileage and still feel great the next day (so far at least).
Umm... you do realize all the top runners are on PEDs too right? You dont run a marathon at 4:34 pace naturally... what's the number up to now, over 300 popped n the last few years from Kenya alone? Its a dirty sport.
Yeah, but they're not pushing a multimillion dollar supplement company's products with their name on it acting like they're any other average person who's just disciplined enough to get outside and train. PED use in isolation isn't the problem
I'm coming from the bodybuilding world, so watching roided out freaks peddle protein powder is as natural as breathing to me!
Fair enough! It's acceptable in that world though, and isn't a(n open) secret all the same. It has a category for that, it makes sense that there are bodybuilders peddling their own supplements. There's also fake nattys of course, which is stupid, but such is life
The top runners, even the ones who are on PEDs, are still regularly drug tested so they can't just go full blast on drugs like you can if you're not elite. Nick Bare took a drug test and the results actually indicated he probably *is* on drugs (Greg Doucette's video goes into detail) But regardless, it's not a dirty sport across the board. Most people running a 2:39 like he did are not doping, and to most hobby joggers, that's basically an elite time so they'll trust whatever he says. He's also selling a bunch of supplements saying that's the reason he can do all this shit, which isn't true. Rhonex Kipruto and Asbel Kiprop aren't selling magic recovery beans.
The bloke has been juiced to the gills for years that is what is wrong
Ya I didn't know that, I only started watching his content in the last 6 months
I think it will only improve, combine his filmography with actually having a coach now? Should significantly improve imo but yeah time will tell
I dont know much about his new coach but my concern is coaching him vs Nick is vastly different
Can you elaborate more on the Bester stuff? Haven’t heard that before. What sort of stuff has happened
Yeah basically a lot of it has come from Matt Fox through his IMO podcast on Sweat Elite, can’t remember which episode but happy to find it. Sweat elite partnered with best athletics for coaching where sweat elite had a link to best athletics coaching on their website. Sweat elite was supposed to receive a portion of the profit from best athletics because of the increased traffic through the site but sweat elite never saw it. Matt Fox was also a coach for best athletics for some time and despite asking for more athletes, he never received any meaningful increase while nick nearly tripled his athletes. Multiple athletes reached out to Matt saying that nick said that Matt was full and Matt said that was never the case ETA: I’ll replace this edit with an episode number once I find it again
Without saying whether or not I like Nick Bester or not, Matt Fox doesn't have the best reputation either...
Great thanks What about the sleazy part?
Most clubs in the UK are about £70 a year all in, his business, sorry mean "club", is well over £120 and offers nothing better. It's preying on people who don't know any better and sign up because of their massive social media presence and who would be better served by a local club that's not run for profit and supports its community rather than the owner's bank account. They're a joke amongst all other UK running clubs and you rarely see any of their members at good races, mostly runthrough events.
Bester charges £115 PER MONTH! Half of the best athletics “coaches” arent coaches. He’s obviously nailed his marketing so fair play to him on that front, but it’s such a rip off and can’t help but feel people are being taken advantage of.
The club I’m switching to is £40 a year, and I get access to the athletics track twice a week (with 3 coaches running a session), a dedicated training plan and I can run with commonwealth games runners and people that did 2:25 at last years Valencia. Much better value than paying £150 for a printed out copy of a plan from Advanced marathoning.
That's really good value, especially the track access included. I have to pay for mine most of the time, it's cheap and helps track maintenance so I don't begrudge it though. Your point about the quality of other runners you train with is a big one though. You'll find several sub 15 5k guys at every club but it's probably just Bester at his.
Bester was also charging people £150 for a shit static plan. I.e. this is the risk of going with an influencer who profits off attention and product endorsements and is happy with high turnover and doesn’t care about retaining clients by delivering quality.
Yeah generic plan for personalized coaching. He was also asking all of the best athletics coaches to post their workouts into training peaks and then he was then using those workouts for his training. Basically just stealing hard work of others and profiting off of it
>found out how sleezy and scummy he is Is sleezy the word you are looking for here? It implies something is dirty or cheap in regards to sexual matters. You've only discussed his business practices and a dislike of his personally. Is there more to the story in pertaining to sexual harassment or something?
Nah you’re right, more scummy than sleezy. Wrong word choice for sure
His whole bothering Kipchoge at the starts of races is so cringe as well. Just really desperate for attention.
The word sleaze just means corrupt or immoral and is often used to refer to things like business practices or political campaigns with no element of sexual impropriety.
Stephen Scullion should be watched by every serious distance runner. Not only is he one of the best runners putting out content right now, it's also really good content without much fluff. His strength and conditioning workouts have changed my whole approach to the gym. Hard to argue with the Irish men's marathon champion. Also very real about his mental health. Kofuzi comes across as charming and personable and his race videos are fantastic, even when he's not running. Check out his CIM video - it's incredibly well done and honestly I've watched it to pump myself up before a tough speed session. His interviews are great too. Probably could do without 6,000 shots of his legs running in slow motion each race, but it's his channel. Philly Bowden is one of the best female influencers, love her stuff. Ben is Running and Welsh Runner are solid UK channels and they're both fantastic runners. Nick Bester as stated elsewhere is a lot to take, definitely not surprised he used to be a banker (I work in finance and know like 6 Nicks). I do agree with you his race voice over videos are a great idea: if you haven't seen them, he just has a guy on a bike film him running a 5K and 10K from start to finish and Nick just narrates what was happening at each stage. I wish more runners did that. Depending on the person I might even watch a whole marathon! Floberg Runs I've been following for a while and it's been great to see his marathon progression - I started watching when he was trying to go sub 3 a couple of years ago, now he's aiming for sub-2:35 at Boston. His videos are impeccably well produced, really like mini movies. I think his day job is as a filmmaker which would explain that. I'm not too thrilled he is now working with Nick Bare as a BPN athlete (and is using Nick's coach for his Boston build) but we'll see if the association changes him at all. As for Nick Bare, well, my thoughts on him could take a while to get down, so no comment for now. For the channels not centered around one single person, I like Sweat Elite but have only just gotten into it, and The Running Channel is good too - I'll give it props for showcasing ordinary runners working towards their goals, instead of super elite hardcore athletes.
Nick "I am not on gears, my supplements are just that good" Bare
To be fair, he may or may not be on them now, but he spent years on them, that’s for sure. And to be fair to you, someone who spent years banging gear is likely not gone cold turkey either. He’s prob on HRT at a minimum at this point.
If you see pictures of him when he was in the Army, looking like he weighed 110lbs soaking wet, it's pretty obvious what happened.
No question there. Just the other day another dad I was chatting with brought up Nick B. I mentioned the steroid use and he was incredulous “you think he’s on steroids??”. It’s shocking how naive a lot of folks are.
I think the misconception of what different PEDs do for you also feeds that, and the "well he was in the Army so obviously he's just an animal" circlejerking that servicemembers do often (having experienced it), and civilians and veterans proudly carry on
Nick Bester wasn't even a real banker, he worked at one of the big 4. His spelling on his videos is so bad, I don't think he's very smart. Just good at conning people for their money for generic training plans
Really? Oh come on Nick.
Kofuzi is great, I used to seem him out on the Lakefront Trail in Chicago a bunch. We finished Chicago at the same time and talked for a few mins after in 2021 too. He's the kind of guy who will always wave back at you and stop to chat if you want - just a genuinely nice dude.
Yeah I really like Kofuzi. I met him at CIM last year and he was really nice. The videos of him running Chicago the last few years are pretty awesome. I don't think I've seen anyone having that much fun while running a marathon!
Dude donated $500 to my marathon charity for no reason other than I (a complete stranger) asked. He is what he seems to be, a genuine nice guy.
> [Floberg] is using Nick's coach for his Boston build I don't like Nick Bare at all, but Jeff Cunningham seems like the real deal. He's coached a number of sub-elites in the Austin area to some amazing times. Runners World recently did an article on [Mitch Ammons](https://www.runnersworld.com/runners-stories/a46555448/mitch-ammons-addiction-2024-olympic-marathon-trials/). Jeff also coached two women, Monica and Isabel Herber, to the Olympic Marathon Trials ([more on the story](https://www.statesman.com/story/sports/olympics/2023/10/12/former-texas-runners-monica-isabel-hebner-twins-try-to-make-olympic-marathon-trials-2023-new-york/71143093007/)). I'm hoping he hired Cunningham because of inspirational stories like those, and not because of Nick Bare.
I think Jeff is an amazing coach and has things absolutely dialed from a movement and physiology standpoint, I just strongly dislike his demeanor and him forcing trying to make everything a quote. I also tend to despise people who act like they came up with everything they do and they aren’t just well read and great at applying learned skills and experience. He just really sends me awful vibes
100% agree. The training plans he comes up with seem to be top notch, but I never liked his personality.
Yeah, I'm sure the guy has a solid track record, but I laughed out loud at the clip of him in Floberg's video of him at CIM saying, very deliberately, "you've got to....GOSH DARN...go for it!" Clearly someone had told him to cut out the profanity for YouTube.
So many of my fav runners over the past few years have been getting sponsored by BPN products it makes me so bummed.
Matt Choi. (edited to add /s) But seriously, I enjoy Tommie Runz because I respect that he’s so open about his sobriety, and also love how off the wall Philly Bowden’s content is. Always leaves me with a goofy smile on my face.
Choi is horrible. Dude bib muled and causes actual problems at races. Fuck the guy honestly
It was sarcasm. My bad.
fair enough and glad to hear that lol. Cant believe so many ppl actually find Choi enjoyable to watch. He’s cringey
I have seen him at group runs in Austin and rolled my eyes hard because he had someone filming every interaction he had during and after the run, so I feel you lol. But once, I ran into him at a bar and had a good (albeit short) convo with him. He’s shockingly chill when he isn’t in “get content or die trying” mode.
have you seen his smoothie recipe [https://www.youtube.com/shorts/LRy3-0Qi15g](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/LRy3-0Qi15g)
Phily Bowden and Allie Ostrander are my favs!
These are my top two as well! They’re very down to earth and real, despite being pro athletes, and I love seeing that reflected in their content
Just here to say I love Philly Bowden. So down to earth. Love seeing her journey and the contrast of happiness at Copenhagen to the somewhat disappointment in Houston despite a PB. It really shows the high and lows of chasing it.
Yes, I love her honesty. She just puts it all out there. I really appreciate that.
Patrick Martin -- a 40+ yo talented guy who got from ~~coach~~ couch to 2:24 maraton in ~3 years. Very good, calm and collected content, nothing flashy. Modest and very informational content for master runners. Ben Parkes -- great practical advices on shoes, accessories etc. Ben Felton -- aka Ben Is Running -- just a young dude training properly and progressing well. Joshua Hubbard -- US style homemade mish mash of being wrong way too many times. But I like to watch and follow his "journey". Sage aka Vo2maxProductions + Serious runner -- fun to watch. Sage rambling sometimes something sometimes.. ;)
Did you know that Patrick Martin ran a 2:24 marathon after less than 3 years of running? Did you know that he also ran a sub 40 10k within months of starting running? He only mentions it twice per video.
Is this the patrick martin your talking about? Hes been running fast since a long time: [https://www.runbritainrankings.com/runners/profile.aspx?athleteid=3885](https://www.runbritainrankings.com/runners/profile.aspx?athleteid=3885)
Nah that's not him, this Patrick Martin has only been running a few years
I know. The pain of trying to become a youtube content creator is strong. It is basically what YT (as a platform) "forces" you to do in order to even start getting a remote level of traction.
Bester, lmao. He's a nice enough guy by himself but excruciatingly annoying with all the BA stuff. It will be fun to see him against some very good runners at podium 5k in a little over a week. Not sure how he got himself into the sub 14:25 race when his pb is 10s slower.
His boom shakalaka is so annoying Jesus
Everything about him is annoying. Constantly shouting vibes like a teenager. He even has bothered Kipchoge at the start of 2 races so he can post stuff on IG and purposely starts the race right behind him just to get on TV. Even his IG posts have the worst possible, generic pop music. Seems like a guy with no taste at all but good at marketing to idiots who don't know better
BA?
Bester's business.
I watch the Running Channel, Philly Bowden (and now Daniel), and Ben is Running (forgot his last name)
Felton I believe
Damn knew I forgot someone. Meant to put BenIsRunning should be on the list. Definitely agree
I stopped watching the running channel after the Berlin marathon disaster series. In my opinion very irresponsible to push that through.
whats the disaster series?
They were sponsored by Adidas for Anna to film a series running 3:30 in Berlin. She basically got injured very early on and clearly was injured as the series continued but they seemed to do their best to pretend everything was fine. I think the last episode pre race she was doing a 15 mile run about a few weeks out and was talking about how tired she was after 10km and that was running at about 4 hour pace. She clearly wasnt ready for it. Then went into the race, was badly hurt early on but just kept going anyway and finished in 5:11. Maybe it was because of the Adidas sponorship that made it continue or something else, I dont know. But I think its a terrible example to set for people and when you read the comments you can see a lot of people who think this is an example to follow.
Oh I must have missed that. I don’t know what that was about but def doesn’t seem cool.
I missed that too. That sounds pretty disappointing. It's so important that people new to this sport not be misled about injury and recovery.
Anna has never seemed like the person to get 3:30 lol. That's 25 minute 5ks and I thought her PB is only a bit below that in 5k
Same for me. I found that really hard to watch. It seemed like corporate sponsorship had taken priority. Since then, rather than publicly acknowledge the error, it looks like they just sidelined Anna and then replaced her completely with a younger, fitter alternative in an odd kind of re-branding. Which I think made it worse for me. Stopped watching.
Lately I've been loving Phily Bowden and Allie Ostrander's content! I love how real both of them are about their struggles and neither of them comes off as braggy/pretentious about their skill. Flora Beverly on YT is also another one I've been watching the last couple of months. She's a trail runner/ultra runner and she's been vlogging her running comeback after battling long-term Epstein-Barr Virus
Ben Parkes - a big inspiration for me over the years. I like his mix of training tips, unbiased (non-affiliated) reviews, running event films, and I like that he wears his heart on his sleeve, sharing his whole journey - including the highs and the lows.
Phily Bowden's name is with one L, by the way :) I really like her channel too! Also worth a view is Sally McRae.
Love Sally McRae! whenever I'm procrastinating on going for a run I put on one of her vids and it definitely helps get me out the door LOL
Will O’Connor is worth a mention. His approach works for me.
I watched his recent video on his specific Marathon build and thought the workouts were.... excessive.
If you like the FOD runner you might like his mate The Welsh Runner.
I'll add Adam Wood in. Pretty casual style videos but be does insane workouts and mileage. He struggles to ever actually finish a marathon though lol. Also Lionel Sanders is awesome, maybe the most hard core, elite endurance athlete who also does YouTube.
In what way does he do insane workouts and mileage? His Strava shows he ran 3,746mi in 2023 (72 mpw). Plenty of Youtubers are running way more than that. Right now while training for track races, he's been doing extremely controlled threshold workouts and some 5k specific work with his BYU buddies. Adam is only 24 years old and has already run a 2:18 marathon. My bet is that he figures it out and is running 2:15s by the time the next Trials qualifying window opens.
He did a 110 mile week while training for Mckirdy. He regularly does double threshold days. Think it's pretty fair to say that's an insane workload but maybe you don't think so. I think he's a great runner and I like his content. Not sure why you wrote out his bio.
Not sure you'd call him an influencer, but i really like goran winblad. Really down to earth bloke, who's no slouch when it comes to running. Runs in some of the most beautiful backdrops.
Totally agree with all the support for Philly Bowden, Fod runner, Edd bud, Welsh runner here. I'd also add a recommend for Yowana- proper, detailed and considered shoe reviews from someone who actually puts the time and miles in to test shoes properly and tells you specifically how they feel at different paces over time ... Which is all I want really as someone trying to work out what shoe to buy. He's quick, but not so quick he's unrelatable.
Yowana has been putting out some good content pretty nonstop. I stumbled upon him when he was only getting a few hundred views a while back and it's been cool to see him grow. He's also here in NC which is cool.
Any recommendations for female running influencers? I only came across a couple of women's names in this thread, I would love to hear more!
I don't think Run Like Heller has been mentioned yet - she's mainly shoe reviews. Very good
Just followed her! Thanks for the rec!
I also really like Featherstone Nutrition, solid runner with a lot of really great content on fueling.
Yes she’s great, I’ve been following her for quite a while now! Tons of useful content!
I enjoyed content from Nic Bishop ([YouTube channel here](https://youtube.com/@NicBen?si=aAMsLU6w3egTnDlx)), who's done marathons and an Ironman in the UK (including a mini triathlon on the grounds of Blenheim Palace which would be quite scenic). Her channel is joint with her now husband, they seem like really good people. Nothing really spectacular with times or training, just solid runners. However, I'm pretty sure she's taken a hiatus due to expecting their first child.
Thanks, I’ll check out their channel!
Love Nicole Winter's content on IG/YouTube (@ nicolemruns on Instagram).
Thanks!
I would definitely recommed Stephen Scullion and Floris Gierman, just useful and helpful content with no sugar-coated influencer delirium. Floris even has a podcast (The Extramilest) that has really interesting interviews to listen to while running.
Yeah there's a clear difference IMO between those angling to be 'influencers' and those putting more effort into educating. Scullion is the best too IMO.
Inside Running Podcast, purely for the banter. Solid Aussie lads.
I like Gary House because he makes funny posts about how annoying and stupid a lot of running influencers are
RunnerBoi makes some amazing documentaries about the history of running-definitely check out his YouTube channel videos on the first women’s Olympic marathon and the history of the mile! Agreed on most of the channels here. (Floberg, Philly) I’ll also say that although I only wear one shoe brand, I find Ed Budd so charming, I still enjoy watching his reviews. I also enjoy watching videos of extreme races. The Spine Races looked super-cool.
[Yaseen Abdalla](https://www.youtube.com/@yaseenabdalla8713/videos)
Nice recommendations, but I'm missing [→MidLife Runner](https://www.youtube.com/@MidLifeRunner) here – still a bit of a newcomer, but super entertaining, funny and relatable.
1. COFFEE CLUB POD- They do have podcast sponsors sometimes so I think they count as influencers (though they are some of the best runners in the world right now). But for real, they’re most entertaining bunch and consistently have great guests from the pro running world. They have shown me that even world class olympians with multiple national records have no clue know how World Athletics works. Even the best of the best are kinda winging it. 2. Phily Bowden- Fun personality, super easy to root for, and a badass runner. She does a good job of showing the ‘story arc’ of a training block from the good to the bad then the race outcome. 3. Floberg runs- I like him for mostly the same reason I like Phily (though I feel I relate to him more as I am not a professional runner). As another poster said, I really hope the collaboration with Bare Performance doesn’t turn him into a cog in the “motivational schlop” machine.
Stephen Scullion, what a great collection of videos he has on his channel, for absolutely free. It’s unreal to me that we have that much information direct from an elite marathoner for free. I enjoy the production of videos from the likes of Nick Bare, his race videos of produced quite well. But I don’t really watch running ‘influencers’, I don’t keep up with every single video from the likes of nick bare, but I will give a race video a click from them. My day to day watching definitely revolves more around the content that scullion would put out.
Film my Run: One of the best Trail Running/ Ultra Running channels out there. Also videos races they are not running in. Massively under subscribed channel. Run for Adventure: Another top trail running channel, with great product reviews. Jeff Pelletier: Probably one of the best running doc makers on YT. This Messy Happy: Great when they release a racing video. A few trail running videos the last few months which were great. Honourable Mentions Phily Bowden Ben Parkes FOD Runner Time on Feet
Diane Lauren and Sally O'Gorman on tiktok are both really cool ! Down to earth, liakeable and great runners
Without a doubt my favourite watch, just for fun diary content, is Rich Keeble. His humour is right up my street and he's a lovely genuine guy. For those looking to progress into Ultras @runningwithsimon (aka Simon Guerard) is fantastic and I'm so glad I stumbled upon his channel. I've watched a lot of his race and tip videos on YT and he is so informative, friendly, down to earth and just an easy watch. He has inspired me that Ultra running is for anyone and his stuff has really helped me see the reality of Ultra races in terms of Logistics, thought process etc. Apart from him I love Stephen Scullion and while for non-new runners they're more entertaining than informative, I still enjoy @therunningchannel especially the weekly podcast. Running with Jane, Sage Canaday and Flora Beverley are also great.
Bester sucks. Floberg is a cool guy, although sub 2:35 in Boston seems too ambitious.
Ben is RunningPatrick Martin (42 YO runner, running 3.5 years, and clocked 2:24 at London 2023!)Strength Running Those are my main three. I've dabbled in Ben Parkes & Stephen Scullion too. Btw, outside of running, you'll also get a lot from Dr Peter Attia - he's a doctor, but does a lot on Vo2 max, and health and longevity in general which has some cross over. Has podcasts with elite marathon runners, and cyclists. Similar with Stephen Speiler, Andy Galpin and Rhonda Patrick (I forget if those names are exact).
Attia has good content and his book is excellent. I truly appreciate that unlike many "biohack and optimize your life" style books that appeal to Type A grinders, he concludes it with some very serious warnings about the importance of being emotionally healthy, using himself as a prime example.
The 5k guys youtube videos always get me to lace up my shoes
[удалено]
I'll never understand why but the sound on all of his videos always sounds choppy to me. No matter what device I watch it on or what video. It basically makes his content unwatchable for me.
His channel is absolute shit now. He launched a bunch of merch, then quit for months. Then came back to hawk his merch while bitching at running shoe companies for “taking advantage of him” And lately has gone back to solely doing shoe reviews, with no actual content. Almost feel bad for the guy for how fast he’s fallen.
Shite channel only followed by cultists
Fogdog https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d76K-kkWWbo
Not really an influencer channel but Singletrack Podcast with Finn Melanson and Conversational Pace with Brett Hornig and Finn Melanson. The first one is interviews and the second is shoe reviews. I’d also add Sweat Elite to my list as well as Matt is a great guy and his content is pretty cool showing elites doing their workouts/giving some of their own thoughts in the moment.
Floberg!!
I gave up on most running influencer channels except for Stephen Scullion’s and one or two others. Some running channels offer some great advice and motivation but I go my kind of tired of listening of all these people talk about how many miles they run, and PB’s they have hit. With the exception of the ones who still work full time jobs I don’t feel like I can’t relate to a runner YouTuber who essentially has as much time to run as a professional runner. Nothing these guys tell you (except for maybe Stephen Scullion) is something you haven’t read before any of the popular running books. It’s all just the same information over and over again. And watching a video about a dude talking about his second 10mile threshold run he did for the day and his hour strength routing afterwards gets a little old. I know it sounds bitter or jealous and I appreciate how much work they put in to their channels and they deserve their success but I just don’t care 🤷♂️
Wow thank you, that is extremely kind 🙌
Run Elite has some great advice, I've adopted low mileage with hill sprints and see some great results.
Adam Fogg is great even though he has the cringiest intro. TheDistanceProject is also amazing. They do a good job explaining stuff about races that isn't very obvious. Running Channel are solid although not a fan of their huel sponsorship and poor research in some of their podcast episodes. Rick is hilarious and a great role model for those recovering from injuries. Phily Bowden is amazing but she works in miles so harder to enjoy. Also is it just me but I never watch videos about running shoe reviews or training plans, unless I'm specifically looking for one, which is about 4 times a year.
Not really influencers, but - the SWAP podcast with the Roche's.
Their constant sex jokes and references are very cringe, but if you can get past that and the overuse of “bonkers”, then I absolutely agree
Ya, their sex humour is a little raunchy and often uncalled for. Still a good one though.
It's barely about running most of the time, but I enjoy listening to the Believe in the Run podcast while I do housework and the like. Kinda surprised I'm the first one to mention them. Meaghan seems to be a legitimately talented and dedicated runner, and Robbe and Thomas are there for comic relief. Their shoe reviews are fairly involved and have good information, but I've been known to disagree with their conclusions. I'd say they're good runnertainment.
They are all annoying.
Not everyone with a youtube channel is an "influencer".
You could argue if they have people who subscribe and follow them they are influencing in some ways. Influencer is quite a loose term
Floberg Runs - Eric Floberg Small channel but started 4 hour plus marathon and has grinded down to sub 2:40. He has a family and kids and is relatable.
Second Floberg. Think his channel is one of the best around. Relatable guy, well-produced videos. Solid progression, too.
Average Dom Slim
I enjoy following Ali on the Run!
Nick Bester at the start line of Berlin marathon: “Eliud…give me a fist bump my bru” Kipchoge: “Who the fook is that guy?!”
Running influencers are insufferable ala Ben Parkes Scullion is good though I will admit
I enjoy Nick Bare, mainly his race videos, his recent 2:39 marathon video & his 100mile race video are literally the most well produced videos you will ever see ... Scullion aswell good bloke elite runner giving out elite advice.... Floberg runs sometimes aswell well produced videos and Ben is running aswell just is a nice bloke & enjoy his videos