Why do you post on A/R?

Myles Splitz wrote: »

Actually I deleted it because I didn't wanna de-rail the thread but for transparency it was calling you straight out as a troll.



I think fact that that has to be said in a mod voice sums things up (or indeed at all) around here these days IMO.

I wasn't referring to your post.

Pacing Mule wrote: »

Presumably you referred to mine.

Wasn't me who deleted it !

I thought I made a very valid point in a subtle and humorous way myself

No, not yours. Anyway, my reason for posting on AR was given. I wasn't meaning to debate-stir a mod's decision. It was just a thought. Apologies .

davedanon wrote: »

Yes, I believe it was suggested that you always take a contrary position to the majority, and you agreed and said that was why it was so entertaining.

No, read my reason. It's a few posts up. You must be referring to another thread, where Racoonqueen made that observation. My reply to that was how I felt I should have replied. Oh, entertaining isn't necessarily the same as interesting. Anyway, have you a reason for posting on AR other than replying to me, again?

I used to post here because we used to talk about running. I happen to be passionate about running and found quite a few like-minded souls here.

I liked the fact that there were plenty of newbies looking for advice and plenty of experienced posters happy to give out advice, which seems like a good mix.

I particularly enjoyed seeing runners develop from newbies into fantastic runners at a serious level. Krusty is the poster boy for that but there are plenty of other shining examples.

Nowadays, and I'm sure that makes me sound like a grumpy old git, I find it hard to find anything worthwhile. Instead there's tons of in-fighting and trolling and lots of ****e I could do without, and the signal-to-noise ratio is dropping towards zero.

I guess I'm still here either purely out of habit or because I'm exceptionally optimistic to think that one day we'll start talking about running again and the fighting will stop.

Used to post here quite a bit but have lapsed recently, work related in part but equally because of the nonsense that drags the place down. I should try to rise above that and ignore it but some posters are just so relentless that i cant be bothered.

In saying that this place has been invaluable to me and when i look at where I was when i started running 4 years ago i know i wouldnt have gone anywhere or probably stuck with running but for it. Ive also met some really great people through here too.

Started posting here to get advice from experienced runners and I got spades of that. Stuck around and met some great people and then met them in real life between races and for runs.

Got tired of the place when all the crap started. Then needed a clean break from Boards for various reasons (not related to anything with the A/R forum).

After a few months I missed the interaction with the training logs I followed but to be honest just stick to them now as I don't have the time or energy to get sucked in to some of the nonsense that goes on elsewhere. I also have a very busy job now and spend little time on boards compared to what I used to.

I post here because I get confused. Is a 'runner' a person who uses their legs to transport themselves in a fashion which is quicker than walking or does it it describe a particular item of footwear or bean?

Wild Garlic wrote: »

It's a type of bean

Thanks. fmp.

Good thread. I started off posting in 2009, probably for different reasons to most. I'd posted occasionally beforehand, but there was a thread on the World Championships in Berlin and it was a super thread, full of really insightful discussion and arguments on elite athletics and that got me hooked (the championship threads these days are fairly dull in comparison as a lot of genuine track and field posters have left). I stuck around then as it was the best place at the time to discuss elite athletics in Ireland (it still is, but that's not saying much).

Had started fun running in 2008 after lazy college years, and ran the marathon in Rotterdam in 2010, and set up a log here. Got fairly slated on my log, and in hindsight deservedly so, but it actually shaped my future in this sport. I owe boards a lot for helping me make such big steps into the unknown world of track running. I set up a thread about running the mile in sub 5 minutes. It was a hugely active thread, but amongst it was village runner saying I hadn't a prayer. He had wound me up on my log previously, even though he was correct in what he was saying then, but this just put fire in the belly, and I was determined to prove him wrong. In the end, I didn't go for the mile, but rather the 400m, but I've achieved performances which are equivalent of way under 5 for the mile. So if you're reading village runner, I'd like to thank you for indirectly helping me push myself from being a fun runner, into a far better runner.

When I moved to Australia, this forum played a huge role in my life. Anybody who has lived abroad as an expat will know how tough homesickness is. This forum helped me stay connected to athletics in Ireland. Despite being so far away, I felt connected by reading these forums. I took pride in my log which I set up as soon as I arrived in Australia, as I enjoyed telling tales from my time down there, to strangers who were unfamiliar with the track scene down there. As I started getting faster the log became more important to me as I wanted to keep my entire progress in one place.

The log was a big thing that has kept me here. There have been times I've considered just giving up with it. There have been a fair few scuffles down the years. Of course when you meet these so called enemies in real life, you end up getting on great with them. Of course, I didn't meet anyone in real life until I moved home from Australia 2 years ago. So it's only in the last year that I've seen these previous online arguments for what they were, harmless enough.

Another thing that kept me here during the period of time I felt like quitting the site was that I liked sharing the interviews and articles I did, and I wanted runners and athletics people to read them.

It's hard to know what to make of the site these days. I don't think it's as good as it used to be. But I once read some poster who only started posting in 2013 or so say that the forum has gone to the dogs since then, and I was thinking to myself "eh it had gone to the dogs long before that, 2009-2010 were the real glory years". The reality is people will always look back at the time they started posting as the best time. There'll be people in 10 years complaining that the forum isn't near the quality of 2016, bless em! The incident surrounding the guy who set up a training log and took everyone for a ride is something the forum has never recovered from, and you still see it now, with pot shots taken from various groups.

I'm a bit stubborn in that I still haven't given up trying to promote track and field on this forum. I know it's a complete losing battle, which never goes anywhere, but I to refuse to give up that ghost just yet anyway.

There are a lot of frankly terrible threads on the main forum these days, but occasionally there is some good stuff.

I find it hard to engage with a lot of training logs simply because I can't really relate to distance running, being a sprinter, so I tend to only follow the ones of people I know in real life, or if one particularly sticks out.

Which brings me onto the last point. I've met a lot of sound people through this, and a few who are good friends. Overall the pros have outweighed the cons, though it has been a close run thing at times. A love-hate affair with the forum, or as Myles said recently, some of us are flies attracted to sh1te.

Back in our day....

No seriously I love the discussions and points of view debated in some of the threads on here (usually as far as Page 3) and then follow the tangent for a while. There is a ton of knowledge wrapped up in these pages and it could take a lifetime to work your way through it all.

For a newbie runner of any level the advice you can find and receive here in a few lines is priceless. Genuine posters with genuine questions will always be helped, this aspect of A/R always impressed me.

Experienced runners can still learn from their peers here too if they are open to it.

However I do agree with a couple of points above about mods and the treatment of mods. They seem to be looked upon more as soccer referees nowadays rather than rugby.

(Great thread starter Myles BTW)

I'm a lurker now rather than a poster. I started posting here in early 2012 and followed the DCM novice thread that year. The advice I received during that period was invaluable. Before that I was making all the rookie mistakes, running every training run like it was a 5k race etc. I don't know if I would have even made it to the start line of DCM never mind doing a time I was proud of without that thread and boards in general. The cameraderie of that thread was great and it was always nice to meet people at races. I continued posting through 2013 but then became pregnant and running fell off my radar. I stopped following logs because it reminded me how much fitness I had lost.

I don't know if I missed some kind of major fall out, but when I came back to running and A/R a lot of the familiar names had gone. The vibe seemed to have changed a bit. I can't put my finger on what was different, but it's not really a place I feel comfortable posting any more.

I still lurk and follow the events threads more so than the general forum. It would still be my go to place if I needed advice. My husband has taken up running and thanks to boards, I can now point out all the mistakes he's making