Years ago, I helped a running coach with his product sales and Web site. After a bit of meeting runners through marketing meetings for him, I came to relize that sticking with running had a large social part to it. What was important was being able to share the run, how you did and where you went. The Coach would always ask; “how do your feel?” before and after every run. It was partly about how you physically felt but also a question of how your mentally felt.
A few days ago, while zipping around Twitter, I came across Stephen Ryner Jr (@nuthatch) out of Chicago. He has written an app called Electric Miles that connects to the DailyMile runners service. His app is different from the normal running mileage tracking apps, his is about the social side of running.
Stephen has created a method to stay in touch with other runners, social media style. No need to reach out to Facebook or Twiter to post up that you ‘felt great’ today… that means little to a non-runner. But, to your friends on DailyMile, it means a lot.
You still post up how far you went if you wish, but most important is the positive re-enforcement that comes from other runners that keeps the running shoes seeing the miles go by.
The iPhone app, Electric Miles, is currently free so why not connect up with it to your running friends around the world that care when you happy or not so happy with your daily run.