Running Communities in Social Media

More socially-oriented runners can participate in events like the Ginger Runner Global Run ( grgr). Ethan Newberry (a.k.a. The Ginger Runner) organizes the grgr, an event he holds for followers of his Youtube channel. Creating community is important to Newberry and the grgr is designed to be accessible and inclusive for as many runners as possible. Newberry sets challenges for distance and altitude as well as for more whimsical and creative feats like donut eating and film-making. Entrants are also encouraged to identify personal goals for the two-hour run.

Newberry believes the amount of online social interaction within the grgr community is what helps set the grgr apart from other virtual events. He says, “There’s Facebook groups, Strava groups, Messenger groups, regional groups and a myriad of methods by which our participants communicate and keep each other excited.” Newberry is also proud of the collection of high quality gear he creates with event partners to share with registrants.

He also believes the event gives participants an important opportunity to explore their own limits: “The biggest highlight for most runners is giving themselves a chance to see what they can really do on their own… The results are all over the map and it’s absolutely fantastic to see the results trickle in over the weekend!”

In its fourth year, the 2019 run is a one-day event in which entrants must complete a two-hour run (or activity) on a route of their choosing between 12:01 a.m. and 11:59 p.m. on October 13. When they finish, they upload their tracking data to Strava. Newberry is anticipating more than 1,000 participants this year. Visit rungrgr.com for more information.