VIRTUAL CHEERS

Running communities have sprung up all over big social networks and there’s almost no niche without a voice. From small, real-life running clubs to large virtual-only groups of like-minded runners, there’s a social-media community out there for you. INSTAGRAM Let’s get visual BEST FOR Inspiration, motivation

Instagram is where runners bring running to life in photos and short videos. This is the place to go for #runspiration from the #Instarunners mix of photos of pre-run breakfasts, stunning midrun views and #sweatyselfies.

To tap into areas you’re interested in, you can follow other runners, running clubs and brands (eg @Runnersworlduk) and/or the latest posts on specific hashtags. So, if you struggle with early morning motivation, search #6amclub to see thousands of others out there. Or search #runfuel for ideas on improving the way you fuel your runs.

Inspiring images are Instagram's thing, but runners are increasingly using it to share training advice and have discussions. To that end, Instagram star Susie Chan suggests making the most of the caption you post with your photo. ‘Asking questions also works well for sparking conversation and getting feedback from other runners on all kinds of things,’ she says

By creating your own support network, Instagram can also help you stick to your training plan. An insta-peak at what your virtual buddies have been up to can be the difference between heading back to the sofa or out into the cold, particularly if you’re training for a shared goal.

‘Having a team on the same journey as you is a great way to keep yourself accountable,’ says Sarah Crouch, coach at Runners Connect (runnersconnect.net), a 900-strong global community of online runners. ‘Seeing the runs and workouts your teammates post reminds you that consistency shapes you into the runner you want to be.’

Crouch suggests upping your accountability by using apps such as Garmin Connect, Nike+ and Strava to overlay run stats onto your photos, transforming pictures into training updates and building your own public run log. ‘Reporting your daily runs and workouts to a community makes it more difficult to let yourself be lazy,’ says Crouch.

However, according to Colin Mccourt, a former elite runner who has developed a huge presence on social media, the pressure to always show peak performance carries risks. ‘Overtraining can come into it if you think you need to impress people all the time,’ he warns. ‘Don’t be afraid to show the struggles, too.’

You can dip into Instagram’s vast repository of inspirational posts at any time, but people tend to be more active at certain times. According to leading social media tool Hootsuite, the peak time to post is between 9pm and 10pm.

FACEBOOK Group dynamic BEST FOR Group support, training tips, race recommendations

Like Instagram, Facebook is great for accountability, support and motivation. Most run-tracking apps make it easy to share your stats, but this can get tedious for non-runners, which is where Facebook’s most useful tool for runners – groups – comes in.

Groups let you share your passion with like-minded people without filling your main feed, and for every running goal, there’s a runner who’s already been there and got the technical T-shirt. From plantfuelled feats of endurance to 10K PBS, Facebook has a support group for every running niche. And many groups also offer training tips and nutrition advice.

There are also social challenges, such as Advent Running, whose group comes to life every December, motivating a community to run for at least 30 minutes each day for 25 days. And Facebook is arguably the best place to find people planning real-world runs. Many groups, including Advent Running and Adidas Running, cross into the real world with organised running events. You can also dive into Facebook Events to seek out and sign up for runs by date, location and interest.

Run-sharing in virtual communities offers significant benefits. A recent study by researchers from the MIT Sloan School of Management in Massachusetts found social media makes running ‘contagious’, in that we run more when our friends do. Even better, when we see friends run faster and further, we push ourselves to do so, too. The research highlights the importance of choosing the right people to follow on social, with less-active runners influencing more-active runners, but not the reverse. Men were influenced by both men and women, but women tended only to be influenced by other women.

Tools such as Facebook Live and real-time video webchats connect you with experts, experienced runners and coaches who it would be very difficult to gain access to in ‘real life’. For example, you can get injury-prevention insights from the New York Hospital for Special Surgeries’ regular broadcast.

‘There are clear advantages,’ says Lane. ‘You can ask questions you’d struggle to in a crowd of 3,000 at a marathon expo. And even if you don’t ask questions, you benefit from answers to other runners.’

Besides the expert support, Crouch recommends using

Facebook for advice from runners with relevant experience. ‘ We have a lot to learn from runners who have accomplished what we’ve yet to accomplish,’ she says. ‘It helps to know you’re not alone with mental and physical roadblocks. Understanding how others overcame these roadblocks can be the difference between success and failure.’

Facebook’s people are most active between 1pm and 4pm. TWITTER Listen and learn BEST FOR Snooping on elites, training insights, race chat

While Facebook is great for its group communities, Twitter’s limit on post length makes it a place to find and share tidbits of news and content links.

Twitter is popular with sports stars, so it’s a great place to follow elites for training insights. It’s also the best place to follow credible sources (such as @Runnersworlduk) for news on new research. Coaches and experts – such as @Kineticrev and @Runningschool – share insights and research links to the latest thinking on everything from taper strategy to fuel.

Twitter is also excellent for joining conversations around races via hashtags like #berlinmarathon2018. You’ll get reminders of ballot openings and insider tips on hidden hills, congestion and loo queues.

The most active times on Twitter are 12pm and 3pm, according to Hootsuite, though there are also scheduled weekly hosted ‘chat’ sessions at other times, such as the @Ukrunchat discussion hour. These are a mix of chats hosted by interesting characters in the running community, along with runners answering other runners’ questions. If you’ve got a question, ask it here.

Tumblr is a micro-blogging platform with a running community that’s much bigger in the US than the UK. A mash-up of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and a normal website, runners follow, like and comment on other runners’ posts but can also easily share each other’s posts on their own blogs. This makes Tumblr a powerful motivational tool because tips and inspiration spread quickly.

If you’re more Couch-to-5k than Sub-3, Tumblr is a great source of running info, most from other runners rather than experts. And for inexperienced runners seeking encouragement, Tumblr’s running community can offer great support.

Unlike Facebook and Instagram, runners don’t need to be following each other to ask direct – and private – questions. This makes it easy to get advice from other ‘Runblrs’. Post later in the day to catch the mainly US crowd. TUMBLR Empower to the people BEST FOR New runners, back-ofthe-packers