Dear Reader,
It’s been a few months of building, learning, and growing at Run Republic and I thought the timing to be opportune to share a little bit about the journey that we’ve been on.
How it started
I remember my first meeting with Paddy Ryan. We had a brief phone conversation that piqued my interest and I was eager to learn more about his passion project.
“I want to make Run Republic happen because people have this idea of who a runner is and it’s just…wrong”, he said, adding “Anyone can be a runner.”
“Even me?” I asked jokingly, explaining that my almost decade-long love affair with basketball has left me with a missing cross-ligament in my left knee.
“See, this is exactly what Run Republic is about!” he said, detailing his vision of a one-stop-shop hub where people can find encouragement, community, and information on how to run at every level of ability.
With a fantastic cohort of expert contributors and writing enthusiasts, the work began.
The power of community and dedication
Some of you might have been one of the early-day readers of Run Republic – if you’re one of the roughly 150 daily readers we used to get, I salute you!
Since those days we have made some serious changes. Our website is now new and intuitive, loads fast on any device you open it on, and features a race calendar. We aim to make the most comprehensive one yet in Ireland.
What we are the most proud of, however, is our contributors. Every single person who has sent in club notes, wrote blog posts or has published an interview, shared knowledge of their area of expertise has contributed to what we’re really about: community.
Thanks to our contributors and You, dear reader, we are on a growth path. We are yet to put ESPN out of business but to have achieved it in such a short amount of time is mind-boggling!
So far we have done our best to bring you local club news, valuable information about health, training, and recovery, as well as human stories. A highlight of our summer was gifting training gear to the Tipperary Women’s AC – something we hope to be able to do more of!
What does the future hold?
We are upholding our commitment to bringing you only human-made, quality content. All of our articles are, and will always be, written by humans. We are proud to work with phenomenal, highly qualified experts who advocate for academic-level, peer-reviewed science. Where opinions are shared, they are always clearly marked as such. To cover our operating costs and keep our contributors compensated for their work, you will, from time to time, see advertorial content, which will always be labeled as such.
And for the most exciting bit: Run Republic is getting ready to publish something incredible! I cannot share the details just yet but we’ll keep you updated along the way.
Even you
Above everything, we’ll work hard so anyone else asking “Even me?” can rest assured: Yes, even you.
You can be a runner. You have a place here. You belong here.
From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for sharing this journey with us and for all your continued support.
With love,
The team at Run Republic
featured image: the crowd at the Dublin half marathon