This month, this column’s not about running. It’s about me and it’s about iRunFar.
Life can be tough. Yes, it still can be tough even if it’s first-world tough or you-don’t-have-cancer tough. The various more-run-of-the-mill levels of tough, are still tough. Accepting that, I’ve been going through a tough spell the past few months. Some of that is life-situation related and some of that’s running related, but a good deal of it is iRunFar-related. What appears to many as living the dream, is non-stop, exhausting, often stressful work.* Any in-the-moment work stress is complimented and sometimes dwarfed by the stress of keeping iRunFar afloat from month to month.** With this in mind, I carried a near perfect storm of stress, negativity, and, perhaps, fatalism with me to this year’s Western States.
And that’s where so many of you come in. Yes, it was a long, hot, stressful week in California. That’s expected. That’s accepted. But, then, there were more than a dozen volunteers who gifted their day to iRunFar and to the broader ultrarunning community by helping us report on the race. While that’s thankfully become the norm on big race days, it’s never taken for granted and it’s always an uplifting sign.
What caught me completely by surprise was the overwhelming level of support that came from those following the race. Honestly.
To begin, it was stunning how many folks followed the race with rapt attention, and that implicit support of the hard efforts of our team is gratifying.
What’s more, the level of explicit support race followers shared on Twitter, on Facebook, on iRunFar, and in person was unmatched. While it might seem trivial, hearing that you value what we do means a great deal. It is a wind at our backs propelling us along. It is the rising tide that buoys our spirits. It also helps reassure us that we’re doing alright in providing A, B, C, D, E, F, and G, even if a few vocally complain about us not providing X, Y, and Z. Thanks for that.
On top of that, I was blown away by the more than 100 followers and race fans who stepped up and donated quite a meaningful amount of financial support to iRunFar. To ballpark the support, it equalled about half a normal month’s operating costs for iRunFar. While a small number of folks have long donated in support of our race coverage, this was completely unexpected, amazingly helpful, and exceedingly well timed.
While acknowledging it probably came from my fatalistic side, I admittedly had urges to throw in towel. To give up the fight these past few months. Now, I’ll still never know more than a few months in advance how much longer I can continue iRunFar.com as what it is today, but your support the past fortnight has me fired up to push onwards and upwards. IRunFar goes on, thanks to your support.
Happy trails,
Bryon
* Maintaining a professional, diversified, independent, yet still grassroots news outlet means I am simulanteously the tech guy, the writer guy, the ad-sales guy, the on-site-all-dayweek race-coverage-guy, the accountant, and more. If I’m somewhere awesome, it’s ten times more likely that I’m on my laptop than a trail.
** It may come as a surprise to our readers, but it is a regular challenge to garner enough support via advertising, race-coverage sponsorships, and other marketing partnerships to cover the website’s modest budget.
How to Support iRunFar
I wasn’t going to include a donation link in this article, as my sincere intent was to think you, iRunFar’s readers and followers, for that you’ve already done to keep iRunFar going! But, since folks have asked, here’s a link to how you can directly support iRunFar. Options include a one-time donation, a recurring monthly donation, and making purchases through affiliate links on iRunFar. Thanks again!
