Runner's World (1-year)

There are many educational benefits I receive from these magazines. I enjoy their training tips to help me improve my running time. I enjoy their list of races in the back of issue so I can plan what I want to run next in my geographic area.

Most importantly, I highly appreciate the safety tips that are included. Running can be very hard on your body, as most of my cross country team learned in high school. This should become standard reading for high school students. I wish my coach had gone through an issue every month with us, highlighting how to run safely while diminishing run times.

If you run, get this magazine. If you don't run but would like to, visit their educational web page to get an idea how to start and then subcribe to the magazine so, like me, you are reminded to get off your duff and hit the streets.


Mix of Oprah, "Sports Illustrated" and "Running Times"   November 17, 2001
A.Trendl HungarianBookstore.com (Glen Ellyn, IL USA)
29 out of 53 found this review helpful

Hardcore runners will read "Runner's World" because they have to. It popularizes the sport, and brings newcomers 'up to speed' about issues and techniques important to them, as well as clues them in on who is who out on the road. a great magazine, except I simply prefer the depth of training and racing issues "Running Times" provides a bit more. Really... I wish I could've given this magazine a 3.9.

Running is a funky subculture, and "Runner's World" defines and educates that culture.

Since the late George Sheehan wrote his famous column that emphasized running as spiritual endeavor, "Runner's World" has taken on an Oprah Winfrey/Deepak Chopra sort of generalist running philosophy. That's not all bad, as I think the magazine thoroughly encourages fitness through running.

It isn't all fluff. There is plenty for the more avid runner to soak up. The avid runner will find their marathon coverage, especially Boston and New York, impressive.

Their running shoes review is what any runner will benefit from. It details every aspect of what makes a great shoe, almost to the point of parody. However, parody or not, their analysis will help you buy the shoe you need for your foot for your distance in your environment.

Buy a subscription to "Runner's World," lace up, and get out on a run!

I fully recommend "Runner's World."

Anthony Trendl
http://runnersdilemma.blogspot.com


Monthly Motivation   December 11, 2002
audrey72 (Boulder, CO USA)
19 out of 33 found this review helpful

Runner's world is a very traditional magazine with geared towards mostly a middle-aged audience. The authors manage to give the same advice every month and make it sound different. That may be one of the things that makes this magazine so motivational. I keep reading about people who have run every day for the last fifty years or who run in 30 below weather, and I wonder what's keeping me off the roads.

The Rave Run two page spread photographs are lovely. They each show a runner in a really cool environment with a quote. I have some of them hanging on my wall. I get especially motivated by the one of a man running through the woods when the trees are coated with ice and the ground blanketed with snow. It looks so beautiful, who wouldn't want to go out and run. The ask the expert or Q&A section has the most diverse and informative information from month to month mostly because the questions come from readers and the answers come for a variety of experts. The nutrition section isn't particularly useful. The science seems simplified to the point that it isn't exactly true, and the suggested menu for one of the carbohydrate dinners starts out with 1 cup broiled swordfish along with five or six other things; not really practical in my opinion.

Runner's World has a nice coverage of racing events past (results) and future (racing calendars), and my hometown of Boulder, CO is mentioned somewhere at least once per issue :). Runner's World encourages everyone to be a winner even if he or she doesn't finish first. It is full of tips for beginners just staring to run and more advance information about training for seasoned amateurs. Some of the information is useful and some is not, but there is enough useful information to make reading worthwhile.


Ain't What It Used to Be   November 20, 2001
12 out of 17 found this review helpful

I've been running since I started college in 1972, so perhaps I am a bit of an old "you know what." However, in recent years, the magazine has become more of a fluff piece with less substance than it used to have. Perhaps I am nostalgic for the Sheehan columns, or maybe I just don't appreciate all of the "fashion" articles.

I could use a little less of the cluttered graphics, and a bit of a return to the clean sparkling style of old.

Of course, I realize that at 45 years of age, I am NOT in the "target demographics" however, I would appreciate a bit more for the older runner (not just the occasional "token" article).