Customer Reviews

Runner's World (2-year)

5 star:		(56)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Just an all-around great runner's magazine. Who's it for? Anyone who likes to run, from beginner to advanced, casual to professional. Here's a few things you'll find inside:

-equipment reviews (i.e. evaluations of the latest shoes)
-training techniques (tips from the pros)
-info about races (national as well as international)
-inspiring stories (to boost your motivation)
-nutrition info (tips to lose weight and boost performance)

A very well rounded running magazine with great information, I highly recommend it. Also for runners: The 5-Minute Plantar Fasciitis Solution if plantar fasciitis is affecting your running.

I've been reading Runner's World for about three years now. It seems that whenever my motivation hits an all time low another magazine will end up in my mailbox. After reading half of the magazine I am forced to put on my running shoes and hit the streets.

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.

I've been reading Runner's World for several years now but I am going to stop. Month after month I'll look at the cover and get excited about an "article" they say is included in the issue, only to locate the "article" and find it is no more than either a fluff piece of information that must be targeted toward someone who has never ran so much as a city block in their life, or it is a three sentence answer to a reader's question that was sent in. Do these actually count as in depth pieces that warrant advertisement on the cover?

Furthermore, every issue is the same. There will be an article on losing five lbs. by the holidays/summer/race season - whatever month the issue happens to come out. There will be a shoe review (blah!). There will be a "Fifty Ways To Stay Motivated" piece - which is always the same commonsensical tips. And there will be a "Special Woman's Section" - which, when it shows up every single month, makes me wonder just how "special" it could really be.

Once in a while there will be a good recipe, or a decent (but way too short) article on a runner. However, you could save alot of money by only purchasing one issue of this magazine because, except for the pictures and graphics, all the articles will be pretty much the same month after month.

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).

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

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.

I have subscribed to RW for about 5 years. I am a Marine and I run lots of miles every week and about one race per month. This magazine offers good nutrition and training advice, and it also provides quality shoe reviews each season. The race guide leaves a lot to be desired, but then again, you can only devote so mnay pages to that subject. (The website has a better and more detailed guide.) The primary problem with RW is that it is very repetitive. My most recent issue had a picture of a female runner on the cover doing abdominal work. I scratched my head and pulled out my issues from last year and found a different girl doing the same thing on the cover of the same month in 2002. In any event, this overall is a good periodical for the money and trounces the competition in the running magazine category.

Out of the mags in this field, Runners World has the best writers, format and tips, but stresses the losing weight aspect of running more than just plain enjoying it. Although I'm not too fond of the usual articles on burning calories and eating power gels, the monthly columns are well-written. I especially enjoy "On the Road," which directs you to the good paths in various cities and where to stay. However, after a year's subscription, this mag has run its course -- nothing new comes up besides the race dates.

I've been buying Runner's World off and on for years and everytime I pick up a copy, I never feel warded off the sport. I'm trying to train for a triathlon and everytime I pick up a magazine relating to triathlons in general, I feel like I'm the laziest ass on the planet. I'm not going to not do one because of this but it doesn't really help motivate a beginner. I love Runner's World because it's all-inclusive, for any level, for any age.

I don't get that daunting feeling I get when I pick up a tri mag and I think for anyone who needs that reassurance on a constant basis, RW really helps out.

Being an infrequent runner and trying to get back into shape for the Baltimore marathon this year, Runner's World is indispensible. A number of the articles are encouraging and help me with training, diet, etc. The equipment reviews make me salivate (I wish I could afford one of the Garmin training watches), but in all it's a great magazine. I highly recommend it!