The 'New' Boards

Swashbuckler · 07-12-2021 11:02pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118287402#Comment_118287402

Yet.............

Murph_D · 07-12-2021 11:19pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118287402#Comment_118287402

As it says a few posts down from that one:

Knowing that some day you will have to is enough.

😁

OOnegative · 08-12-2021 8:06am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118287402#Comment_118287402

That’s a lie, you’re from Offaly!!!!!

ReeReeG · 08-12-2021 10:09am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118288445#Comment_118288445

😶 the Offaly bashing once again.. clearly masking the jealousy!

TFBubendorfer · 08-12-2021 12:27pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118287402#Comment_118287402

And there are bonus points if you have (or had in the past, or will have in the future) a mismatched number of toes and toenails.

But apart from that, a real runner is someone who runs. The End.

Mr. Guappa · 08-12-2021 1:09pm

The new Boards is definitely an issue, and won't have helped, but I'd agree with those suggesting that covid is the bigger factor in this place being less busy. We've missed out on two years of Novice's threads and the influx of new faces that always brings. Many other, more casual runners, have DCM as an annual focal point, and without that to aim for their running has drifted - it's plain to see from a quick look at strava - my feed is less busy than before, and the kudos are more scarce 😪

Entries for the Dungarvan 10 miler in February went on sale recently, and while it sold out eventually, it was not the instant sell-out of the previous year or two. Perhaps just another indicator that there's been a not insignificant reduction in running - which again will have knock on effects for this forum.

With races returning over the past few months, I felt that there was a noticeable uptick in the number of active logs, hopefully a good sign.

Personally, I've stumbled from one injury to the next over the past two years, so the enthusiasm for posting and reading here was greatly diminished while my own running was a struggle. On the plus side, I did become a 'real runner' over the summer..........

Mr. Guappa · 08-12-2021 1:25pm

I've just realised I never really answered the original question posed by Murph_D - what can be done to improve the forum? Well, the thing that strikes me is that this thread is the first thing on here that I've engaged with in quite a while. Now, that it took me 4 days to spot it, partly due to the new Boards is a problem, but not one we can do much about. But, the thread itself shows the way forward - a regular poster creating a thread that drives engagement and discussion. The audience, while diminished, is there - we just need the content to engage with. Some of that will hopefully grow organically as more races return, but then it's also up to each of us to create and respond to threads a touch more. You can't force that I suppose, but a discussion forum needs discussion.

Murph_D · 08-12-2021 2:45pm

I like the point that it's not the software change that's the problem, or Lainey's point that even if it is, there's nothing anyone can do about it. And actually if you look at other Topics - Cycling, for example - it's immediately obvious that the new platform is perfectly capable of hosting plenty of discussion and interaction, despite the changes. Cycling of course is a hot topic at the moment, with transportation a vital part of the climate change discussion, so that perhaps explains that forum's relative resilience.

Covid has affected mass participation but the other side of it is that lockdown seemed to drive individual activity. It seemed to me that there were lots and lots of new contributors to A/R during the first waves (many of them of course negative, as 'Sweatlicker' will testify.) And if you dive into individual threads - parkrun for example, or the shoe thread(s), you'll notice contributors there that rarely post anywhere else, so it's a question maybe of encouraging wider discussion. But of course the question is, how?

Agree that the novice thread is a big loss as one of the best entry points for new contributors over the years. Hopefully that will be a factor next year, but who knows...

MisterJinx · 08-12-2021 4:42pm

Having been lurking in the logs and around the site for quite while I think the issue is probably more the running activity that the site itself. the site hasn't helped and is painful but the lack of focus without racing has meant that probably the site is a mirror of real life where people have been relatively aimless without the races and it's showing with the overall engagement.

I don't want to be offering out much advice to anyone as I don't have a huge amount of experience, so at the moment I'm just trying to learn from the logs and work on consistency and they are a great inspiration in that respect. I suspect though that anyone brand new to the A&R site might find them a little intimidating and think that only the really serious and great runners would log and that it might not be the place for them to go.

For the new year I'll try get a bit more involved in the discussion, if a few of the less frequent posters like me all chipped in just a little bit then it would all add up to a bit more life about the place.

Sunny Dayz · 08-12-2021 4:46pm

I'll put my hands up and say I've been fairly absent for most of the year. 2020 was a decent year for me running-wise as I had a bit more free time to train and was seeing a little improvement culminating in me giving DCM virtual a lash - my first time to cover the marathon distance.

But the first half of 2021 I just could not get myself going. I didn't want to train in inclement weather when I had no events to train for. The rolling lockdowns gave my mental health a battering. I got out of the habit of updating my running log. My workload kept building and snowballing and after some deadlines in May I had to take some time away from everything as I was almost burnt out. In June I started back making an effort to run again, not training for anything, just trying to get back in the habit of running again. Took it slowly with no pressure, also looking at what I was eating. By Sept I've noticed my running improving and weight moving the right direction. Maybe I should try and get back logging.

Not gonna lie the new Boards layout is off putting too. It's a little easier to navigate on desktop but I still have quite a workload to contend with.

event · 08-12-2021 5:18pm

Ill call it out now, the DCM novice thread wont really happen next year either. As it is already sold out and mainly to people who ran in 2019. What do we reckon, about 5k are entrants who have never ran one before. Then what % of them will come here and participate. Id be going with the mentality that it will be a non runner next year also

ReeReeG · 08-12-2021 5:29pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118291258#Comment_118291258

You're probably right, but maybe we can have a general DCM training thread for those on here who are running it (and not in the events page) to get a bit of traffic again. Maybe that happened already other years, I don't think I can remember one though? But solidarity in training for the same race, probably people following similar plans, share tips and woes

RacoonQueen · 08-12-2021 8:58pm

I think in the new year if races continue to go ahead things will start to change, especially since unless something drastic happens DCM will be on next year. I think a lot of marathons returning to their normal April slots too so we'll see people picking up their training for them in the New Year. That will see a change in the forum as people start to train more, talk about races, look to change up their gear etc and of course there will be more elite performances to discuss with mass participation races returning that have elite fields.

I'm hoping to finally move from 'keeping fit' to 'training' sometime soon myself...4 years has been long enough on the sidelines.

TFBubendorfer · 08-12-2021 9:20pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118291258#Comment_118291258

I'm much more optimistic. There will still be plenty of runners who will run the next DCM as their first marathon. There might be fewer numbers than for the last 2 or 3 novice threads but I expect it will be fine.

ThePiedPiper · 08-12-2021 10:26pm

Some of the points raised about the logs are interesting. Years ago, I only really checked in on logs of runners I’d met at various races, or people that were planning on the same marathon as me with similar time goals. Those sorts of interactions were very enjoyable. In recent years, obviously especially this last two, I’ve been a bit of a loner of a runner, in the real and online world, so not engaging as much with other people’s logs either.

I’d be happy to welcome any comments from anyone on my log, boring thread as it is. Often, outside voices questioning or challenging what we’re doing from a training perspective is fresh and very helpful.

MY BAD · 09-12-2021 12:41am

It was the 2015 novice thread that brought me here. I didn't participate but its what attracted me here. On my log I was injured since March at the time I didn't see the point of logging easy miles and set backs but maybe now I should have kept it going. Its easy to log when things are going good. But most runners will experience some kind of an injury so to see the come back and receive advice and feedback when your down in the dumps is an important aspect of running. So like I said I should have kept it going. The new boards is shockingly bad but I'm kinda getting used to it

E.coli · 09-12-2021 3:23pm

Looking back on the history of the board I think in the earlier stages it was a very community based network before Social Media blew up. The likes of Woddle and robinph really drove a community setting (to the point where boards was actually a registered AC) a lot of challenges and engagements as many were relatively new to the sport and figuring it out as they went along.

This engagement with regular posters became replaced with a cycle of new DCM posters on a yearly basis which helped keep things cycling as regular posters stopped engaging as much but the past two years have definitely curtailed that. Information sources have definitely diversified as coaches, elite athletes etc have divulged more and more with social media they are a lot more engaged as such peoples approaches have become more specialized resulting in less training discussion amongst those who have been around a while and the same questions being asked with new to the sport runners (gone are the P and D/ Daniels/ Greg McMillan Training threads where +5 people are doing the same sessions each week giving there experience and the culminating race reports (and often meet ups as options for races weren't as abundant)

The lack of races definitely have thrown a spanner in the works the last 2 years but ultimately engagement shouldn't rely solely on that especially in absence of IRL meet ups it should bring a virtual community more to the fore.

OOnegative · 09-12-2021 3:45pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118296032#Comment_118296032

Knew an ecoli once, sound knowledgeable fella.

E.coli · 09-12-2021 3:48pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118296206#Comment_118296206

I come from a long line of bacteria, always told me I should go back to my roots and never forget where I came from ;)

Wottle · 11-12-2021 1:25am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118296032#Comment_118296032

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118289734#Comment_118289734

The social media aspect is a very good point. SM wasn't really a thing for me back in 2008 when I first started posting.

As a forum we should possibly embrace it and all of us should start using the #boardsac and follow it on our SM

Just an idea, I'm running a half on Sunday and would be happy to use it, maybe it gives us a bit more connection?

Edit, just added the # to an insta post with the original boardsac singlet.

RacoonQueen · 11-12-2021 4:06pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118296032#Comment_118296032

One of the things that was really great back in the day was the weekly group long runs (and 10 hour post race drinking sessions) - this place was probably more like a big multi thread WhatsApp group but at the same time may have made it a bit cliquey. If I recall there was 20+ people turning up for some of them. That was before most who were regulars to those group runs joined clubs etc though (maybe clubs were less 'accessible' back then or seen to be more for fast runners etc)

I think as running continued to boom and we got more races, clubs did start to have more of a wide range of abilities joining them - that meant now people were in clubs, they got their advice etc there rather than coming on here as well and people who used to meet up with boardsies after races, now just stayed within the people in their club.

rovers_runner · 12-12-2021 12:05am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118305617#Comment_118305617

https://imgflip.com/i/5xjdzl

Murph_D · 12-12-2021 1:37am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118305617#Comment_118305617

I probably got the tail end of that when I first came across this site. It’s probably a good thing that the post race piss-ups are now mostly (Dublin) marathon-related only (as far as I know). Although I do love a good piss up with like-minded people, and even a few contrarians.

The likes of WhatsApp etc are certainly better media for arranging meet-ups and conducting real-time business/banter of any kind. This forum only has a future if it finds ways to supplement that. What’s really valuable about the forum is the collective knowledge about training methods and approaches, which is far greater than it was when everyone was learning and sharing that knowledge for the first time. When you look back at the opening pages of some of the more celebrated logs, it’s quite amazing how little everybody knew, and yet the collective contributions resulted in the quite deep knowledge base that’s there now. That’s the real value of the place. I don’t think it’s easily replicable on other, more ‘look at me’ media forms (which are great, and most of us use them, but not for everything.) For example, taking the Dublin Marathon pacers forum to Facebook was a mistake, I think, although probably well intentioned.

The man in red and black · 12-12-2021 1:50pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118303986#Comment_118303986

Just looked up this post. Your race report of that marathon is hilarious. I'm glad you can look back on it now and see what went wrong. Fair play to you for finishing it! What a battle!

On a separate note how do you turn on notifications for a thread without actually commenting? I cannot figure this out!

Laineyfrecks · 12-12-2021 2:01pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118308918#Comment_118308918

Click on the star on the top of the thread in the right hand corner.

The man in red and black · 12-12-2021 8:09pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118308956#Comment_118308956

Thanks a million!

ariana` · 13-12-2021 3:25pm

I'm slowly getting used to the new format. One of my bug bears is that I can't tell at a glance if I've already clicked the 'Thanks!' button. Lately I've hit is a second time which effectively then removes my original 'Thanks!' , it should stay highlighted/selected when you've clicked it IMO 🤷

Back in Black · 14-12-2021 4:39pm

Interesting discussion - especially as I logged into boards today for the first time in months. The new format was the final nail in the coffin for me with boards as it is horrendous but here I am getting sucked back in again!!

I used to engage a lot more many years ago but a bad experience of being verbally attacked at a GAA match (with my very young son beside me) by somebody who disagreed with me about a mod decision I made on the GAA Forum led to me walking away and closing my account for a while and I've never posted on the GAA Forum since.

I did reregister because of the A/R Forum but never engaged as much as I was more acutely aware of not disclosing my identity on an internet forum. I was slowly drifting away but was updating my log (and then ducking out again) but with the move to the new format I just stopped bothering. The place was getting very quite despite the efforts of posers like OOnegative to generate some life in the place.

But having participated in a normal event a few weeks ago for the first time in forever and meeting people I got to know through Boards reminded me of the value of this place and what it had back in the glory days. So will update the log again and try to engage a wee bit more in the New Year. Nobody else will listen to me brag about my new PBs!!

Swashbuckler · 14-12-2021 4:50pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118320925#Comment_118320925

The most appropriate typo for OONegative I've ever seen 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Back in Black · 14-12-2021 5:12pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118320982#Comment_118320982

Brilliant - sorry B!!

The 'New' Boards

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