what do you want to see next?

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what do you want to see next?

Rickshaw
Runworks 2005 5M Racer
San Francisco, CA
Joined: 26 Nov 2004
Posts: 1157

what do you want to see next? Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2004 10:15 pm

I'd like your feedback on what new features you'd most like to see added to the Runworks site. Would any of these interest you? Event Calendar: See a list of upcoming events in your area, collected from the Runworks web site and others. Online Training Log: Enter details of your daily workouts on a simple web form, then generate graphs and reports from your training data. See community-wide analysis of training data from all users. Also track your food intake. Measure calories, protein, carbohydrate, and fat. More Tools: Adjust paces for grade and altitude. Use the marathon pace planner and print a pace band. Automatically search the web to find and collect your past race results. Running Clubs: See a list of running clubs in your area. Each club has its own discussion forum and event calendar. Product Sales: Browse a selection of the best sports products on the web, offered by Runworks partner sites. Other: You name it. Nothing: Don't mess with it, it's perfect already!

sfird
Runworks 2005 5M Racer
Long Island, NY
Joined: 10 Dec 2004
Posts: 80

Re: what do you want to see next? Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2004 6:08 am

While the site isn't perfect (what site is?), it's already very good. Each of the things you mention would improve the site. Other things that would be great are: 1. Daily Tips - Runners World has this but they only have around 20 tips that they cycle through. 2. Runner's Humor - A running related joke or anecdote of the day would put a smile on everyone's face. The material can be submitted by your visitors 3. Motivational Section - It would be great to read a new motivational story every day 4. Running Routes - I often see posts where people are travelling to an unknown area and they are looking for good running routes. It would be great to organize this and have a worldwide description of the greatest running routes. I'm sure there are other things you could add but that's all I can think of right now. Good luck with the site. Sandy

Bricks
Runworks 2005 5M Racer
Chicago
Joined: 09 Dec 2004
Posts: 222

Re: what do you want to see next? Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2004 6:52 am

I would love to see an event calendar, not so much for my area, but for other areas. I know what's going on in my community, but can never find info on other places. For example, I have some freinds in New York (not runners) and plan to visit them this spring and would love to schedule it around a 10K or a 1/2 or a cool 5K or something but can't find a race calendar anywhere.... I like the sounds of a food tracker as part of a training log. I'm a sucker for calculator tools. I like some idea of a daily feature as well, whether it be a tip one day, motivation the next, and a joke the next, something fresh to see every day is always nice.

psulli
Runworks 2005 5M Racer
Vancouver, BC
Joined: 21 Dec 2004
Posts: 21

Re: what do you want to see next? Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2004 10:39 am

Hey, Steve. It's like Christmas. I like: 1) Online Training log--especially with a food tracker 2) Pacing tools, especially if we can log 00:00:00 3) Other tools--who won't use them? 4) Product sales 5) Evet Calendar 6) Great (and not-great) running routes 7) Online coaching? even if there's a coach who monitors the threads and answers questions 8) It's not perfect, but what is? It's a great new site and you're doing a great job. Keep it up!

Rickshaw
Runworks 2005 5M Racer
San Francisco, CA
Joined: 26 Nov 2004
Posts: 1157

Re: what do you want to see next? Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2004 6:00 pm

Thanks for the replies. Some are a little surprising to me, actually. There are so many free online training logs out there already, do you really want another one? I guess I'm a little skeptical that it would draw more visitors, given how common such logs are already. For the calculator/tools stuff, what new types of calculators would you be most interested in seeing? My favorite ideas are the race calendar and the running route reviews, but unfortunately both of those have a bit of a chicken and egg problem. Nobody will bother to read them until other people enter lots of data into them, but nobody will enter data if nobody reads them. For either idea, I probably need to find some large source of initial data that I can dump in to "seed" it. I'll look around... anyone have a suggestion? The articles on the front page are intended to be that "something new every day" that draws people back to the site. Maybe some other stuff like the daily training tips would help too. The biggest issue right now is simply trying to get more people to visit the site and post in the discussion forums! That's another chicken and egg problem... I've advertised a few places, but I'm not sure how to attract more people. Membership is climbling slowly, but there are still probably 20 times as many people who read the forums but never post anything as there are people who post their thoughts occasionally. Yet without some posts, there's nothing for anyone to read.

mfox

South Orange, New Jersey
Joined: 19 Dec 2004
Posts: 367

Re: what do you want to see next? Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2004 8:10 pm

How about a section aside from the Discussion Forum for user-submitted reviews of running/racing gear/gadgets. Like the forums perhaps there could be a separate "topic" for each product. A topic on a particular product could start off with someone commenting on their experience with the product and advice on things the rest of us should be aware of that the manufacturer didn't include in the description of the product (both good and bad). Or, the topic could start off with someone asking for information on a particular product. If ever I'm uncertain about something I want to purchase whether online or at a retail store I often do a search on the Internet. I pay particular attention to any discussion groups and reviews (rather than Advertisements) that pop up about the product. I'm looking for comments from real people who have used the product. Many times I've been convinced to buy something from the description at the products home web site but after finding a discussion or review posted on the Internet I was convinced to change my mind about buyihg it. Sometimes you just don't find out how poor a product is until you've had some real time to use it...and by then it's too late to return it. And it's not always because the particular product is bad but that the model or version you thought you wanted didn't really provide the features you needed and you wished you had spent a little more, or less, for a different model or brand.

psulli
Runworks 2005 5M Racer
Vancouver, BC
Joined: 21 Dec 2004
Posts: 21

Re: what do you want to see next? Posted: Fri Dec 24, 2004 8:47 am

[quote="Rickshaw"]Thanks for the replies. Some are a little surprising to me, actually. There are so many free online training logs out there already, do you really want another one? I guess I'm a little skeptical that it would draw more visitors, given how common such logs are already. [quote="Rickshaw"] For me, the point of the training log is to have one go-to site, making the others optional. There's another thread about wasting time online surfing running sites, and there are lots of them! If the training log is on Runworks--and it's a good one--a lot of people will make this their go-to site, and that should help you meet some of your other objectives. Having said that, I shouldn't be wasting time online when there's all that Christmas stuff to do before the day is out, not to mention several hours of work. So Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone, and I hope your running dreams come true in '05! Psulli

Rickshaw
Runworks 2005 5M Racer
San Francisco, CA
Joined: 26 Nov 2004
Posts: 1157

Re: what do you want to see next? Posted: Fri Dec 24, 2004 11:43 am

OK, there are some good ideas coming out of this. So far I think the most workable ones are an online training log, product reviews, and a weekly poll. Now I've got some stuff to work on for 2005!

mfox

South Orange, New Jersey
Joined: 19 Dec 2004
Posts: 367

Re: what do you want to see next? Posted: Fri Dec 24, 2004 2:09 pm

There's a website out there (I don't recall the name) that provides a place for runners to arrange a place to stay if you're arriving from out of town to run a race. The idea is to provide inexpensive room and board at your home in exchange for the same at another race; and it doesn't have to be with the same person. The major rule is that if someone provides a place for you to stay then you MUST be willing to do the same for someone else. Perhaps something like this on this site would be of value. The other site has a list of very specific rules so that no one get's taken advantage. It could be modelled after that site or designed to be less stringent. If interested, I can dig up the name of the site if no one else knows the name.

doob

Joined: 24 Dec 2004
Posts: 1

Re: what do you want to see next? Posted: Fri Dec 24, 2004 3:46 pm

I have to second the idea of a city-by-city listing of running routes with reviews. There doesn't need to be too much content for this to be valuable. You need a UI for people to enter new cities that aren't listed, and to add routes. There should probably be a short "form" section where you can list mileage, and route type (urban, wooded path, bike path, hilly, etc.)

Rickshaw
Runworks 2005 5M Racer
San Francisco, CA
Joined: 26 Nov 2004
Posts: 1157

running route reviews Posted: Sat Dec 25, 2004 8:57 pm

Do you think so? I'd guess you'd need a few hundred or so route reviews before an index like that became genuinely useful, and the membership of Runworks is still too small to expect to get that many. I guess it wouldn't be difficult to set up, though, and give it a try. I may need a full-time staff to pursue all these new ideas. As long as they're willing to work for 5 cents a day, I'll be in business! ;-)

sfird
Runworks 2005 5M Racer
Long Island, NY
Joined: 10 Dec 2004
Posts: 80

Re: running route reviews Posted: Sun Dec 26, 2004 7:59 am

Is the $0.05/day on or off the books?

Rickshaw
Runworks 2005 5M Racer
San Francisco, CA
Joined: 26 Nov 2004
Posts: 1157

Re: running route reviews Posted: Sun Dec 26, 2004 12:06 pm

It's a shiny new Lewis and Clark nickel, no questions asked!

Pretender
Runworks 2005 5M Racer
Kansas, OK
Joined: 14 Dec 2004
Posts: 100

Re: what do you want to see next? Posted: Mon Dec 27, 2004 7:11 am

Some great ideas listed. One stop shopping is the goal for me. Maybe it's laziness, but it would be nice not to have to hit so many sites for what I'm looking for. I really like the moderated forum. Rec.running is frankly impossible to enjoy reading, much less posting and putting up with the trolls/flames. I agree with the person who mentioned a user review section. Like them, I pay alot more attention to what real world users say about a product. That's one reason I think that Amazon is so big. Anyway, adding it here seems like a natural. I live in the middle of nowhere, so the running routes, event calendars and running clubs would be useless to me, but I can see how they would be handy for people in urban areas. Oh yes, product sales is a nice feature too. I would only add that you be kinda picky about what you sell on your site. Obviously not too picky since you are trying to make money on advertising, but if it's junk or offers no value to the runner, then don't do it. And keep it running related (duh!). No Cialis ads! :o) Enough rambling. I really enjoy the site and look forward to 2005. Happy New Year!

Bricks
Runworks 2005 5M Racer
Chicago
Joined: 09 Dec 2004
Posts: 222

Re: what do you want to see next? Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2004 12:48 pm

Some possible types of poll questions... What's your favorite indulgence? (chocolate, beer...) What's your favorite training plan (pfitzger, daniels, higdon...) When do you run (moring, lunch, evening....) What's your favorite race distance (5k, 10k, 1/2, full...) What's your favorite cross training (bike, swim, weights...) Do you stretch (never, always, before, after...)

mfox

South Orange, New Jersey
Joined: 19 Dec 2004
Posts: 367

Re: what do you want to see next? Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2004 1:44 pm

As I mentioned earlier, just make sure the poll questios are usefull and/or meaningful. Knowing what the most popular indugences are (chocolate, beer,...) doesn't really provide much of any value to me as a runner.

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