Amateur Runners and Joggers

Welcome to the "Amateurs" group at Runner Space!

The "Amateurs" group at Runner Space is a group created especially for those of us who run or jog, just not competitively. Regardless of whether you do it for fun, exercise (for you or your pet), weight loss or some other reason, as long as you do not run, jog (or perform any other activity which Runner Space considers to be an area-of-focus) for the sake of competition - be it for money (professional) or as a student-athlete, this group's for you. The mission of the Amateurs group is to provide a forum for those of us who cannot relate to competitive runners and track/field athletes in our discussions about our preferred form of cardiovascular exercise.

A Group for Those of Us Who Run Non-Competitively for Exercise and Fun

If you're not a professional runner, jogger or athlete, nor a student-athlete of any variety, this may well be the right group for you. "The Amateurs" group was founded for those of us who run, jog and perform whatever other forms of exercise we perform for no reason other than our own health, to lose weight or get in shape, or simply for the fun of it.

While my experience here at Runner Space has been nothing but pleasant, and everyone with whom I have interacted in the short time I've been a member here has been nothing but polite and courteous, I couldn't help but feel slightly out-of-place upon my initial discovery of this wonderful community due to the fact that the majority of this site's members/guests appear to be serious competitors who could run a mile in the time it takes me to get 400 yards from the starting line. While I have nothing but the utmost respect and admiration for those who are undoubtedly far superior athletes to myself (at least at my present age), I can't really relate to them in terms of the issues and topics-of-interest as it pertains to running.

Those of us who run for exercise, fun or any other conceivable reason a person who is not running competitively would be compelled to repeatedly place one foot ahead of the other as quickly as we can without losing out balance are a radically different sub-demographic of runners than are our competitive counterparts. That said, it occurred to me that this fine community may potentially be enhanced with the creation of a group for people who run for the same reasons I do, namely exercise and fitness not to mention a desire to delay the aging process to the greatest extent possible.

Since I had no luck locating any existing group here at R.S. that meets the aforementioned description, creating one seemed to be the logical thing to do. If you are reading this, you've arrived at the group created specifically for those of us for whom the only race we'll ever find ourselves competing in is the human race. If you like to run, jog or perform any other exercise that fits the general description of any of the activities for which Runner Space exists; and you do so non-competitively, and for reasons that pertain solely to your own personal health, wellbeing, weight, entertainment or for lack of a better alternative, welcome to the Amateurs group!

I strongly encourage any Runner Space members who meet the description outlined above to please consider joining and contributing to the group. Surely there must be a handful of us here who couldn't compete with the worst competitive runners in a 1-mile race in which we were provided a half-mile head-start. Hopefully, we'll all congregate here and this group will develop into a fun and useful addition to an already fantastic site and community.