It’s Tuesday and time for a return of one of our feature articles – Top 5 Tuesdays.
Today we are focusing on the top five websites that we have found particularly useful in recent months. Some of the sites are well established but one at least is very new. Our selection includes sites providing product reviews, scientific articles and places to run. A few of these sites we have mentioned before but we do find that we keep going back to them which, possibly, reflects our interests but also we think indicates the quality of the information they contain. We hope you find them useful. So, in no particular order …
1. Outside (Online)
Outside Online is, as the name suggests, an online magazine focusing on the Outdoors. It has sections on Gear, Adventure, Health, Travel and Culture and also features a video channel and podcast.
Outside came to our notice through the work of Alex Hutchinson, one of the regular contributors. Alex Hutchinson is a sports scientist as well as a runner, and has been writing about the science behind all things running-related under the cover of “Sweat Science” for a number of years. His recent articles on Outside Online have included the latest research into stride analysis and injury, and why a sauna after a work-out might not be such a good thing. His writing is always well informed and interesting, and his book “Endure: Mind, Body and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance” is one of best running books around.
2. Great Runs
Another of our favourite go-to sites, Great Runs is “for travellers who run and runners who travel”. The site consists of details of runs of varying lengths in many of the major cities of the world alongside other popular destinations. You can browse the site by city, region, season or one of many other categories such as Classic River Paths, Bridges, Fantastic Neighbourhoods or even using keywords such as hills or water.
The runs come along with details of how to get to the start and maps of the route.
We love this site and always search it before heading off – often changing our plans slightly to take in an iconic run.
If by any chance you have a favourite run that doesn’t feature, suggestions are always welcome and new routes are added all the time. We thoroughly recommend this site.
3. DC Rainmaker
DC Rainmaker (aka Ray Maker) is already well known by many runners, cyclists, swimmers and triathletes. Since 2007 DC Rainmaker, a triathlete himself, has been writing a blog a large part of which involves reviewing sports related products. Everything from watches to trainers, drones to weight-scales are reviewed in the greatest detail possible from the moment the box is opened until they are put through their motions during activity.
If you want an in-depth review of many of the sport gadgets available – and you have a lot of time on your hands (some of the reviews are 60 pages long!) – then this is the place for you.
4. Run Repeat
We stumbled across this site by accident. Run Repeat is a strange mixture of a blog showing such things as – the results of the most detailed research into global running participation ever conducted, and shoe reviews!
The research section “The State of Running 2019″ is a report of research conducted by Jens Jakob Anderson in conjunction with official athletic bodies. The results quoted are based on the analysis of nearly 108 million race results from 70,000 races around the world and make fascinating reading. The report outlines trends in participation by gender, age and country, race times and climate effects etc. There are other articles in the blog relating to a variety of different sports as well as running.
The other section of the site contains up-to-date reviews of all sports shoes from just under one million users and 8500 experts, alongside best purchase options. I (Jacquie) recently used it to find a reasonably priced pair of Brooks Pureflow which have been my go-to shoes in the past and which I wanted to return to after an Achilles niggle. Run Repeat gave me a selection of retailers for my size and style.
5. The Run Testers
And finally – for those of you who prefer their information in a more visual format, this relatively new YouTube Channel The Run Testers is one for you. The Run Testers, aka Mike,Tom, Kieran and Nick, are four sports journalists who write for most of the major sports and fitness magazines but who are also runners. They personally test and review all running related stuff including watches, shoes, apparel and nutrition. The reviews are honest and factual but also entertaining. Latest posts include Kieran testing the new Under Armour Breeze Tee (which claims to go from soaking wet to dry in 6 minutes) and Mike with a Run Hack – how to view parkrun results on a Garmin watch. We’re looking forward to seeing how this channel develops.
