Thank You for a Great 1st year!
I can remember a moment in the winter of 2007 when Tom and I asked a friend who was blogging, "Why in the world do people blog?" It made little sense to us. They didn't "get anything" for it. And where would they find time. Geesh, do these people have a life?
We were clearly out of touch.
Our friend's response was that we should start listening to blogs to see what they were talking about. He knew full well that we would learn the power of blogs, and specifically running blogs, after just a few conversations.
And he was spot on. After just a few weeks, we were hooked.
Now, looking back over the last year, I feel lucky to have met so many wonderful runners and people through blogs. I think about how different my life and my perspective on running would be if I hadn't met the thousands of runners I know call my BRF/RBF's and many days, just my friends.
Writing a blog and listening to others' blogs have helped me understand and improve my running. It has been a constant source of inspiration. And, it has given me a wonderful journal of thoughts to look back on and see what was going on a year ago. How soon I forget when it isn't written down. I am a convinced blogging is a form of cross training - for the mind.
And the biggest benefit for us to be blogging was that it helped us decide to design
, create, and launch Runners' Lounge, the community. I can't imagine my life without the nearly 800 runners who have joined us in our dream to create a community, for all runners, where they can connect with each other and share information and lessons they have learned. A community for and built by runners! I once wrote a post comparing blogging to One Big Small Town. I feel like the blog and our community is really growing into a city. If you haven't had the chance to join yet, consider this your personal invitation.
As we celebrate the one year anniversary of the beginning of our journey, Tom and I would like to thank the thousands of visitors who have taken the time to visit the blog and have read any of our 391 posts. And also the hundreds of runners who took the time to drop us one of the nearly 2500 comments. As two ordinary runners just talking about running, many days we can't believe we were able to reach so many runners.
As we move into our second year, one goal we don't have is that you read our blog more often, but instead it is that you learn about and connect with other runners because you read our blog or spend time in the Lounge. A few weeks ago, Nat left a comment on Take It and Run Thursday (TIART) that she finds she is reading more running blogs because of the links on TIART. That was probably the best comment we could have received. We know we are headed in the right direction.
In short, Thank You!
Especially our commenters who allow us to have a conversation instead of talking to our self. You make us feel sane. :} Thank you to ... (in order of most recent comment)....
I am new to running blogs. Yours was one of the first I found when I started searching. I really appreciate the effort and have learned a lot from following your posts and connecting to other runners. Thanks!
Posted by: xjvpastor | June 02, 2008 at 08:03 AM
Thank YOU — I've learned so much, and found so many great (virtual) running partners through Runners' Lounge. You guys rock!
Posted by: Kaeti | June 02, 2008 at 09:06 AM
Congrats on your first year. Thanks for all the insights and bringing together a great community.
Posted by: Viper | June 02, 2008 at 09:49 AM
Happy birthday RL!!! Congratulations Amy and Tom! You've done a great thing here, truly! Fuel for my running fire!!
Posted by: Strugglepants | June 02, 2008 at 10:42 AM
Happy Birthday! Holy cow, how long did it take you to type in all the links of the commentors? Here's to a great 2nd year.
Posted by: Topher | June 02, 2008 at 10:43 AM
That is so sneaky and underhanded! A list of commenters in order of most recent comments. Not only did you force each of us to look for our name but you're now twisting our arms to get us to rush to comment so that we can maintain or even improve our standing in the list! Sheesh. Do you have no pride at all?
(Ouch! I just bit my tongue that was firmly implanted in my cheek.)
Seriously -- thanks for hosting the Runners Lounge for the past year. I hope that was just the first of many years to come. This is a good focal point for a great running community.
Posted by: Bob Allen | June 02, 2008 at 12:45 PM
Topher,
Any amount of labor was a labor of love to make this list. :}
Bob,
I can honestly say I hadn't thought of it that way, I just didn't want you guys to think I was a unorganized person just throwing names randomly on the list.....you make me laugh!!!
I will definitely continue to appeal to your competitive side.
Posted by: Amy | June 02, 2008 at 01:16 PM
Amy, congratulations on the one year anniversary! Thanks so much for the kudos on my recent race!!
Posted by: Runner Leana | June 02, 2008 at 02:26 PM
It's been great to be a part of it. Happy Blogoversary!
Posted by: sRod | June 02, 2008 at 02:54 PM
It's been a great ride (run?) so far. Looking forward to year two!
Posted by: david | June 02, 2008 at 03:02 PM
Happy anniversary!
Posted by: Betsy | June 02, 2008 at 08:58 PM
Happy aniversary and thanks for all the wonderful advice I gather from here weekly.
Posted by: Viv | June 02, 2008 at 09:58 PM
Happy Anniversary and thanks for a great year. The Lounge is growing in leaps and bounds. I can hardly wait for a little quiet time later in the week so I can start working my way through that list of blogs!
Posted by: Database Diva | June 03, 2008 at 12:41 AM
HA HA - great post. I don't think I even knew what blogging was a year ago but shortly after found a couple and got addicted pretty quickly. I'm so thankful that I found you two on the internet and in real life too! Runner's Lounge is really awesome. I'm so glad it's going well!!
We'll have to do another celebratory run. Tom could actually wear running clothes instead of jeans this time. :D
Posted by: Nancy | June 03, 2008 at 01:15 AM
Amy, congrats on the anniversary, and thank YOU for providing such a wonderful community for all of us!
Posted by: Laura | June 03, 2008 at 10:29 AM