Thought Leader: My Runner Following

Above – Live Tracker Feed during theTunnel Ultra 200, last 20 miles. Photo – top – David Miller

“Followers” are all very well and good, but when ‘engagement’ is what you want to understand then a closer analysis is needed. In fact ‘follower’ is a pretty bad word for someone who genuinely takes an interest.

Through the social media normalising of ‘following’ a culture of ‘like’ not look has emerged. To ‘like’ and to be engaged are very different things.

So much marketing is based on meaningless numbers, impossible billions of views when most of the likes are just a wave to say hi the person from the cool club whilst the cool club member is looking the other way. Generating shy waves and wolf whistles isn’t a marketing result and ‘how u doin babe?’ isn’t an expression of interest in the type of car the influencer is driving.   For most, scrolling is a habit, a time sink whilst we think about other things. 99% of it is as engaging as office carpet.

My ‘following’ are not the London Shoreditch desirables. In fact they are not even followers, but like minded souls. We share journeys together. They are mostly professionals at the peak of their working careers, parents with children in schools or at university. They don’t love bickering on X, and  they prefer the friendly connections in their bit of Facebook to the prevalent posturing of Instagram; they aren’t avid TikTokers but they might scroll it. They are hard for a brand to reach and connect with.

Pictured – some FaceBook comments – there were multiple FB conversations going on before, during and post event, on my own page, and on running club and event pages.

But they are worth reaching out to – well worth it. They enjoy their health, seek wellbeing, are generous present buyers, trial new products, try flavours and experiences; they enjoy going out, travel, family occasions…

When they are not at events, they love to follow live events. And they are intensely and deeply committed to my events, my write ups, and my challenges.

When I run a long ultra with a Tracker, I  carry with me the support of thousands, some of whom have sleepless nights and set alarms in order to check on my progress. My last event saw 500+ comments of support and they are almost all more than simply a good luck here or a well done there. People look at my challenges and root for me really deeply, before, during and after. It is an immense privelege.

It is a credit to my achievements certainly, but mostly to my ability to relate them, to tell the story, to give an honest appriasal.

The interaction is live (lead picture), via the event Tracker itself, called ‘dot watching’ as I am represented by a graphical dot, and then via My Facebook, Running Groups on FB, Strava (the exercise app), Instagram, LinkedIn and private messages.   

Most recently I completed Tunnel Ultra 200, in 54 hours. I am only the 22nd person to complete this challenge in the history of the event. The headbanger of an event needs 2 and half nights and comprises 100 there and backs in one, one mile tunnel.

The people who followed me found the multi platform and live engagement very interesting and satisfying.

Example from LinkedIn:

I watched this play out over socials and dot watching. Getting an entry is hard enough, preparing yourself is second to none – putting one step forward and keep moving – phenomenal – Well done Frank Wainwright!, you now walk (if you still can) among gods…

This was from an ultrarunning  fan in Peterborough who has just started running with Fenland Running Club – which I know because he told me in follow up comment.

The best justification for my effort is when it inspires or helps others overcome their difficulties and challenges.

“Since completing my PHD I have had trouble sleeping. The nights are such a struggle to get through. Following you has helped me to find ways to deal with the insomnia and the anxiety. If you can keep going then so can I.”

The beauty of my forthcoming Big Tour of England is that it is live and ongoing for 62 days. From a storytelling POV It will be a daily sporting soap opera of England – people, history, places, venues, food, drink, flora and fauna. You can share the journey with me, ILR or virtually, and both will be engaging. The Tracker will make sure that daily progress is monitored, the storytelling will be interactive and the cause – youth development and the events, sales and marketing sector will be celebrated every step of the 2000 mile journey.

Below – 60 comments on Stava and a handful on Instagram. The comments on Strava are national and international