Podcasting is a media so perfectly suited for the running lifestyle. Just as we schedule our runs in advance, we can schedule what we listen to ON those runs, in advance. We can multi-task the time we spend out on the roads and by listening to a podcast, exercise our brains and feel a camaraderie with the podcast host or producer: especially hosts and producers who are fellow runners like the podcasters you just heard: real people with a shared passion for this sport we love so well. When I first started producing this goofy little podcast about running, five years ago, the idea of clipping on a microphone and apparently talking to yourself while out on a long run seemed like a ridiculous idea; but today there are over 70 running podcasts listed on the runningpodcasts.org directory! This idea of recording a podcast and listening to other podcasters completes a mode of communication and conversation not possible with traditional old media; such as radio (for example). The other really cool thing about podcasting is that it allows for the artistic expression of thoughts, opinions, and observations of our lives. You know me as a middle aged, middle of the pack, slightly asthmatic runner from New England who appreciates good wine, like Bordeaux, Malbec and Cab Franc, who enjoy’s a great baseball game with the Worcester Tornadoes or my beloved Boston Red Sox, and likes to rock out to amazing music, like that from Great Big Sea, Jim Fidler, Matthew Ebel or the amazing Paul Durham and Black Lab…these are all elements of my life that you’ve heard on this show: when I’m tasting or talking about wine and telling you about the grapes I’m trying to grow, when you hear me at the old ball park singing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” or when I present for you some amazing creative commons pod-safe music on every episode of this show. I think that’s one of the things I most appreciate about running podcasts; that they’re NOT always just about running: they’re about the lives each of the podcasters are living: it’s better than so called reality TV because there’s no pretense involved: we are who we are, for better or worse: but we have this one thing in common: a love for running and for living our lives to the top. These podcasts we produce are a permanent record of these lives we are living; audio files that will be heard long after you and I have run our last road race, and shuffled off this mortal coil. They are important because they document the way to live as the good animals we were meant to be; and it sets a good example to anyone who listens now, and in the far future: of how to live a life of meaningful joy. That’s why we produce these shows…because I’m telling you this fellow runner: something you already know deep in your heart but something that we have somehow GOT to get across to others, be it through personal examples or a moving pictures expert group dash 1 audio layer 3 standard digital encoding formatted file downloaded to your iPod: Life is short, but it should be long enough and to take to the roads and become a runner is one certain way to live that life to the top: which is exactly what is expected of us all. Show Links: http://www.runtheplanet.com/trainingracing/training/questionsanswers http://runningfromthereaper.com http://runningpodcasts.org http://drusy.blogspot.com http://4feetrunning.blogspot.com http://hearzenrun.com http://theextramilepodcast.com http://runnersroundtable.com runnersroundtable@gmail.com http://worldwidefestivalofraces.com http://RoninMarketeer.com http://www.marketingovercoffee.com The song “The Real You” was by Black Lab at http://blacklabworld.com