Should I Listen to This? – The Runner’s World Show

Welcome to Should I Listen To This?, where we deep-dive into a podcast to find out what it’s about, what works, what doesn’t, and whether or not you need to make the all-important decision to hit subscribe and add it to your rotation.

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Podcast: The Runner’s World Show

Network: Runner’s World

What Is It?: It’s a weekly interview podcast for the running culture. There are inspiring interviews with runners, along with news and tips for listeners.

Who’s the Host?: Dave Willey, the editor-in-chief of Runner’s World magazine, hosts the podcast. He has a good voice for the medium and understands storytelling. He is joined by some of his magazine colleagues for “The Kick,” the news segment of the show.

What’s a Normal Episode Like?: Willey sometimes starts with a live read before the show starts. Then, he teases the later segments before tossing to the interview. Willey usually does the interviews himself, and he knows his subjects well in the episodes I’ve listened to.

The interviews are not just about running, but about someone’s running story. Whether it be how running helps a comedienne come up with jokes, a runner who lost 200 pounds by changing his lifestyle, or an ultrarunner talking about breaking a record, the episodes are more human interest through running than straight runner profiles.

Who Is It For?: It’s a niche show for the running community. But the human interest side of stories can open it up to a slightly wider audience.

Who Is It Not For?: It’s no coincidence I chose this show after pigging out on Thanksgiving dinner. I hoped it would inspire me to have a more active lifestyle. Thus far, it hasn’t. If you’re not an active person, you won’t be drawn to this show.

How Many Episodes Are There?: 31 as of publication. It releases on Thursdays, though there was nothing last week because of Thanksgiving.

Can I Jump Right In?: Since each episode is its own story, you can jump in whenever. There’s even some solid replay value for interviews since they’re not extremely time-sensitive.

What’s Not Great?: The show is a good interview podcast with some interesting news stories tossed in at the end. Its biggest hurdle is its topic. Since it is a running podcast, it isn’t going to attract typical sports fans. It’s more of a show for active people.

Also, this is more of a personal preference, but when I do run or work out, I need to listen to music. Something with a beat and quicker tempo that can keep me going. This podcast is a lot better to listen to on the couch than on the move, which kind of defeats the purpose of a runner’s podcast. Some light background music might alleviate this problem, if they want people to listen while running.

So, Should I Listen To This?: Willey ended last week’s episode by saying “If you’re like me, you will start your day like you start every Thanksgiving day, with a good morning run.”

I’m not like Willey. That said, I’m going to recommend this show to my roommate, who is a really good runner and would be able to relate to these stories better than I can.

Of the shows I’ve reviewed so far, this is most similar to Only a Game. It can be seen as the runner’s version of that show, with interesting news stories in “The Kick” and humanizing stories instead of arguments and hot takes. It’s high quality, but it is definitely a niche podcast.

Bottom Line – TL;DR: If you’ve actively worked to burn off the crazy number of calories you ate on Thanksgiving, you might live in the world of the Runners World show.