Use Your Marathon to Help Runner’s World’s Bottom Line

If you received your July issue of Runner’s World (and God knows this is the first time I received an issue so early), you noticed a feature section about the Runner’s World Marathon Challenge. The magazine goes into great detail about how it works, and here’s a three-minute video promoting the plan:

Many of us are preparing for late fall marathons, so it’s intriguing. You’ll notice, however, that no mention is made in the magazine or the video of the cost, which is $130 for the basic online training program, and $250 if you plan to run the Richmond Marathon with the Runner’s World editors.

I’m an unapologetic capitalist, so I don’t have a problem with Runner’s World charging a fee. But if you want to make an informed judgment about signing up, you should be aware that so far the challenge is receiving more attention in the advertising and periodical communities than in the running community.

From MINonline:

The package comes in the wake of concerns that online advertising has ceased to compensate for declining print revenues. Many publishers, including The Atlantic, The New York Times, Gannett, Hearst and Time Inc., have begun openly considering paid models. But with the Runner’s World Marathon Challenge, Rodale offers users an offline service rather than access to proprietary editorial.

The Marathon Challenge is the most expensive and longest in duration of Rodale’s series of paid training programs for its fitness franchises, which includes Prevention’s 2-Week Turnaround (2 weeks at $40), Women’s Health’s Fit Coach (3 months at $45.50) and Men’s Health’s Personal Trainer (3 months at $45.50).

From Media Daily News:

The challenge promises to engage readers with the editorial content of the magazine and Web site and provide a high-engagement marketing platform for various sponsors.

From Adweek:

 As the ad-starved print industry scrambles to find new ways to charge consumers for its content, Rodale’s Runner’s World is launching a paid feature on its site where runners can access training programs to prepare for fall marathons….

The program is the first online paid initiative for Runner’s World and won’t immediately carry advertising, said Chris Lambiase, vp, publishing director of the magazine.

“This was created as an editorial product,” he said. “In an ad recession, we’re looking for other revenue streams. Once it starts to accumulate members, it’s going to offer a very attractive opportunity for advertising.”

You can make up your own mind, but I think $130 is already a bit pricey for online training plans, e-mails and encouragement. It’s altogether too much when it includes a contribution to the magazine’s “high-engagement marketing platform.”

After the Best Life debacle (or as my friends called it, “Girly Man Monthly”), it’s no wonder Rodale is looking for new revenue streams. I prefer to keep my investing and running activities separate.