Runningfavorites.com – A running portal

This post was submitted by Run Oregon reader, and creater of the runningfavorites.com, Amy Cooper. If you have a business and have an idea you want featured, click the “Contact Us” tab and let us know! In the spring of 2012, I began training for the Newport marathon hoping to break three hours.  After one workout, I felt like someone had taken a baseball bat to my right knee cap. I was in a lot of pain and definitely couldn’t run through it.  I made an appointment with my physical therapist who accurately diagnosed and treated the cause of the knee pain, and I was soon back to training. Unfortunately, my knee pain returned a few weeks later and my physical therapist was now on maternity leave.  I was in pain, determined to train, and didn’t know who to see. Who could properly treat my injury and get me back to running right away (and wouldn’t tell me to just stop running)?  Thankfully friends in my training group at Team Athena directed me to someone who could help.  I was able to run Newport but missed breaking three hours by just a hair (3:00:01!).  Fortunately I broke three hours at the Euenge marathon the following spring, finishing in 2:56. After training for Newport while fighting an injury, I wondered what a runner would do without a running community to direct them to the best health practitioners for runners.  Would they have to stop running or live with pain for extended periods of time?  I saw a need for an online community where runners could share which health practitioners are particularly skilled at treating running injuries, so I created a review site for runners at RunningFavorites.com.

View healthcare providers, running groups & coaches, and races on a map to quickly find listings near you.In addition to including review pages for healthcare providers, the site has since expanded to include running groups & coaches, shoes & gear, and the beginnings of a race calendar. At RunningFavorites.com, runners can share almost anything running-related they love – the people, products, races, and running groups that keep them running healthy and happy.

Below are some cool features of the site:

• Anyone can create a profile on the site, log in, and post reviews and photos.  Viewing listings, reading reviews, and posting reviews throughout the site is absolutely free.

• If you like someone’s review, you can click on their username to view their profile info and links to reviews and photos they’ve posted throughout the site.

• You can view all the health providers, running groups/coaches/stores, and races on a map and perform searches within a radius of where you work or live.

• You can narrow listings to view by category, so you can view just physical therapists on the healthcare pages, or just half marathons on the race calendar.

• If you don’t see something listed you would like to review (such as your favorite sports doc, race, or shoe), you can easily add listings via links in the sidebar, or email the info to contact@runningfavorites.com and we’ll add it for you.

• As you browse the site, you can bookmark your favorite listings so you can come back and view all your favorites at once (via the Directory Dashboard).

• If a listing is about you, your group, store, or race, you can claim your listing to have the ability to update it at any time and receive an email when people post reviews.

Want to review something not listed? Add it via links in the sidebar.In addition to the review pages, RunningFavorites.com contains a blog where I share running tips I’ve learned in my 19 years as a competitive and recreational runner, such as the critical importance of maintaining healthy iron levels, the case for taking it easy on recovery runs, and the importance of finding the right shoe for you.

Take a minute to check out RunningFavorites.com. Browse reviews of health providers, running groups, and running products. Check out the blog.  Post a review of something you love – a favorite healthcare provider, running group, race, or running product.  The more we share reviews of our favorites with friends and the running community, the greater resource it will be for all of us.

Questions about RunningFavorites.com?  Contact Amy at amy@runningfavorites.com.

Follow Running Favorites on Facebook and Twitter to stay up-to-date on new reviews, new products, blog posts, promotions, and giveaways.