Friday Spotlight: Incster
Hey-hey! You've made it through the week adulting and stuff, so it's time to take a quick break and get down to the more important business like the Friday Spotlight. Today's runner is no stranger to the sub and is personally one of my all time favorites here in r/running. When I found out that he had been nominated I was secretly excited. Typically pretty reserved but rather blunt and straight to the point when he does chime in, I really enjoyed learning about this frequenter and his running. Taking it back across the Atlantic this week, I present to you this weeks Spotlight athlete "Mr.Yes&No" himself, u/incster!
Let's roll...
###The Runner:
First Name?
Rich
Age?
52
Where are you from?
I grew up in Pennsylvania, not far from u/jaime_manger's hometown (although likely before she was born). I have lived in a few places since then, including Austin and Helsinki, and have been in London for the last six years.
Occupation?
Software and Hardware engineering leadership, specialising in the mobile handset space.
###The Running Q&A's:
What are your PR’s?
Here are my PRs, along with the associated age gradings. You start to care about these things when you get to be my age.
Road
| Distance | Age Grade | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 km | 71.4% | 3:30 |
| 5 km | 77.4% | 19:13 |
| 10 km | 73.9% | 41:12 |
| Half Marathon | 77.1% | 1:27:36 |
| Marathon | 73.5% | 3:11:25 |
Track
| Distance | Age Grade | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 mile | 73.5% | 5:49.20 |
| 3000m | 74.0% | 11:25.60 |
How long have you been running?
About five years, this time, with the last three more seriously (UK club level competition).
Briefly explain why you began running?
I needed to get back into shape after sitting behind a computer for three decades. I had run for fitness when I was much younger, and always liked it. I picked up casual cycling while I lived in Finland, but didn’t enjoy riding in London traffic.
Most memorable running moment?
Probably the English National XC Championships at Parliament Hill last year. The mass start is a scene out of Braveheart.
Do you have a running mantra?
I don’t have one, but one of my friend’s is “I’m a ballerina.” It seems to work for her, but doesn’t do much for me.
What’s your highest recorded weekly mileage?
Just over 70 miles in the lead up to the Boston Marathon last year. The next week I set a 9 minute half marathon PB, and went on to a big PB in Boston. I will peak somewhere in the mid 60s in my current London training round.
What time of day do you prefer to run?
Any time is fine. I usually run in the evenings during the week, and mornings on the weekends, just because it matches the club training schedule.
Any big races coming up?
Reading Half Marathon, London Marathon, Greenbelt Relay, North Downs 30k, Marathon du Medoc (as a drunken fun run), and New York Marathon. London and New York are my A races for the year.
What are your short-term running goals?
To break 40 for the 10k. I should have done it already, but haven’t raced a 10k in a couple of years. I also have a dream of running a sub 3:00 marathon. This is only a short-term goal because if I don’t do it soon, it is not going to happen.
What are your long-term running goals?
To run forever.
What’s one piece of running advice you’d give to the younger version of yourself?
Join a running club. Now. Don’t wait.
What is something you need to work on to become a better runner?
Better core strength would help, but the main thing is just keeping the training consistent.
What is your current shoe choice?
Brooks Pure Cadence for the roads
Innov-8 X-Tallon for the trails
Brooks Mach for XC
What’s your comfy pace?
Depends on what I did in the days before. Generally 7:30-7:45 on easy days, and as slow as needed on recovery days.
Trail? Road? Or Treadmill?
Yes.
Pro tip: XC has the best ratio of running to drinking. 30-40 minutes of racing followed by 5 hours in the pub.
What is your ideal running weather?
8-10C, overcast, light wind, but I will take whatever I can get.
Do you have any social media accounts you’d like to share? [Facebook, Strava, Twitter]
I go by incster on Twitter and Metafilter.
###Just For Fun:
What’s your spirit animal?
What hobbies and interests do you have besides running?
Live music. Playing and watching.
Do you have any hidden talents?
My superpower is the ability to sleep on airplanes.
Biggest pet peeve?
People who don’t read the FAQ or use the reddit search feature. Another one is people who want to know how to run fast, but are not willing to put in the miles.
What songs have you been listening to recently?
Sleaford Mods - No One’s Bothered
The Selector - On My Radio
Motörhead & Girlschool - Please Don’t Touch
What are some of your favorite non-running subreddits?
I don’t post much outside of the running subreddits, but I lurk on r/london and r/Android
###One Last Question:
What is the origin of your username?
incster is the nickname of one of the main characters in David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest
I really appreciate u/incster taking the time to let us know a bit more about him. After finding out about The Crack Fox however, I'll probably be seeing him a bit differently now. As usual, please tag u/incster's username when personally asking him a question in this thread! Also, if I see that you've failed to tag him after asking him a question, I'll try my best to respond to your question by tagging him myself. So be aware. Tagging Incster's username alerts him that his attention is needed. This way, he doesn't have to sift through all of the comments one by one, which can be a rather daunting task when there is a lot of traffic to the thread. Please don't forget that all of our Friday Spotlight athletes may need time to respond to your comments and questions so give them some time to reply. Cheers to you Incster and best of luck this year!
####Thanks everyone for reading!!!!
Previously Featured Spotlight Runners:
ATTENTION READERS!
I've been getting messages weekly from a lot of people asking to be featured in the Friday Spotlight Thread. My response to them is the same every time. I do not get to personally choose who is chosen for each thread. With exception to Palindrome27 (which I randomly chose to get this started), every runner thus far has been selected by the person before them. It's one of the perks of getting nominated. There is no list of names. No spreadsheet with columns and columns of usernames. Nothing. So for those confused, users like Philpips was chosen by Despoena. Despoena was chosen by Craigster38. So on and so on. You get the idea. Doing it this way eliminates the hassle of having to personally pick someone every week. This keeps me neutral. Some of you have expressed your opinion (via PM) on who's been featured this far claiming that I have only chosen runners who are fast, have been running for a while, or compete in longer distance races. This is simply luck of the draw. There is zero favoritism here. Each featured runner gets to personally pick someone they find interesting. I apply no pressure to the runners to pick a particular skill level of runner. This is the beauty of the process. If you want to be featured, you can up your chances of being chosen by being an active member of the subreddit. Comment as much as possible. Submit quality content. Provide as much as you can as a runner to help keep this community growing and I'm certain your efforts will not go unnoticed. Just keep tuning in and making friends and eventually it'll pay off if you want to be featured. Thank you.
Posted Mar 25, 2016, 12:00 PM UTC