Fast forward 4 years and I’ve written ~800 blog posts, and I spend a good chunk of my free time reading blogs, participating in forums, and interacting with friends on Twitter and Facebook. Through Runblogger I’ve met an incredible number of great people from all around the world, and I continue to be amazed at how much the decision to start writing has changed my life.

Two of the first people I met in my foray into the on-line world were Thomas Neuberger and Caleb Masland. The three of us were all active on the dailymile.com website back in early 2009 (not too long after it launched). The circle of friends we made in those early days on dailymile remains a tight-knit bunch, and Caleb, Thomas and I have all seen the benefits of getting involved in the social running web. Caleb has developed a successful on-line coaching business, and Thomas manages a rapidly growing blog called Believe in the Run.

Sometime last year the three of us started talking about working on a joint project. I can’t recall exactly how the conversation got started, but we all share a passion for running and the social web. We all like to write, and we recognize the power of mutual support and content sharing. We started talking about ways to merge these interests.

One of the things we observed is that the web is full of runners who are producing great content – whether it be blogs, podcasts, or videos, some of the best information out there comes from independent content producers who each share their passion for running in their own way. But, finding that content can be a challenge. Because independent sites, particularly those that are not yet well-established, typically lack the reach of mainstream media sites, a lot of great content goes unread, unviewed, or un-listened to.

Our goal is to try and change this. We decided to start working on a website whose goal is to curate the content of independent running websites. We want to feature the work of those who are sharing their passion one post at a time, often in relative obscurity. We want to feature you! It’s an ambitious goal, and one that will require some amount of trial and error and a lot of hard work, but we are excited to give it a go.

Our project is called Run Radar, and while the site is still under construction with the help of a talented developer named Alex King, we wanted to announce what we are up to and invite you to submit your site for inclusion in our database. You can also join our mailing list to be notified when things are up and running.

We anticipate that Run Radar will feature both unique content (produced by us and anyone interested in contributing unique, quality content), as well as links to content we find to be of exceptional value. Our goals are to share and support – to share freely and widely and to support the work done by those representing the independent running web.

We have already started in some small ways – for example, if you have running-related content you’d like us to check out, post it to Twitter using the hashtag #runradar and we will see it (you can follow us at @Run_Radar). You can also use the #runradar hashtag on Instagram if you have running-related photos to share.

In the meantime, you can check out our holding page at www.runradar.com and submit your site information. We hope you join us!