The LIVESTRONG.COM Blog

It’s episode #2 of our new “5 Strong Members” feature. This week, we’re highlighting five members from the extremely popular “Run For Your Life” group — a group devoted to running beginners and experts alike.

First up is the appropriately-named livingwell. She’s very active in the group, posting words of encouragement and advice as well. She’s been successfully losing a pound a week for a while, initially inspired by a church-sponsored “Biggest Loser”-style contest. Choice quote (from her profile):

I like to walk and run, and really get exited about the the calories that certain workouts burn. The more the better. I’m stoked at what my body is capable of… especially after years of being mostly out of shape. 

Next on our list is swissgirl. This Canadian has lost more than 40 pounds, changed her eating habits, and just a few days ago, successfully ran her first half-marathon! She beat her goal time, and of course now has a major new running accomplishment under her ever-narrowing belt. Congratulations, swissgirl!

Our third strong member this week is cuncourt. She’s planning on running the Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona Marathon this January. She’s a frequent poster in the Run For Your Life group, and in addition to sharing her own success stories, goes out of her way to keep other posters motivated as well:

First, welcome to our group! And as you will see, we are not all speed demons here! Your pace will improve as you continue running, but don’t worry about it - I am “slow” too - I use that word sparingly as I am currently focusing on being able to run longer and seeing the benefits of it, rather than trying to win the race! Good luck! And welcome! 

Next up: BarbaraJoan. I don’t mean to sound like a broken record, but here’s another amazing woman who is constantly offering words of encouragement in the group:

Just keep running regularly and aim to run easily. Goals are terrific. You’re going to be shocked when you see how much you have improved by the time that December run comes around. 

Barbara, who’s 55-years-old and started running two years ago, is aiming to run the Boston Marathon next year! Good luck, Barbara — we’re rooting for you!

Our fifth and final strong member for the week is LoriLuvsRunning. As you might guess, Lori loves running! She’ll be doing her first big race later this month, on October 19th. (That happens to be my daughter’s 2nd birthday, so there will be plenty to celebrate that day!) Like our other four members this week, she’s very active in the group, and she’s also a big fan of backpacking.

Thanks to all of our strong members for the week. You really help make our site a better place, and we appreciate your dedication! If you haven’t met these folks yet, make sure to scope out Run For Your Life today — you’ll be bound to run into them there!

As a brand new feature that dovetails nicely with our intermittent “Meet the Staff” feature that launched Monday, each week we’re going to highlight five strong members from the LIVESTRONG.COM community. Strong community members are those who give back to the site, inspire others, or simply somehow make a difference to others here.

1. First up today is our YouTube contest winner, Zach! Zach’s story inspired thousands of you, and he’s truly an embodiment of what LIVESTRONG.COM is all about. Congratulations, Zach!

2. There’s no way we could start our first edition of “Five Strong Members” without mentioning Lonnie. He’s one of our longest-serving volunteer Moderators, and he is an invaluable resource to all of us behind-the-scenes here at LIVESTRONG.COM. Lonnie is the curator of several popular groups, and active in many more — you can see the full list in his profile. He answers every private message he receives on the site, happy to offer advice, help you learn to use the site to its full potential, or answer any other questions that come in. He’s in frequent content with us staffers as well, relaying urgent issues or making brilliant suggestions. And of course, you can find him pretty much every day on our forums. When you run a community-centric site like ours, you hope that you’ll score someone as devoted as Lonnie is, but you never dream it’s really possible. We love Lonnie, and sing his praises daily. 

3. Another power user is draca. She tracks every day, and she maintains a Food Diary as well. Her profile is filled with articles she’s found interesting, her fascinating “About Me” section, and more. Like most of the others on this list, she’s super active on the forums as well.

4. Next up is choseck. She’s been a member since May, and she’s as active as ever today. She’s tracking what she eats with The Daily Plate, and she’s very active on the forums.

5. And finally, there’s dandv. He’s a relatively new member, but he’s already dived in with so much feedback and become so engaging on the forums — that he’s become our newest Moderator on the site. Congrats, and welcome, Dan!