A few minutes with Larry Eder of The Running Network.

While Larry was waiting for his dorm room to be unlocked after a mishap of going to the shower and forgetting his room key. I was able to help him out by going to the front desk in the Learning Life Center North. Larry and I are in the Learning Life Center South. Larry is not the first person I have known staying in the dorms by the track to lock themselves out of their rooms. A college coach from Ohio accomplished this the first day here. I think it has something to do with be 30-50 years old and not use to living in the dorm and going down the hall to shower.

RUNOHIO
How did you first get involved with The Running Network, doing a publication and selling ads for the various publications?

Eder
My first job in publishing was with Runner’s World magazine and I got there by fluke as my neighbor was the circulation director for them. He asked me if I wanted a jog and he got me an interview with Derek Clayton, World record holder in the marathon. Derek told me they he like me but there were no jobs. A week later they had an opening in the production department for advertising and the day I was hire they fired the entire advertising department. So I was it for Runner’s World, I was 23 years old in 1981. I stayed there until November of 1987.

I had a great run at Runner’s World. Right after that I started the American Track and Field publication while I was working on a medical publication call Sports Care and Fitness.

I first got involved with the Running Network in 1986 when Mike Collins, then the owner of the Running Network showed up at Rodale (Runner’s World) was thinking of buying it. I wrote a white paper about it and my comments were down the road I thought that the running media would get segmented. I thought it was important that Rodale would buy the Running Network at the time or down the road they would be our (Runner’s World) competition.

It was quite ironic that by 1992 Collins asked me to start doing some sales. In 1996 I brought my books into the Running Network and in ’98 I got my first regional running magazine Cal Track and Running News.

In 1998 I help facilitate the sale of The Running Network to Jeremy and Elliot of the Chicago Athlete. In 2004 the guys who were printing my publications, Hord, they came in as a business partner and we then purchased the Running Network.

I think it has worked out pretty well. It is a little crazy. Ad sales are a very tough gig right now, especially print ad sales. But the more focus you are, the more specialty you are the better you are going to do. I think the web sites, finally after ten years are starting to take off. The Running network has probably spent nearly $800,000 since we started this whole thing. I think it is going to take a couple of years to make that money back. But I am confident that the money is going to start flowing in. All of us (in The Running Network) have unique approaches because of our local cultures and local approaches from my American Track and Field to your RUNOHIO. Everyone got an approach that our readers are interested in and advertisers what well educated and thoughtful consumers. If we can tie that in with some good advertising contracts I think we can do well for a long time in the future. Magazines are going to change. In the near future every time I do my print publications I am going to have a pdf version up on the web site. I am also going to have a digital version that will have live links to the advertiser’s web sites.

RUNOHIO
How many publications are in the Running Network?

Eder
In the Running network there are 34 and my partner and I own 7. The only places we need magazine right now are in the Dakota’s and the upper Midwest. The big thing I am trying to do right now is have the owners invest in their publication, trying to make them better. The reason people read your publication or the others is because the people like the stuff in it. Right now our advertisers are very fickle. The race guys want ads as cheep as possible. You got a few advertisers who think the web is everything. You got some every couple of years who are going to go broad and spend zillion of dollars advertising to people who have no clue about their shoes. But in the end these consumers are going to go to “Joe runner down the block” and see what shoes they are wearing, they are wearing Asics, Brooks, New Balance, Soucony, Nike likes 5th on the list. It is a very interesting dynamic right now. So the more attractive you make your magazine, the more focus and better editorials are, better your pictures the more readers you are going to have. You have done a great job with RUNOHIO.

RUNOHIO
What do you think of the Olympic trials so far.

Eder
I think this Olympic Trials is the best I have been to and I have been to the last eight. The venue is perfect. Staying in the dorms is really fun, except for locking myself out of my room. But, I think it is a great event. I think next year will be better with the National Champs here. We (the Running Network) got a little gathering over at the Villard Street Pub with Peanut Harms (http://runohio.com/read_blog/few-minutes-peanut-track-fan)
and we will increase that next year. I wanted to test that and we will a bigger presence next year. But so far everything has been great.