The Runners Hack to Digital Media

My goal has always been to share my goal and passion for running with others, especially the cool places the sport can take you. I set myself out on a mission to tell this story in a non-traditional way. In the beginning, I knew I wanted the focus to be around the fun weekend trips I’ve taken for running races or camps. My thoughts were “Well if I’m talking about places, I should probably treat them as a review”. Instead of writing up a standard post, I chose to spread the content out. My focus immediately shifted to Google Reviews because that was the only platform I knew I could include every different place (College, Park, Town, etc).

When created the content and began posting, I knew I wanted to leave a piece of the entire story in each post. I started with a short review of the location, followed by a short section on my experience and then more of the story component. The posts look traditional but are separated into two sections. I was thankful that Google Reviews offered the opportunity to add photos and hyperlinks so I could connect everything back to this blog post. If someone believes the review hopefully this post can lead them to the others.

One of the biggest challenges I faced during the posting phase was not having a review on UNC Wilmington. I saw the school layout but didn’t know much about the school. I decided to ask an alumni I knew if he could share any review he wrote for the school. Once he shared the post with me and gave me permission to use it, I added it into my Google Review. I thought this part of the process was fun because I could get creative with how I wrote the reviews. Another fear I had was not having a photo for every place I selected to review. I deiced to add another collaborative piece to this narrative by asking friends for photos of these places. Most people I had gone with posted something from the trip on their Instagram. With approval from them, I was able to find a photo for every place, a key component to telling my story.

I enjoyed the creativity that this project calls for and tried to think outside the box. Through this process I learned that narratives can be told on any platform, it’s the creativity that makes it possible. I also learned something about myself, I am able to get creative. I never really thought of myself as a creative person, but I believe anyone can be innovative if they apply themselves to their work.

Here is my attached link to a Google Slides of each location I selected for my narrative. I was afraid one of my story pieces may get deleted or flagged so I decided to house this project elsewhere. It seems as if photos are not automatically uploaded and must go through some type of filter process so I have included the original. Although the project can be found on Google Reviews, it may be easier to view it all together. I hope you enjoy my journey through all the cool trips running can take you!