Paul Winner

"You asked how WalkJogRun has helped change my life well......

14 months ago I weighed in at 23st (322 pounds) and was in danger of never managing to keep up with my 3 year old daughter. I made some serious life changes and started to eat healthier and run. I used to run at night in the winter so people would not see me but I knew I couldn't hide forever and as the nights got a little lighter I noticed I was getting a lot lighter as well and pretty soon I started to become a serious jogger. One of the downsides for me was I couldn't work out how far I was running without investing in a pocket pc for my wrist and to be honest I didn't need another gadget just a simple user friendly way of measuring my runs.

A friend recommended WalkJogRun and I was away. It started as curiosity for me - how far was I going, how quick etc. but then I discovered the great features that really allowed me to develop my training - distance, elevation, calories burned etc as well as viewing other people's routes. In June last year I ran my first 5K and in October my first half marathon. I am now 4 weeks away from my first marathon in London aged 42 and weighing 13 stone (182 pounds).

I could never have managed the training schedule if I hadn't have been able to pre-plan my routes to build the mileage and keep the scenery changing and that's all down to your website so thank you - it's helped to change my life.

Attached [below] are some 'before and after' photographs for you to see the difference.

What a difference a jog makes!"

Kristi Winner

"As an endurance athlete, my life has revolved around goals. Every time I run, it's to reach a goal. By reaching these goals, I become stronger as a person and an athlete.

On November 1, 2008 I gave birth to my second child. She was diagnosed postnatally with Down syndrome. The shock was overwhelming and my worries increased with each medical specialist we were visiting. I needed to be strong not only for my new daughter, but for my husband and 1 year old son. Running gives me a sense of clarity and it's a time to reflect on the good things in life or to clear my head.

Two weeks after her birth, the Florida weather was perfect for walking, however I felt like I was roaming around unsure of calories burned and my distances. Yes, I know, a breast feeding mother shouldn't worry about calories burned, but I am a runner and we are crazy about numbers! Then I stumbled upon this website. It was a comforting moment. I was able to gauge my distances and keep track of which routes were safe for baby joggers. By knowing distances, I was able to make goals and reach them.

While that was happening, I became more optimistic and found my inner strength that I knew I had. Being able to push myself to reach goals helps me know how to push my daughter to reach milestones and one day, her own goals. So I thank you for creating this website, it assisted in helping me find myself. It is much needed and appreciated."

Shawn Winner

"I would like to share my walk-jog-run story! In high school I ran track…and hated it. I thought there would never be a time in my life when I would ever say “I love to run.” Then I grew up and had children. After giving birth to three little bundles of joy, I realized staying thin would be more of a challenge than it was when I was in high school. I started working out and lifting weights and watching every calorie I ate, to the point where I became obsessive. After several years of that routine, I came to the realization that I had to find a better way to live. That was when I thought I would try running. I started out little by little until I finally began running 2-3 miles twice a week. It helped me maintain my weight, but I still wouldn’t say, “I love to run.”

It wasn’t until June of 2007 that my feelings toward running began to change. My friend Christy asked me if I would like to join her for a running club on Saturday mornings. Not wanting to disappoint my friend, I said yes. We began running at a local park every Saturday. After about 2 months of this, we committed to running our first 5K. The idea was a bit scary, but we knew we could do it. We began our training, but found running the 1.3 mile loop around and around the park was not only boring, but daunting. This was when a friend introduced me to WalkJogRun.net, and I instantly became hooked. Each week I would map out different routes for our “training” and found new and fun places where we could run. This helped break the monotony of running the same old route over and over, and as we kept adding distance, it even made them bearable.

Since October or 2007, when we ran our first 5K, we have run several 5ks, a half marathon, and are now training for our first full Marathon in May of this year. WalkJogRun, has helped me map every route along the way, including the 18 mile route we will run tomorrow (our longest run so far)! I am thankful for the resource you have provided to runners and walkers everywhere. I appreciate the deals you post in the newsletters, and even use the site when I am travelling out of town for work. Running has helped me find a better balance between eating healthy and exercising. I can now truly say “I love to run”, and wanted you to know that WalkJogRun has helped me get there! Thanks!"

Caitlin

"Being new to any city is difficult, especially if it is your first time living away from home.

I grew up in New York City, across from a park in Manhattan. The park was the center of my family's landmark moments; where my little brother played in Little League, where my father created an outdoor theater company, and where I learned how to be a committed runner. Because of the familiarity of the park to my parents, both were marathon participants and explained to me how to pace myself, how many laps constituted a mile, and how early to head out to avoid the eccentric dog walkers, my morning runs were always predictable, safe and reassuring. There is something unnerving about running without knowing where you will end up, and how far you have gone.

When I moved to Evanston for college I felt disoriented, unsure if in my half hour run I had gone two miles, or, without the familiarity of my home park I was becoming slower, losing endurance. A random google search helped me find walkjogrun, locate Evanston, and find a plethora of suggested routes, complete with distances. It encouraged me to pick up outdoor jogging again, helped me explore neighborhoods all around the Northside of Chicago, and feel more at home.

When I moved to Chicago proper last summer the discovery for the Lakeshore Drive path, and ability to map increasing distances travelled has helped me combat the sedentary lifestyle, and attendent lethargy, that accompanies the long hours of reading entailed in graduate school. It is warming to find an online community of like-minded people committed to an activity that is ecologically sustainable, free, and energizing. Thanks!"

Sophie

"I started to run in January 2008 after Christmas. I decided that I wanted something to aim for so I decided to register for the Great Manchester Run. I managed to get one of my friends to start running also and she also registered for the manchester run. I have been running round the area where I live for 2 months now and was unsure about how far I was running.

I was running a circuit that my partner suggested and we reckoned it was about 0.8 miles each time I completed a circuit. About two weeks ago a friend told me about walkjogrun website so I searched it and plotted out my circut! It was so easy to use and I could work out the circuit I was running. It turns out that my circuit is just over a mile which I was really pleased with as I have been running further than I initially thought I was. I have saved the route so that other runners can access this. being able to plot this route has made me really motivated now! I am running up to five miles.

I plan to plot some different routes now so that I can build up to 10 K in preparation for the Manchester Run! I have also recently registered for the Race for LIfe! I am confident that Walkjogrun will keep me motivated and enable me to achieve my goals!"

Val

"My name is Val and I live in Swindon, UK. I use WalkJogRun to log our training walks for Swindon Twin Peaks, a power walking group based in Swindon that train on a weekly basis. Many of our members undertake Moonwalk marathons in London and Edinburgh for Walk the Walk Worldwide, who donate funds to breast cancer charities. We also enter various other events such as the Paris, Berlin, and New York marathons and many others.

I am in charge of organising our longer walk training routes and have found the site to be fantastic and really easy to use. It ensures that our mileages are correct, we go from 8 miles up to 22 miles all around our local area to ensure that our 'power walkers' have done the training they need to take part in the moonwalks which are either full or half marathon distance.

Myself and my walking partner, Mandy Martin, will be travelling to New York to take part in the marathon in November and we have been busy raising lots of sponsorship already. We are really looking forward to it as the 'bra' girls, as the team are known, have taken part for the last few years now.

For any further information on our walking group please see www.swindontwinpeaks.org."

Jovan

"I don’t like traveling to paths or trails to get my runs in every day. I only really like to run outside rather than on my treadmill. WalkJogRun.net has allowed me to map from my house a set number of miles that I want to accomplish each day. So I can go right outside my door and just start running. I love it."

Janet

"Truth be known, I am a golfer, not a runner. In the off season, I began power walking to stay in shape for walking the golf course with my bag on my back. I have heard estimates of walking a golf course is anywhere between 4-11milies, so I wanted to know for sure. I found your website, and put in the address of a course, and I tracked the entire round and found out this course was almost 10 miles to walk. I then started power walking at least 3 days a week, but wanting at least a 5mi route. I love the jones beach boardwalk route, but it was only 4mi, so using the website, I determined how to add a loop or two in certain locations to make the route 5 or 6 miles. I love this website! I use it for every place I walk-the neighborhood, parks and even golf courses! All I need to complete my walking experience is an ipod…so, consider me! thanks"

Andrew

"I started running a little over a year ago, at 232lbs. I could barely make, what I thought, was a mile. I found myself jogging aimlessly to places like "just past Scott's house" or "to the stop light and back". As I improved, and the lbs came off, I needed more. I desired a more detailed plan and map. A friend turned me on to walkjogrun.net and I started my plan. I mapped out several routes, put together a 3 day a week jogging schedule. Each route specifically planned out for each day. Admittedly, the names stayed similar, but now I knew that "the DQ route" was 4 miles. I needed structure, and walkjogrun.net provided that. It also allowed me to plan a route that allowed me to push my son in the jog stroller, and at the same time, staying away from busy intersections. I also plotted some routes while visiting relatives out of state. I want to show my kids that exercising can be fun, enjoyable, and done outside no matter where you are. walkjogrun.net allows me to be a better person, a more fit person, and a better father.

A quick note, nothing spectacular or earth shattering, but walkjogrun.net has become a part of my new life. I'm happy to say I'm hovering around 200lbs, and can rip off 6 miles whenever you would like.

Thanks for a great product."

Michael

"I was hurting.

Actually, I wasn't just hurting, I was injured. The meniscus in my left knee was shot -- damn NYC potholes! After my arthroscopic surgery, I had to walk backward and rely heavily on the hand railings just to make the trek up the four flights of stairs to my 4th floor walk-up apartment and oddly enough ... I was grateful for all those stairs. It looked like climbing them was going to be the only exercise I'd get for the next several weeks.

Most of rehab sucks. The OMG painful exercises, the way-too-chipper physical therapists urging you to do "Just one more!" of said exercises ... but one bonus of being laid up with an injury is that you have extra time to play what I like to call "random running-related website search" on the internet. Basically, you Google "running" or "how to run faster" or "how to run like a man possessed" or anything that might bring up a site you've never seen before that might contain even a morsel of info on running that you could put to use in your next 5K.

This is how I discovered WalkJogRun.net., the site that would save my injured butt.

At first, I just cruised around the site eyeballing the public routes in NYC. It was a blast seeing a route that I had run and finding out that it was a lot longer than I had thought, or looking for a more efficient, car-free route to get from the East Village where I live to Central Park. Eventually I started designing my own routes -- so many that within a few days the whole map of Manhattan looked like a poster for Spider Man 4: Spidey Goes Nuts. I was deep in Fantasyland ... planning routes all over the city that, once I was healed, would be my path to recovery and ultimately -- GLORY! I'd be faster than ever. With the power of my WalkJogRun routes and my ability to pick just the right one to fit the training needs of any given day, I would become the perfect running machine! I would run two, maybe three times a day! So many routes, so little time!!!

Then I'd shift my leg in bed and get a sharp shooting pain that reminded me ... actually running the routes would have to wait.

A couple of weeks later I got the go-ahead from my PT to start walking. As usual, she was a lot more enthused about the good news than I was: "Can you believe it?! You get to walk!" I wanted to say, "I'm a runner. I don't do 'walk'." But I just smiled. She was so happy for me, I didn't want to ruin it for her.

I got home that day feeling sorry for myself. I had thought that I'd be given the thumbs up to do some slow running. What good was walking?! Still moping, I logged on to WalkJogRun and as soon as the logo popped on screen it hit me: WalkJogRun wasn't just the coolest running site ever, it was a prescription for healing! I would Walk ... then Jog ... then ... Run! WalkJogRun! It was perfect. My evil plan for world running domination -- or at least kicking some butt in some upcoming NYRR club race in Central Park -- now had a shape.

I spent the next several weeks and months following the plan to the letter. Using WalkJogRun to map my routes to the exact specifications of my PT's instructions and based on what my knee told me it could do that day, I walked, jogged, and then ran my way back to health.

Last weekend ... I ran the NYRR 8000 in Central Park in a new PR for the 8K of 37:18, a 7:30 pace. WalkJogRun, baby! Today the 8K ... tomorrow, the WORLD! (With the help of WalkJogRun's maps of London ... Paris ... Stockholm ...)"

Jonathan

"I thought I'd let you know how WalkJogRun has made an impact on my life. I was a serving British Soldier for a number of years before an injury forced me out of the Army. After an operation to repair my knee I was determined to get my life back on track and get back to what was and is the only thing I've ever wanted in my life.

I didn't know where to start, I was living in an area I'd never ran in before, I had only just moved there. I read on a military website I frequent about WalkJogRun, I was amazed at how user-friendly and accurate the site was and immediately began using it as a valuable training tool in getting back to the Military.

With it I was able to accurately plan out various run routes in my local area encompassing speed work and longer endurance runs/forced marches. It helped me set myself time and distance goals so I could see myself improving and In the end I ended up fitter and more confident than before I even picked up my Injury and had to leave the forces. As soon as I knew I was ready I went back, got deemed medically fit for service and smashed all the fitness assesments that ensured my injury was no longer a problem.

Now I've got my life back and I'm doing the job I love. Without WalkJogRun the road to recovery and getting back to where I am now would have been a long and difficult one. Thanks to WalkJogRun I was able to take my training to a much more professional level which I wouldn't have been able to achieve without it.

Thanks guys."

Gemma

"My story is this,

I was living with a guy who i thought was lovely, for 3 and a half years, but under the surface this guy was beginning mind games to control me. I put on weight became unhealthy and never did any exercise. I realised this guy needed some help, but that i would never be able to give it to him. I then ended the relationship in June last yr. The problem he still lived with me and would not move out. The house was never in his name and he had never pain for anything as he never had a job. We got on fine until september, as friends. I met a new guy i wanted to date, he then turned on me, i had to move out of my own house as i was fearful for my own safety. There was some involvement from the authorities and it was all very stressful.

I moved into my friend house for a total of 10 days, my friend enjoys running, i went with her, i ran 15 miles in my first week. i was extremely stressed as i was recieving upto 30 calls per day from my exe. Running turned into my stress relief, and coping mechanism. It stopped me from becoming depressed and down about the situation. I had already started to eat healthly by this point but was finding it hard to loose that last half a stone! Running soon shifted that! I couldn't really afford a pedometer, i really wanted to keep running, when i finally got my exe out of the house. However i didn't know any routes or how far i was running. A friend told me about WalkJogRun.net and it has been my saviour for running routes!!!!! I get bored of my routes after a while so i'm always making new ones one the site. I started off running 2.7miles! i can now run nearly 5 miles and i'm thinking of doing the great north run this year!!!! Thank you WalkJogRun.net!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Douglas

"So my grandmother died last February. She was the last though. This story really starts in 1995. That was when my uncle, my dad’s younger brother died of a sudden heart attack. I was a freshman in college and continuing in the lifestyle I had been accustomed. I ran only when absolutely necessary and was used to being known as the chubby kid. I kind of figured that I might go the same way one day, given my family’s predilection towards obesity and heart disease. “I may die young, but I’ll enjoy the time anyway.”

At the end of 2002, my Dad had his first heart attack. He had always had trouble with high blood pressure and a weight problem, so the heart attack wasn’t a surprise. He had a triple bypass and started exercising. Almost exactly one year later, just before his 65th birthday, Christmas, and a month before my son, my first child, was born, he had his second and final heart attack. It was a shock, to say the least, and not a day goes by that I don’t encounter something that I wish Dad was here to see. With my son’s birth, I thought I should really try to change my ways, but the specter of a heart attack seemed almost a certainty, so the changes didn’t last and soon I was back in front of the TV with an order of hot wings.

In 2006, my aunt, my dad’s younger sister, died of massive heart attack. Do we see a pattern here? My grandparents, in their 90’s at the time, had to bury all three of their children. By this time I was divorced. I was trying to restart my life and accept myself for who I was, but the stress of trying to be a single father and reorder my life didn’t leave much room for fitness. Combine that with an overwhelming belief that food is love and my life was not getting any healthier.

Finally, a year ago, my grandmother died. I was walking in Manhattan on a romantic weekend with my new wonderful girlfriend when I found out. Suddenly things just clicked. I didn’t want my mother to bury me. I wanted to see my son grow up, start to grow old. The edge I had been inching up to all this time was right in front of me. It was time to step off.

I started walking everyday at lunch and started eating better, not much less, but better; more salads and chicken, less burgers and hot wings. I still ate them, sure, but I definitely ate less.

For two months I was doing well. I had lost 20 pounds and my goal of 250 seemed attainable, if a long way off. Then my girlfriend and I were walking one day and she joked about jogging and took off running. “Ha, ha,” I thought, “I’ll show her.” And I took off at a blistering shuffle. After about 30 seconds of that, it occurred to me that I was actually jogging. It was a slow jog, but a jog none the less and the next thing I knew I had jogged for a whole minute, about 45 seconds longer than I had ever jogged before. I was ecstatic. I continued jogging for another minute. Two solid minutes of jogging!

I immediately decided that jogging was my next step. I eased into it. I started an alternating jogging and walking routine. I remember a friend told me that was called the “Fartleck method.” I thought that she was joking with me and I have never repeated the term. Gradually I jogged more and walked less and, by the end of May, I was just jogging for 30 minutes. Once the jogging started the weight started melting off. It was great.

By June, I was started wondering how far I was going. I went online looking for a good site to figure it out and that is when I found walkjogrun.net. I started using it casually to track my distance. I used it for both my jogs and my lunch walks. My favorite part was, and still is, the calorie counter. Nothing makes me feel better than knowing that after a jog I have burned so many calories.

As the time passed, I could watch as my distances increased. I moved to three miles, then on a trip to my Mother’s in July, I did three and half miles. I knew how long it was because of walkjogrun. I loved running outdoors. It was great feeling the sun on face, and knowing I was actually going somewhere. Frankly, and this is nothing against treadmill runners, but treadmills freak me out. I am so afraid they will throw me off.

By the end of August I had reached 250 and I was feeling great. At the end of September I went to Connecticut for a conference and I used walkjogrun to map out a 4 mile route out and back from my hotel. It was the first time I had done 4 miles and I felt so proud when I had completed it. It was then that I realized I should sign up and become a member of the walkjogrun community. I kept jogging and walking through the fall, using the routes I put up on my account. I would use the calculator to figure out how fast I was jogging, and to keep looking at the calories I was losing. I know it doesn’t really change if the distance doesn’t change, but it was nice to see it anyway.

At Christmas I reached 225 and won a bet with my girlfriend. The only reason I won was because of the jogging. Walkjogrun has kept me on task by showing me how much work I am doing and reminding me it is not for naught.

I have rebounded a bit as the short, cold days lessened my running for a couple of months.. Now that March has come though, I have been hitting the road more often and looking at the calculator again to watch the calories I burn. I also was talking with another jogger at work and was able to answer the question, “What pace are you running at?”

This all keeps me going when I am tired or the weather is crappy. So, thanks walkjogrun. "

Amber

"WalkJogRun (WJR) has helped me in a number of ways. Mostly it has helped me to be more aware of the distances in my workouts, thereby encouraging me to add milage where I might otherwise be satisfied with my standard jaunt around the block. Specifically, I've gone from running about five kilometers in my neighborhood to more like five miles.

Once or twice a week I meet up with a friend for a walk and talk. When we get back to her house we can map out our route and determine how far we walked. We have often been suprised at the distance we walk on days when one of us has some particularly juicy news to share.

I even used WJR to calculate my beach run when I was on vacation. It is very difficult to determine distance without the normal city blocks as a gague, so I was glad to have WJR as a tool so I could still track my run.

My local gym has a system in place to rank order members based on their workout "points." Prior to using WJR I missed out on a lot of point opportunities because I didn't know the distance for my runs. Now that I can track these runs and add them to my point total I've been steadily climing the ranks. I'm currently in the top 100 overall, the top 50 for women, and I'm at #2 for my gender and age category.

Thanks WalkJogRun!"