Welcome To Stride Nation

Welcome to Stride Nation, SB Nation's running community and news blog.

SB Nation is all about empowering the voice of fans by building fan communities led by strong fan voices. Running is a little different, because we're not just all running fans. We're runners. So Stride Nation will be a little different. We'll be covering running news -- the competitive end of the sport, leading up to the 2012 London Olympics. We'll be talking about the Halls and the Hailes and the Mebs.

But much of time, we'll be talking about you, and ourselves, and everyone else who toes the line for a 5K, a marathon, an ultra. This is a participation sport, and this will be a participation blog. We have some great writers lined up to write essays on all things running. We'll have runners publishing training diaries leading up to their first Boston Marathon, their Boston qualifier attempt, their first trail marathon, their first ultra, their first race after a major weight loss. We'll talk about our favorite runs, races, trails and experiences. We'll talk about gear. We'll talk about training plans. We'll connect with others who have similar goals through our FanPost communities.

One of the great things about running is that it's a constant learning experience. Every theory can be tested out on the roads, the track or the hills. And largely, that will apply here: we're going to learn how this community works best as we go along. If you have ideas and feedback, please don't hesitate to drop a comment or send us a note at stridenation AT gmail DOT com. In the meantime, get ready for our first essay, an introduction from editor Denny Mayo.