My favorite part of writing this newsletter actually isn’t the posts I write. It’s the conversations we have, in the comments below each issue and especially in our Friday open thread live discussions, where we’ve been able to get to know each other, and share our goals and wins together, these past few years.

I love how supportive, kind and thoughtful every one of you are who take the time to contribute, and I read each and every comment you write. And I love that you’ve shared with us all where you are in the world, what inspired you to start running, how your running has been going, and even what you’re reading for the summer.

That you take the time and open yourself up to share with the group here means so much to me, and I’m so grateful that we’ve been able to create a community here together that is impossible to find anywhere else on the internet.

So, when Substack approached me a few months ago about a new feature they wanted to try out, I knew right away that our community would be perfect for it. It’s called Substack Threads, and it will allow any subscriber of The Half Marathoner to start a thread, ask a question, share a photo or an article, post a thought, or even update us all on how your run went today.

What I love about it is that you won’t have to wait for me to send out an issue of the newsletter, or our usual Friday open thread question, to start a conversation with me or anyone in our community. You can ask your question or share your photo the moment it pops in your head — which is the coolest part of this, in my opinion.

There’s just one thing: you’ll need the Substack app to participate. You can download it by tapping this button:

Read The Half Marathoner in the new Substack app

Now available for iOS

Get the app

I’m so grateful to Substack for including me in the Threads pilot program; we’re one of a small group of newsletters they’ve asked to try this out, as they have noticed what a supportive, meaningful and enriching community we’ve built here together over these past few years.

(The others are Elle Griffin’s The Novelleist, Haley Nahman’s Maybe Baby, Bill Bishop’s Sinocism, Darryl Cooper’s Martyr Made, Suleika Jaouad’s The Isolation Journals and Marc Stein’s The Stein Line.)

After you download the app, you’ll see an icon at the bottom of the screen that looks like a message bubble. (I’ve highlighted it below, with the red arrow pointing to it.)

All you need to do is tap that icon, and then we’re off to the races! I can’t wait to test this out, hear what you have to say, and see how it goes. If you have any trouble finding our threads, just tap this button and you’ll be directed right to them:

Join The Half Marathoner Threads

If you’d like to dig deeper into the behind-the-scenes of the Substack Threads pilot program, there’s much more info here:

Substack Threads Announcement

FAQ

If you have any questions, just let me know — I might be able to answer them, but I’m also in direct contact with the folks at Substack, who will be able to answer anything I can’t.

Thanks for trying this out with me! As Helen Keller said, “life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all,” right? 😃

Your friend,

— Terrell

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