震惊：世界最好跑步网站Letsrun即将倒闭！

今天刚看到这条消息时，笔者大感震惊：这不是愚人节玩笑吧？！

在全球无数能用英文阅读的跑者眼中，Letsrun无疑是世界上最好的跑步论坛和网站之一，甚至没有之一。

它的读者包括众多跑界牛人，包括曾被赋予中国马拉松国家队总教练重任的意大利名教头卡诺瓦（Renato Canova）。

笔者从LetsRun上面的文章和帖子中，汲取过大量的信息和灵感。本号近期有两篇文章，更是直接翻译自该网站：

然而令人悲哀和痛惜的是，该网站于4月1日发表的这条消息，竟然是真的。

文章前半部分翻译如下：

LetsRun.com Declares Bankruptcy, Website Will Be Shutdown on May 7th

LetsRun.com宣告破产，网站将在5月7日关闭

By Jonathan Gault（作者）

April 1, 2020

Twenty years. It's been a good run. But as of May 7, 2020, LetsRun.com will be no more.

20年了。这一路跑来，令人无憾。不过到了2020年5月7日，LetsRun.com将不复存在。

The worldwide economic depression that has resulted from COVID-19 has cratered the advertising markets and it's no longer economically feasible to run the website.

COVID-19导致的全球经济萧条重创了广告市场，使得运营本网站在经济上已变得不可行。

"May 7, 2000, was a dark day for US distance running fans and me personally, so the 20th anniversary of that date is the perfect day to go out," said LetsRun.com co-founder Weldon Johnson,

“对美国长跑爱好者和我本人来说，2000年5月7日是一个至暗日子，因此20周年后的这一天，也是再合适不过的退出日期。”LetsRun.com共同创始人韦尔登·约翰森表示，

who saw his Olympic dream denied on the streets of Pittsburgh at the 2000 US Olympic Marathon Trials on May 7 when only one man made the team.

2000年5月7日，他见证自己的奥运梦在匹兹堡街头化为泡影。在那天举行的（悉尼）奥运会选拔赛上，仅有一人得以入选美国马拉松队。

"The coronavirus canceled the Olympics and now it's canceled LetsRun.com.

“新冠病毒终结了奥运会，现在它也终结了LetsRun.com。”

"It's never been easy to make a living while giving away everything for free, but the decline in the online ad markets over the last few weeks has been unprecedented.

“在免费提供一切（内容）的同时维持生存，这从来都不容易。而过去几周来在线广告市场的滑坡，更是前所未见的。”

Couple that with the fact that online ad marketplaces have gotten much better at tracking people in recent years and our revenue has almost entirely dried up.

“加之近年来在线广告集市变得非常精于追踪目标人群的事实，我们的营收已经枯竭殆尽。”

The advertisers now know that most of our visitors haven't achieved the 'LetsRun triple.'

广告主现在已经知道，我们的大多数访问者尚未实现‘LetsRun三件套’。

While many have the potential to make well over $250,000 a year, the reality is most of them have never had a full-time job and are living in mom and dad's basement still chasing that final PR before Father Time gets to them."

虽然很多人具备挣到25万美元以上年薪的潜力，现实却是他们中的大多数从未有过一份全职工作，而且仍住在父母的地下室，仍在追求自己的终极PB，直到岁月不再饶人。”

而文章后半部分，除LetsRum另一创始人兼韦尔登的弟弟罗伯特·约翰森的半调侃式声明之外，最后几段如下：

Weldon, the elder brother and brains behind the LetsRun.com operation, refused to take a negative view about the closure of the site.

作为兄长和LetsRum.com运营的幕后主脑，韦尔登拒绝对网站的关闭持负面看法。

“This isn't a day for 'woe is me.' It's been a great run and I'm really proud of the contributions the platform has made to elevating distance running.

“这不是哭诉‘我好命苦’的日子。我们一直做得很棒，对于本平台对提升长跑水准的贡献，我由衷自豪。”

When we started the website, the marathon world records were 2:05:42 for the men and 2:20:43 for the women.

我们创建本网站时，马拉松世界纪录是男子2:05:42，女子2:20:43。

Now a man has run 1:59:41 and a woman 2:14:04 and we've certainly played a role in that, both by developing a platform where coaching advice could spread and by actually pacing two of those world records, one for Catherine Ndereba and one for Paula Radcliffe.

如今已经有一个男子跑到1:59:41，一个女性跑到2:14:04，对此我们肯定扮演了一定角色——既开发出一个可以传播教练建议的平台，还曾为两个世界纪录直接领跑，一次是为凯瑟琳·恩德雷巴，一次是为波拉·拉德克里夫。

Social justice warriors be damned, I'm most proud of the role we've played in elevating women's distance running across the globe. That's what I hope people will remember us for," said Weldon.

去他的社会正义斗士。我最引为自豪的是，我们对提升全球女性长跑所起到的作用。我希望我们因此被人铭记。”韦尔登说。

笔者点评：

那些跑步大赛推迟、甚至取消了，将来还可以再办，而优秀的内容平台一旦倾覆，它承载和长年积淀的一切精彩内容却可能就此消失。

但愿LetsRun能够在倒闭日之前获救，或者能以一种新的形式继续生存下去。