Oh wow, where to start? Well maybe here:
The running world and pop culture don’t intersect in very public ways very often. We are a small army of healthy, thoughtful, passionate people, but I wouldn’t describe us as “on fleek”, or whatever. So having a runner selected as a finalist for the award for “best athlete in social media” was a shock to me. Having that runner be me? #omg #blessedFor the curious, here’s the recap of our jam-packed 48 hours.
First off, the crew. Sally, Sarah and I. We spent 47 of the 48 hours within a high-five distance of one another, (literally). Ain’t no room in NY hotels for rollaway beds as it turns out.
The five hour flight to New York City absolutely flew by the way flights with friends with tons to catch up on do. My black leather dress from Scanlan Theodore (a stunner Lesko picked up in Australia) sat neatly wrapped in the overhead compartment, tag still on it, ready for the big show. We dialed in our itinerary, made predictions, and spent the rest of the time catching up on kids, work, and running, and when the seatbelt light finally pinged off, we popped out of our seats with our supplies ready to carpe-the-fricken-diem.
We got to our room at the Dream Hotel in midtown after 1am, and slept about as well as three people in a king sized bed can sleep next to a noisy road in Manhattan. The morning was spent streaming the Boston Marathon in pajamas, running through Central Park, and getting ready for the Awards. Walking the red carpet (which was actually teal), was when I realized the full extent of the quirkiness of the Shorty Awards. We stood in a line of niche-famous people, none of us with any clue who the others were, waiting to walk into a tent full of photographers and journalists. In this line were YouTube stars, Vine comedians, a child chef, a famous skeleton named Skellie, Bill Nye the Science Guy, web gurus, artists, musicians, actors, NBA dudes, Rachel Dratch (who by the way plays the mom in Alexi Pappas’s upcoming movie “Tracktown”), Wyclef, and an Ebola activist, to name a few. Clothing ranged from red sequence-covered Mickey Mouse ears, to dapper suits, to dresses covered in pictures of Hillary Clinton. There were man buns and curly mustaches. It was a beautiful internet freak show, and we all posed under the lights one by one to capture the moment. More pics here.VIP cocktail hour at the Times Center was next, where we were greeted by Poop Face (who later won best emoji), immediately diffusing any nerves about where to find common ground among this diverse crowd. We made friends immediately. As we would learn over and over again throughout the show and the after party, creative internet types are super fun (and beautifully weird), and to people who thrive on pioneering new ways of connecting with others online, the normal boundaries of human conversation don’t apply. I absolutely loved every minute of it.
The show itself was in a cool theater space downstairs with about 300 red velvet covered seats. Rachel Dratch was an amazing host, full of jokes about online memes, narcissism and life with the internet. The show was barely getting started when Johnny Weir announced the athlete category and then BAM, he said my name. I had no idea what to do. I hadn’t been paying attention to the logistics of the two previous winners. It happened so fast I didn’t have a chance to get nervous, and then suddenly I felt like my chest was on fire, I flew out of my seat to the wrong end of the stage with no stairs, leapt up awkwardly and ran over to the podium to accept my award, gave a short speech and then went the wrong way twice before being ushered out the proper exit door. Now backstage, I was face to face with Rachel Dratch who was preparing to go back on stage, and I didn’t know what to do to stop staring, so I thrust my hand out for a handshake and said “Hi I’m Lauren. Good job.” She said, “Hi. Thanks.” and then I promptly turned and ran for the wine table. #nailedit

The after party really was supreme. Not too fancy. Just a great space filled with interesting people, good music and an open bar. I got to take a #skelfie with Skellie of @omgliterallydead, who later danced with many of the guests on the dance floor (she liked to freak). I got to talk to “Parent of the Year” who was the warmest woman ever, and when I asked for advice she said “Always be honest with your kids. Even when it hurts them sometimes. That’s how they know they can trust you for life.” I had conversations with people who worked for big media agencies, for the NBA, a woman who worked on my favorite podcast “Serial” (best podcast winner). And talked Ebola with Activist of the Year. And of course there was dancing, Five Guys, and sleeping in until 11am the next day.
In order of appearance, @OMGLiterallyDead, Activist @KatieMyler, Healthy Living @Kris_Carr, Parent of the Year @MaralaScott, Comedian @NicoleArbour, and the good folks of the @NBA.
In true runnerd fashion, no trip to New York City is complete without a visit to NYRR HQ, even if all you have is 15 minutes before leaving town, and CEO Mary Wittenberg gathered about 20 people to meet us for a quick hello because she’s the bomb dot com. #girlcrush
Now, I’m back to on the west coast with my family and my team, heart full to the brim with gratitude, odd memories, and a general disbelief that the 48 hours in NY were my real life. I’m also left sitting here thinking about the potential of our sport in social media. Many athletes carry the misconception that if we aren’t winning, we aren’t worthy. That’s crap. The athletes who inspire me on social media are the ones who aren’t afraid to be real, who take time to lift people up, who have fun, and who aren’t afraid to stand for something. Pro, amateur, masters, high school…doesn’t matter. Let’s USE this medium.Here’s my speech if you missed it. If you don’t watch it, in it I thank my run family, and that’s you. Thanks for keeping it weird. 🙂
xoxo
Lauren
Anytime!!! 🙂 Glad it worked out.
Oh yeah! The hair
On her site, Brain Pickings, Popova calls herself an “interestingness hunter-gatherer and curious mind at large,” which sums it up pretty well. Popova’s written for publications such as The New York Times and The Atlantic, but her labor of love is exploring knowledge from all possible sources. She writes the blog’s signature thought-provoking, unique, questioning blog posts on everything from economics, to literature, to art, to science. Brain pickings, indeed.
Yeah! Lauren, you are such a hilarious, outspoken, honest, kicka** role model! Even for those of us in our 30’s! We need more of you, but at the same time are so grateful that you are unique. You deserve this award! A very stellar athlete mix in that category. And Bill Nye the Science Guy was there!!!! As an Oregon native, you two together are a dream come true! Keep on being you!
Thanks :). It was such a great experience! Only regret is I wish I had bro hugged Bill Nye. Sigh.
Congratulations! Love your dress!
That is so cool, Congratulations!
Billy Bob and JoAnn,I received the same phone call ytraesdey at 2:11. The interesting point is that I am a U . It was Allyson Meloni and she stated her name and it was slate driven as she spoke about all 4 of their candidates. Here is the question, how did Meloni get access to these phone numbers, maybe from the township, school district, or where? Why did she use 000-0000 for the call back number? Maybe we need to check into the legalities of this issue.
Lauren you are a ROCKSTAR! You inspire me everyday to be not only a better runner, but also to be myself and for that I Thank You! Congratulations on your win!
Woot, I will centiarly put this to good use!
You are too cool for school Lauren! LOVE THIS!
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On her site, Brain Pickings, Popova calls herself an “interestingness hunter-gatherer and curious mind at large,” which sums it up pretty well. Popova’s written for publications such as The New York Times and The Atlantic, but her labor of love is exploring knowledge from all possible sources. She writes the blog’s signature thought-provoking, unique, questioning blog posts on everything from economics, to literature, to art, to science. Brain pickings, indeed.
You’ve imrpessed us all with that posting!
Lauren! Congratulations 🙂 What an awesome award – you are definitely my favorite athlete on social media and I agree with athletes being worthy of it whether they are winning or not. You guys can provide so many special insights and advice to us average joe runners. You add tremendous value.
In a completely unrelated note: What capris are you wearing in the running picture above? I love them!
<3 Anna
Congratulations! Good thing you decided to go 😉
That was a good one about Woz in your speech!
OMG! I was in central park for a school trip during spring break literally a month from when you were running there.
That is awesome you won the award, you seem like the one of the most down to earth athletes out of all that I know. Congrats! 🙂
Your backstage encounter with Rachel Dratch totally reminds me of the first time I met you at Civil War Relays. I think I said “hi I’m liz and I’m a big fan!” and ran away. So there’s that! Congrats!
PS- killer dress!!
I loved a number of things about this article. But I think your use of the term “runnerd” tops them all.
That is all.
Kelsey
hi namaskara nam kalrbugi janatege. Nanirodu paradesh dalli adru nange nammuru gulbarga chanda Ellirodu summane allirodu nammane nanu nammur andre golbargana tumba timba .. miss madkonta edini ree.
I can’t believe that I’m just now catching up with this. I’m so happy that you got this award. It’s recognition well deserved. You affected so many women in a positive way year round, but especially with your post-fashion show photos. Thank you for being you!