Couple the Scarpelli’s love of running with a foundation in the right tools to build a web platform, and The Running Forum was created.
Siblings Brianna and Ryan Scarpelli, who both graduated from Sachem East, earlier this year launched TheRunningForum.com, a site meant to provide a seamless community experience for runners worldwide.
“The idea for the forum came when we realized that our individual skill sets meshed perfectly together to make a project like this work,” said Brianna, an ’06 Sachem East alum, who also has a BS in advertising, marketing and communications from the Fashion Institute of Technology. “We also are really passionate about the sport and wanted to do something for the running community that they’ve never seen before.”
In essence, The Running Forum is an informed message board for informed runners. Segmented with more than 200 topics across multiple discussion boards, the forum offers conversations on everything from nutrition to training and for the novice runner to the elite competitor.
For now they’re using grass roots and word-of-mouth marketing and have a wide demographic, hoping to hit as many folks in the running world as possible with their easy-to-use web functionality.
“The Running Forum encompasses powerful, premium message board software to provide our members the best experience possible,” said Brianna. “Our software allows use of implement special features that cannot be found elsewhere. We promise a fast, user-friendly, and easy to use community that the running world has never seen before.”
Ryan, a 2012 Sachem East alum, who is currently running at Albany and is an international business major, was a three-year varsity letterwinner at East. He was a member of East’s 2009 Class AA Suffolk County championship cross-country squad and was named team MVP in cross country as a senior, among other honors. He lives and breaths running, and infuses life into the message board with his daily experiences.
It’s a message board for now, but the end goal is to create TRF into a brand. They’ve recently launched a “Member of the Month” program and will soon be selling tee-shirts and stickers.
“We want to be the place for runners to go and interact with each other, ask questions and gain friendships,” said Brianna. “Basically the hub for everything running on the Internet.”
Running Forum’s Social Platforms
- Actual URL: TheRunningForum.com
- Twitter: @RunningsForums & @SeeBriRun (for brand ambassadorship)
- Facebook:Facebook.com/TheRunningForum
- Pinterest:Pinterest.com/TheRunningForum
- YouTube: YouTube.com/TheRunningForum
- Instagram:@TheRunningForum
-Words by Chris R. Vaccaro