OMAHA (KMTV) — For the past three years, volunteer contributors to the website Prep Running Nerd have worked to increase coverage of cross country and track & field in Nebraska.
- Jay Slagle started Prep Running Nerd in 2021, after covering running for Nebraska Elite Track Club since 2017. Slagle turned NETC into Prep Running Nerd.
- The team consists of more than 20 'nerds,' all volunteers, who spend about 10-20 hours per week covering the sport.
- BY THE NUMBERS: In 2024, Slagle estimates the team will cover more than 200 meets and take more than one million photos. He says about 100,000 of those will be posted on Facebook.
BROCADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
A joke in the running community is "our sport is your sport’s punishment."
But a group of volunteers in Nebraska are hoping to get more people to look at running through a different lens by sharing their love for competition.
This is how Jay Slagle spends several hours per week during cross country season.
“I became a distance runner when I was 14," Slagle said. "I was a scrawny little kid and that’s about the only sport I could do. Having my sons run really renewed my love for the sport.”
He’s the founder of the website Prep Running Nerd, which covers cross country and track & field all across Nebraska.
"It’s a great sport, track and field and cross country," he said. "But it’s also an under-covered sport from the traditional media. We want to give a little more coverage to those kids and tell everybody else how great the sports are.”
Of course the obvious question: Why ‘nerd?’
“I’m an accountant by trade and I’m also nerdy, and I really love running to the point that it’s not that healthy," Slagle said. "So 'running nerd' can be a slur, we wear it as a badge of pride. We’re happy to do it and that’s why we spend so much time on it.”
Over the past three years, he’s recruited more than 20 volunteer “nerds” to contribute.
"As much as we don’t pay them anything, we require them to bring their own cameras, and they give up 10-20 hours of free time every week, so it’s not a glamorous job for sure," Slagle said.
Just like in running, with the grind comes the reward.
"At a typical meet, I’ll take about five to eight thousand photos," Slagle said. "It takes me an hour to edit 1,000 photos. I delete about 90 percent. I would say for every two hours we’re at a meet, we’re probably editing for about eight.
“I think when kids see good pictures of themselves and stories written about themselves and other people they might aspire to be, I think it improves the sport. We’re just trying to grow the sport, invite creators to the sport and just make it as exciting as football or basketball.”
“We can’t thank jay enough for all the work that he does," Gretna cross country coach Bryce Brunswig said. "It draws so many eyes to our sports. To have that presence online with positive stories about our sport about the kids, about the coaches, it’s great to have a storyteller that’s willing to tell those stories.”
“The fact that some kids think cross country is cool now, they didn’t when I was running in the 1980s," Slagle said. "So the fact that they think it’s cool is a win for us.”
