When it is done right, humor is priceless. The internet can be many things, but I recently stumbled on ‘Dumb Runner,’ a Facebook group, celebrating running but with a twist: humor. Through clever graphics, ‘Dumb Runner’ encounters everything one can imagine – ranging from grappling with the existential questions such as when a deceased runner approaches God in the afterlife – to the more mundane, let’s say, what to do once the urge for having to do number two presents itself while out jogging. My favorite, two attractive women whispering about a local runner’s calf muscles.
The man behind it all is Mark Remy, a veteran runner from Portland, Oregon, who has completed a staggering 28 marathons, including several Boston Marathons. In between running, Remy is a seasoned communications professional dividing his work between a career in academia and Dumb Runner. On Facebook, Dumb Runner has 71K followers and 41K on Instagram.
What sets Remy’s humor apart, other than the obvious – it is funny and clever – is the fact that it is not mean-spirited nor political. But like any creative type, Remy has his ways of drawing inspiration for his work: It can be in the early morning, before getting out of bed – or later in the day while showering – or of course out while running.
But when pressed on where his humor comes from, Remy doesn’t mince words: “I honestly don’t know” but notes that it might come from his upbringing and from what he describes as his sarcastic mother. “I am sure I got a lot of it from her.” Humor, Remy prefaces, is not only an integral part of his personality but enables him to “cope with life’s absurdities. Life is absurd, and it can be pretty silly too.”
For Remy, who comes from a Lutheran family but no longer considers himself religious, humor has become a coping mechanism. His religious upbringing is also evident in numerous graphic skits – including one where a runner encounters Jesus – with whom he discussed a past marathon.
“I think of ideas almost all the time, but most ideas come in the morning minutes after I wake up. They are not all good, though,” he says with a laugh.
The Dumb Runner website was launched in 2014. The man on its logo, is as Remy describes it, him but with that mustache that he had for about five minutes. “But now it is preserved for all time, because my wife can’t make me shave my logo.”
Prior to its launch, Remy worked for RunnersWorld.com, where he also wrote a regular column. “The feedback that I would often get from readers was: ‘this is dumb,’” which in turn inspired him to pick Dumb Runner for his website because Remy wanted a concise and catchy title. “At Runner’s World, people expected serious content and not weird, absurd, and satirical humor. When they read my stuff, there was some sort of a disconnect: ‘this is dumb.’ When I launched my website, I leaned into these experiences which is how the name came about.”
Not everyone, however, understands – let alone appreciates – Remy’s humor. Occasionally, he is accused of calling runners dumb, to which he always responds: “No, I am the dumb runner.”
All content is original. “My work feels full-time as I always think of new ideas. After 10-years, I don’t want to repeat my own work, which becomes harder and harder as I have published 3-4 articles continuously ever since I launched.” It is in that sense, Remy prefaces, that his work resembles that of a full-time job.
Remy’s business model rests on reader support, which he describes as an uphill battle given that fewer and fewer people are paying for online content. “Dumb Runner is fully independent without any outside commercial influence. I don’t promote any outside products on my website.”
For this year, Remy aims to convert 2-3 percent of his social media audience to become paid supporters. Presently, 1percent of his audience support ‘Dumb Runner’ financially. “A 2-3 percent increase in financial support would make all the difference.”
All images are credited to Remy.
