Yeah, who are we anyway? Well for starters, it's a pretty good bet that we (Marty & JD, the founders of fastloop) are very much like you--a couple of guys who grew up playing sports but somehow never quite turned pro (*ahem*); then for a while got caught up in their professional careers and have since discovered running and triathlons. We love the fitness and camaraderie aspect of it, sometimes dread the training part of it, and usually enjoy turning up the competitive knob come race time.

Having amassed a few years worth of race results, but tired of tracking it all in a cumbersome spreadsheet, JD had the idea of launching a site where you could record all your race performances, compare them to one another and also compare them to your friends' results.

Well wouldn't you know it, that was just about the time MySpace and Friendster were making names for themselves, so he decided to shift gears and put the emphasis on social networking, while still featuring the race comparisons as well as other important components like a training log, fitness and wellness articles, blogs and a message board.

At one point JD's friend Marty came along and said, "Hey JD, great idea. Let's make a million bucks doing it." So off we went to build the site, fill a void in the athletic community and pursue the American dream. Could be slow progress toward the million though since the site is free to join, but Marty claims we're making it up in volume. Huh?

Being an athlete--even a weekend warrior--is at times thrilling, frustrating, hilarious, humbling and life-changing, even in small measures and we built this site as an outlet for people to convey every bit of that as they go through their athletic experiences. If this site can serve as an extension of the tremendously communal atmosphere we've experienced training and racing around the world, then we've done our job.

So that's a little bit about who we are. But as we all know, in life it's almost more important to define who you are not. Here's a quick summary of just that.

We are not:

• A dating service. Hey, we're all about connecting with other people, and if you meet the love of your life here, more power to you. Frankly though, if you find yourself posting pirated shots of six-pack abs to attract like-minded How-You-Doin' types, your efforts might best be spent elsewhere.
• A place for spam, harassment, obscenities, and all things vulgar. Looking to get a message from Amber, that hot 21 year-old who coincidentally just moved to your neighborhood and would LOVE to chat? Try the next site, pal.
• A place to take yourself too seriously. We don't, so why should you? Getting ready for a big event can carry with it enough stress if you let it. Fastloop is intended to be a place where you can blow off steam, get encouragement from others and have a little fun every day; not a place to cock your shoulders back and play the tough guy.
• Santa Claus. We can't always tell when our members have been naughty, so as with many online communities we rely on our members to help set the tone of the site and police the riff-raff. Never hesitate to let us know when you think someone's out of line and we'll do our best to swoop in faster than Robert Cheruiyot passes through an aid station.