SOMEWHERE IN THE HEAVENS.... How The Bluesky Runner Network Works

Salutations fellow runners! I'm glad you're here. I'm
experimilk#4598. I mostly run solo, and Triage and Sentinel are my preferred shells. This blog post serves as a documentation of what this thing is and how I put this thing together.

What Is The Bluesky Runner Network?

The Bluesky Runner Network consists of:

A) this blog, where I will update any changes to the network.
B) the bluesky account, (@bskyrunnernetwork.bsky.social), where many of the services are integrated.
C) the BLUESKY RUNNER NETWORK list, where I add marathon posters to have their posts flow through the feed.
D) the Starter Pack, where any marathon posters can add themselves and be group followed by any bluesky poster.
E) the BRN email, [email protected], which you can email comments, etc. I'll also be using it to build some forms to help me facilitate other aspects of the network.

You will have to forgive that although Marathon is incredibly aesthetic, I don't really have that sorta juice. Sorry.

So Bluesky as a social network gives users a lot of power to build their own algorithms. I have done so for a few of my other favorite hobbies.

Here's my original article, a mahjong related feed:
https://bsky.app/profile/experimilk.bsky.social/feed/aaadlrzyzos7c

And here's my first Graze feed, FGCSKY:
https://bsky.app/profile/experimilk.bsky.social/feed/aaagi35wn2qfq

The Problem With Building A Simple Marathon Feed

So, when I went to see if other people had already done this, I didn't really find anything. There is a feed that seems AI created that searches for hashtags only. If you are a social media addict like I am, you also don't really like posting hashtags too much. You might need that space for posting, and it feels a little inauthentic when you're trying to just put your thoughts out there. (This is no shade on anyone who posts with hashtags tho, especially not artists). So the big thing I try to do with my feeds is just word search posts, and grab the ones that use the hobby related terminology.

I'm sure that you already know the problem I'm gonna have.

Marathons are real things, that more normal people talk about all the time. Building an algo that magically sorts out non Marathon (2026) related posts is beyond my ability. I'm not a coder, and everything I've built here is with user-facing tools, like Graze. So I racked my brain a little bit, and figured out the way that I wanted to approach making a feed that serves the most Marathon(2026) related posts, while minimizing the non related posts.

I decided the best way to do this is to make a list of users (BLUESKY RUNNER NETWORK) that I have observed talking about Marathon, and from that list, the feed will look for those Marathon related posts and serve them to other users of the Feed.

This Is How The Bluesky Runner Network Feed Serves Posts

So, there are three categories of posts the feed will serve to all users:

1) ALL posts from the official marathon bluesky accounts (which are @marathonthegame.bungie.net and @marathonteam.bungie.net

2) ALL posts with the hashtags #marathonthegame, #marathongame, and #marathonart.

These two are easy and pretty self evident, but the third one is the one that takes the most effort.

3) Posts from users on the BLUESKY RUNNER NETWORK that contain Marathon related terminology.

I don't want all of your posts. I just want your marathon related posts, and this algo will grab most of them (of course, there is a failure rate where your post isn't grabbed, or you make a non marathon related post with a marathon related word that gets accidentally served).

Additionally, I am not doing any sort of NSFW filtering on posts, partially because I'm cool with it, and partially because I am incapable of conducting complex moderation through feeds. Please adjust your overall bluesky settings for what you consider appropriate.

How Did I End Up On The Bluesky Runner Network!?

All additions to the list of posters are done manually. There's no automatic addition to the list. I personally comb threads, replies, and other feeds looking for Runners. I created a simple feed that shows me all marathon (any type) related posts, to find the Runners in the rough. I also use other algorithmic feeds that know I like marathon, and serve me related posts (this For You feed is highly recommended https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:3guzzweuqraryl3rdkimjamk/feed/for-you)

If you do not want to be on the network, send me a dm. I will remove you. The feed is not intended to be an invasion of privacy, but instead supposed to be about helping people find marathon friends to play with, or to just gab about whatever.

I Keep Getting Added To The List! What Gives!?

So, in an irony that I'm sure Marathon sickos can appreciate, everything is crumbling around us. Marathon might not exist in a year, and the tech that creates this feed might not either. Graze currently has an issue where it only looks at a list used to make a feed as it is when it's added to Graze. Meaning that if you add more people to the list, it will not update. That creates a critical issue with growing the network.

But, I decided to just jerry rig a workaround: The Bluesky Runner Network will not be looking at my original list, but a COPY of that list that I will be generating every Friday. Each copy will be fresh, and in this way I will be able to keep an updated list of runners to grow the Network. This will likely annoy all Bluesky power users that use services like listification that notify you when someone blocks you, or in this relevant case, when someone puts you on a list. I am hoping that Graze will eventually fix their service, but in the grim late state capitalism phase we're all looking at, where the bottom is falling out of everything, I am prepared to update the list in this way for as long as I have to. I am sorry for any inconvenient notifications.

What About The Starter Pack?

I also want to create a Marathon related starter pack, a feature of Bluesky where you click on one thing and follow everyone in the pack. This allows new followers to see -all- of your posts, even the non-Marathon related ones, so I do not feel comfortable adding people to that without their consent. I will be creating a form in the future that you can fill out to be added to the Starter Pack.

What Other Things Can We Expect From This Feed?

Graze allows you to pin posts at the top of feeds, as well as rotate selected posts throughout your feed. If you're doing a charity stream, a community project, or some other sort of thing like that, I would be happy to promote them with pins and the like. If you are creating one of these, feel free to email or DM the BRN account to make me aware. I want the Marathon community to be able to come together.

I think that's all for now. I am happy that I was able to develop this idea to at least some sort of fruition, even if it doesn't grow. If you see me in game, let me know that you enjoy the BRN before you finish me (you might not have time to say it before I finish you 😈)