The Marathon Handbook
Statement of Independence

As we’ve grown from a tiny website into a bigger team of runners and writers, we wanted to share our position on reviews, brand partnerships, and affiliate income:

1. Our opinions and product recommendations will always be our own, independent, and truthful – not swayed by any brands.
   
2. We’ll occasionally partner with brands, but only brands that we feel closely align with our own values and are of specific interest to our audience.
   
3. Any time we do work with a brand, we’ll make it abundantly clear in the article or review – for example, if a brand provides a product to review or pays us to release a news story about their latest product. This won’t change our editorial stance to publish our own opinions.
   
4. The products we choose to review and include in our buyer’s guides will be selected by us based on their quality and relevance to our readers – we don’t prioritize or choose products based on brand partnerships. We recommend what we think is best for our readers.
   
5. Many of our reviews include affiliate links, meaning if you click through and buy a product, we’ll receive a small commission on that sale. However, affiliate income is not a driver when we select products to feature – many products we choose aren’t on affiliate platforms. The only thing we consider when choosing products to feature is whether or not they are a fit for our audience.
   
6. In acting in the best interests of our readers, we may occasionally take a stance – or choose not to promote certain products that other websites are promoting if we believe they’re not relevant or in the best interest of our audience.
   
7. Wherever possible, our expert reviewers will thoroughly test every piece of kit we cover. This is already true for our shoe reviews – every single shoe is run-tested and examined thoroughly by our expert shoe testers before we write about them.
   
8. Our site is primarily funded by our digital products and the ads you see on the page; this model allows us to be independent when it comes to reviewing products – we don’t rely on affiliate income or brand partnerships to survive.
   

Thanks,

Thomas Watson
Marathon Handbook founder + editor-in-chief
(Last updated: 12th June 2023)