EIGHTLANE FACES WINDING UP ORDER

END OF THE TRACK: The error message shown to loyal Eightlaners this evening

Popular running forum, Eightlane has been handed a winding up order by the HMRC, the Lufbra Echo understands. In what is sure to go down as one of the saddest days in the history of the sport, the website was shut down after tax bills totalling in excess of £5m were left unpaid. A spokesperson for the forum this evening said that he "had every hope" that the site could be back on its feet under new ownership in the coming weeks.

Today's news comes just days after Eightlane was forced to pay an undisclosed sum to one its employees after they successfully sued over the "appalling conditions" endured by the staff. The tribunal heard how eighteen hour days were "very much the norm" and "inane and irrelevant posts about people no one had ever heard of" were making staff "borderline suicidal". 

It is understood that a dramatic take over attempt by Runnerslife was foiled just hours before the court order was sent out. A RL spokesman said that the team at Eightlane were "unworkable" and as such the deal could not be finalised. "Like all these things, it came down to money" said the Welshman "we didn't see why such a large proportion of earning should be paid to an essentially bust site that relies on underachievers ranting about nonsense".

Runnerslife are, of course, not without fault in this. During the summer they infuriated Eightlane chiefs by poaching Dave Norman and were rumoured to be behind the dramatic exit of Luke Cragg. Loyal Eightlane fans have been resigned to this outcome for sometime and have called on "anybody with a conscience" to boycott the Wales based site from now on. "I think it's outrageous" said regular poster 'Interested', "just because they have their stupid blogs and stupid running vests, they have gone after and destroyed a national treasure."

CRAGG QUITS EIGHTLANE AFTER COACH BUST UP

Eightlane's most popular athlete, Luke Cragg, has been forced to leave the popular running forum after his American coach threatened him with deportation. In sensational scenes over the weekend, 'Coach Martin' stormed into Cragg's dorm demanding that all his training logs be removed and never re-posted. When the England International protested, Martin said that he would call in the FBI if he did not comply.

The news has left Eightlane in meltdown. With the defection of Dave Norman to RunnersLife earlier this year, the site is faced with the possibility of not having a single star name posting their training. Eightlane founder, Alan Wales, is facing calls for his resignation as posters walk away from the site in droves. 'Please no' begged Cragg to reconsider his decision: "luke [sic] the highlight of my weekend is late on a sunday night when your logs appear on this site. life [sic] will not be worth living without them."

Possibilities of "annomous training diaries [sic]" as suggested by 'lc lover' have been dismissed by sources within the Cragg camp. "Coach Martin made himself very clear," said Cragg's personal private secretary, "Luke will not be sharing any details of his American adventure on Eightlane ever again".

EIGHTLANE FURY AT NORMAN APPROACH

The Chief Executive of Eightlane has expressed his anger at the "blatant theft" of one of their lead contributors by Runnerslife. Dave Norman has signed a lucrative deal with the Welsh based website- rumoured to be worth somewhere in the region of £3m spread over three years. Speaking at a press conference yesterday, the Sale Harriers man revealed that he had achieved a "life-long dream" by signing up. "I often used to look at the guys writing for Runnerslife and think how much I would like to be on here," beamed the marathoner, "I was so pleased to be asked. I jumped around the house for several hours."

However, Norman has left a good deal of damage in his wake. Furious Eightlane chiefs slammed the tactics of Runnerslife in securing their man. "They unsettled Dave with these approaches," said an insider, "I know that they have been after him for a while and I must admit I thought he was stronger than that....we are very disappointed." Of more concern for the popular running forum is the genuine feeling that Eightlane legend Luke Cragg could be on the verge of securing a switch of his own. "We are in advanced talks with another big name," said a Runnerslife source, "it is a very exciting time for our site." Eightlane have refused to comment on the rumours but have said that they will be looking at the legality of the Norman move. "We may yet report this to Offorum [the running forum watchdog]", continued our insider, "enough is enough. Runnerslife cannot keep getting away with these bully tactics."

Both sites have been criticised of late, with many pointing out that they are losing viewers fast in favour of the latest sensation to hit British athletics, Athleticos. "It is a desperate time for sites such as Runnerslife and Eigtlane," said a City source, "shares are plummeting and there just doesn't seem to be an appetite for this sort of thing anymore. They really do need to modernise, else the likes of Athleticos are going to clean up."

RUNNERSLIFE IN EIGHTLANE SLUR

“Nonsensical tosh written by idiots, for idiots” was the shocking accusation levelled at popular running forum Eightlane.com this evening. The rant came from the Chief Executive of fierce rival, runnerslife.co.uk, after several months of underhand blows. Runnerslife has accused Eightlane founder, Alan Wales, of employing “dirty tricks” in a bid to lure their athletes away to post training logs onto his sites. Lawyers for Mr. Wales have dismissed the complaints as “nonsense”, but the Welsh-based Runnerslife may well cite the recent departure of Stephen Sharp as evidence- the Belgrave man has been a regular fixture on Eightlane since he quit Runnerslife. It is no secret that Sharp complained to the Runnerslife management on several occasions that he was not receiving adequate protection from “slanderous, baseless filth” appearing as comments on his blog and rival sites. Speaking earlier in the year, Sharp said “it is what drove Mark Draper away and the same is happening to me. We put ourselves out there and get shot down. Where are the lawyers when you need them?” It is thought that Runnerslife are “very nervous” that they could lose Sharp’s coaching charge, Nick Goolab, if they do not act now.

Runnerslife insiders have also revealed that website chiefs are “absolutely fuming” that a potential move for Eightlane regular, Luke Cragg was thwarted. Our source said, “Cragg was ready to join the team, but pulled out at the last moment. We all know it is because Wales threatened him with de-registration.” Wales could be in hot water this week after Runnerslife reported comments made on his site in the recent McLeod-Russell dispute to Ofcom. It is rumoured that McLeod threatened to “up sticks and leave” if his website did not back him in the spat and regulators at Runnerslife are said to be “disappointed” that the thread in question was not frozen. “They wonder why they are losing viewership to Letsrun.com [another rival], well it’s that sort of behaviour that drives them away,” said a Runnerslife executive.

Eightlane took unsuccessful legal action when the “fly on the wall” style rival launched a forum of its own last year. A High Court judge threw out the claims as “everyone is entitled to have a forum- we all look forward to reading what anonymous people think about other anonymous people”. At the time, Runnerslife received a rough-ride on the boards of its rival. “Runnerslife is awful,” thundered ‘Rubbish’, “I read some [training logs] the other day that said something like Thursday – 7 tempo.... WTF?” Whilst ‘Fanofboth’ was keen to remain impartial, others clearly had it in for the plucky Welsh site. “That runnerslife lot fink they are well good [sic]” chortled ‘p*ss off’, “well they shud run well away innit [sic]”.

Runnerslife did, however, find themselves in serious trouble over the axe-gate scandal. Spies on Eightlane circulated rumours that Runnerslife had been shut down leading to the website being inundated with requests for it to stay. It was later proved in court that it had all been a publicity stunt and a “rebranding exercise.” Eightlaners were indignant, “Outrageous,” opined ‘Derek Dogg’, “how can they use Eightlane for such blatant lies?” Runnerslife were ordered to compensate Mr. Wales to the tune of a little over £5,000 for the gaffe. This latest dispute is unlikely to end up in court. However, negation experts ACAS have been placed on standby if a compensatory agreement for the loss of Sharp and Cragg cannot be reached. An ACAS source said that this was “no worse” than the British Airways strikes and that he was confident a solution could be reached. “The lines of communication are open,” said the source, “we just hope that ‘Cod Liver Oil’ and the team play ball”.