Rank The Top 12 Men's Marathoners Of All Time -

Remember this is ALL TIME, there was a lot of history in the marathon before EPO.

Eliminate the drug cheat. Only list he should be on is a loser's list. I'm OK with most of the rest, although strong cases can be made for Derek Clayton, Rob DeC, Tergat, and others. I'm OK with Geb where he is since we're not ranking track performances, we're ranking marathoners.

Let's face it, with only a dozen spots to fill, some great runners are going to be on/off any one person's rankings compared to another person's rankings. Hersh screwed up by including the cheat, though. Really screwed up.

Eliminate the drug cheat. Only list he should be on is a loser's list. I'm OK with most of the rest, although strong cases can be made for Derek Clayton, Rob DeC, Tergat, and others. I'm OK with Geb where he is since we're not ranking track performances, we're ranking marathoners.

Let's face it, with only a dozen spots to fill, some great runners are going to be on/off any one person's rankings compared to another person's rankings. Hersh screwed up by including the cheat, though. Really screwed up.

Bikila, Shorter, Wanjiru, Wolde, Rodgers, Gebrselassie, DeMar, Cerpinski, Abera, Baldini, Seko, Pheidippides

To me, this list looks like one made by someone without much knowledge of the history of the race. I'm a bit surprised by the absense of Dorando Pietri, whose Olympic loss was instrumental in establishment of the marathon distance. Whomever had suggested Jim Peters made a good one. What about either of the Johnny Kelleys? There's also a case to be made for Amby Burfoot, who won both Boston and Fukuoka, but went on to greater fame writing about the sport. Salazar with his WR's. (I realize I'm skewing American, and apologize for that.)

Wanjiru may very well one day be the unanimous choice for the greatest of all time, but I don't think he belongs on that list just yet. Though they lack olympic hardware, the entire resumes of Khannouchi, Tergat and Lel, should put them ahead of Wanjiru at this point in his career.

rojo wrote:

2002.

London.

3000 meters to go.

Look to the left - Possibly the greatest runner of all time, world indoor 1500 meter champion, 5000 meter world record setter, 10,000 meter world record setter, one of the greatest LD track kicker, in history in his prime.

Turn head to the right, the greatest cross country runner of all time(arguably) and one of the top five greatest 10,000 meter kickers ever, also in his prime.

What to do? Drop them!

The winner of the one of the best marathon races in all of time thus far, in world record fashion time, surely should rank in the top five, and has an arguement for the best.

rojo wrote:

Phil Hersh of the Chicago Tribune has followed up his top 10 ranking of the greatest women marathoners of all time with his Top 12 men of all-time.

It's a fascinating list blah blah blah

rojo, lists are not interesting to most people.

As I read the list, it was like reading the list of the top 100 songs of all time. Over half of those were from the 50s and 60s. I think this guy hasn't kept up with the fact that marathoning is not the same as it was when his grandpappy followed it.

Pheidippides? Aw, how cute. I think he was trying to be funny.

Agreed, the list is neither "fascinating" nor "interesting" it is uninformed and looks like nothing more than someone's attempt to stir the pot or pat his own generation on the back. Boring!

Oscar the Liberal punk wrote:

#1 pick isn't bad, but the all time kick ass, bad ass,the beast, the monster, the fearless:

DEREK CLAYTON

Hear, hear.

Derek Clayton was the biggest badass of all-time.

He's #1 without a doubt.

Way too much emphasis on the world championship marathon. The best marathoners care about the big fall marathons in WC years. Great point about Haile. Why does he not go after Chicago, NY or London, marathons with much better competition than Berlin? And no KK? Come on man. Lets be serious.

Jaouad Gharib (Morocco)

2003 World Championship, Gold

2005 World Championship, Gold

2008 Olympic Marathon, Silver, 2:07 ~ under previous OR

John Kelley (1907-2004) Should be on the list after all he ran Boston 61 times. He won the event twice. 18 finishes in the top 10. He ran his last Boston at age 85. I believe he also was a 2 time Olympian.

Johnny Miles another great aswell

A very good list but there are a few names who based on Marathon history have earned there spot in the dynamic dozen!

Times/World Records

1. Jim Peters (4 wr total of 8 minutes off the old wr)

2. Derek Clayton (2 wr total of 3:30 off the wr)

3. Abebe Bikila (2 wr total of 1:40 off the wr)

4. Haile Gebreselassie (2 wr total of ~1:00 off the wr)

5. Khalid Khannouchi (2 wr total of about 30s off the wr)

6. Carlos Lopes (1 wr total of ~ 1:00 off the wr)

7. Paul Tergat (1 wr total of ~ 45s off the wr)

8. Ronaldo da Costa (1 wr total of ~45s off the wr)

9. Steve Jones (1 wr about 15s off the wr

10. Robert de Castella (1 wr about 15s off the wr)

Races

1.Bikila Gold,Gold

2.Bill Rodgers 4 boston 4 ny

3.Frank Shorter Gold,Silver

4.Martin Lel 4 London 2 ny

5.Toshihiko Seko 4 Fukuoka,2 Boston, 1 Chicago 1 London

6.Alberto Salazar 4 ny 1 boston

7.Robert Cherioyot 4 Boston

8.Wanjiru Gold

9.Khalid Khannouchi 4 chicago

10.Goumri 2 wc Gold, Silver

11.Carlos Lopez Gold

12.Gezahenge Abera Gold

Most runners either set world records, do well in big-city marathons or do well in the olympics.

Great way to make the point, Mike. I agree with you there is one special runner omitted from the list.

Great way to make the point, Mike. I agree with you there is one special runner omitted from the list.

No, I don't fully agree with Hersh. But I thought he made educated picks. I was glad that he prioritized accomplishments and beating competition, over times.

Plaatjes needs to at least be mentioned. '93 world champ, LA winner, ran a 2:11 in SA at 5500ft (do the math)

There are several criteria that could be used for this list. I think Bikila deserves the number 1 spot not only because of 2 golds, both in WR time, but because of his historical significance. I would argue that because he heralded East Africa's ascension to dominance in the distance races, he was pretty significant... certainly more significant than Bannister's sub 4 six years earlier (perhaps that will spark some discussion).

I agree that the drug cheat needs to go. Clayton should go on the list. A case could be made for Lopes, an olympic champ and one helluva versatile runner.