I have a challenge that I promise cannot be successfully completed...

Meb gets very little hate on here.

Brenda Martinez is pretty good

Frank Shorter

Galen Rupp. All American kids with an Olympic medal to his name.

Ritz, dont think he ever gets hate.

Mainly just grouped into NOP stuff but never really called out specifically about it.

Everyone fantasizes about his high school XC years and his 12:56, and what he could have done.

And more just disappointment(not hate) with his marathoning (which has still been good, 2:07 is very respectable)

Bill Rodgers

Joan Benoit

Frank Shorter

Shalane Flanagan

Mitrus Yifter

Greta Waitz

Dick Beardsly

Henry Rono

Billy Mills

Clarence DeMar

Rosa Mota

Derata Tulu (sp?...Dibaba's cousin)

Wow, you guys are certainly proving me wrong. I would disagree with a few of the name mentioned, though. Shalane gets plenty of hate in regard to her big vocal aspirations but never actually prevailing (i.e. winning Boston.)

Bill Rodgers and Frank Shorter are solid suggestions. And for Ritz, I agree that he is placed in the negative NOP category. I love Ritz and think he is a step above those guys but who knows what kind of negative influences Sleazy Sal place on him (...doping?)

I can name several: Jim Ryan, John Walker, Rod Dixon but your original post said "elite runner out there today" which would imply an current elite (i.e. not a retired elite).

ye wrote:

Brenda Martinez is pretty good

This was the first one that popped into my head.

Well, Will Leer doesn't get much flack around here. Aside from discussion on his mustache and beard, not much to dislike about the guy.

seriously... wrote:

I can name several: Jim Ryan, John Walker, Rod Dixon but your original post said "elite runner out there today" which would imply an current elite (i.e. not a retired elite).

My original thought was indeed current elites but I am not going to neglect the names that have been posted who are now retired.

With that being said, I think B-Mart is a good answer that I never even thought about when I was first pondering over the idea. From what I've seen, she certainly gets more compliments on her looks than anything. I have mixed feelings about Ritz but I think Will Leer is another correct answer. He's a down to earth, sensible guy that would be very difficult to hate.

Shalane Flanagan.

Very few if any hateful comments.

old guy 68 wrote:

Bill Rodgers

Joan Benoit

Frank Shorter

Shalane Flanagan

Mitrus Yifter

Greta Waitz

Dick Beardsly

Henry Rono

Billy Mills

Clarence DeMar

Rosa Mota

Derata Tulu (sp?...Dibaba's cousin)

He said "Elite runner out there today." So only Tulu and Flanagan qualify.

No one ever talks about Tulu and people have bashed Flanagan for under-performing in the marathon (think about it, she's up there with the best in the world at 10k but way, way back in the marathon).

Gym Class Shuffle wrote:

Ritz, dont think he ever gets hate.

People hated on Ritzenhein HARD for skipping World XC last year (in my opinion, he didn't deserve that hate). They sometimes hate on him for being worse at the marathon than 5K but insisting on doing it anyways, although that's less hate and more feeling sorry for him. Some hate on him for not going out with the lead pack in Chicago as well.

Eliud Kipchoge.

Welp... wrote:

Well, Will Leer doesn't get much flack around here. Aside from discussion on his mustache and beard, not much to dislike about the guy.

There was the "Will Leer ran stupid" thread that got pretty popular, even though the OP was of course wrong.

Evan Jager

Bring Back the 880 wrote:

Meb gets very little hate on here.

People frequently called him not American so strike this one off the list too.

Ritz is not immune to hate but he gets a lot less than most.