Rupp could retire today as one of the top ten best US marathoners ever.

Absolutely, Bill Rodgers and his victories surpass Shorter, no doubt about it.

Why do you keep saying Rupp has "faded hard" in all three of his marathons? He ran a negative split to win the trials. I suppose he did slow down on the final turn, probably because he was already so far ahead.

He also ran a negative split in the Olympics. If you are saying he's a wimp because he couldn't hang with Kipchoge running sub 4:40s at the end, well then you just have unrealistic expectations. Getting dropped by the greatest marathoner in history is nothing to be ashamed of. And he (and Lilesa) held on a hell of a lot better than the rest of the competition. 4th place was a minute behind him. Oh, and that 4th placer ended up running a 2:07 to win NYC a few weeks later.

And while he did run a positive split at Boston, the pace was somewhat erratic throughout the whole race. But he did run his fastest 5k split from 35k to 40k, so I don't think you can say he "faded hard". Someone else simply ran faster than him.

Yes, Rupp could retire today as one of the top ten best US marathoners ever.

About tenth, though, because 2:09.58 is too slow for any male, in any race, anywhere, in 2017. Heck, Derek Clayton would have run away from him at Fukuoka. Think that one over.

It's not like London or Berlin won't let him run there. Let's see it. And let's see if Rupp can close a marathon like he's trained nearly his entire life to close a 10k. You know, like everyone running 5, 6, 7 minutes minutes faster is doing.

As the title doesn't narrow the list down to men only, Deena Kastor was a better US marathoner.

+ 1 for KK being in front of Rupp as a marathon runner at this point.

Also, why hasn't

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Plaatjes

made the list???

He was world champ!!!

douglas burke wrote:

Ritz Crackers wrote:

You forgot that Ritz has run nearly 3 minutes faster than Rupp.

SO FAR, My guess is Rupp will run a time trial type marathon like Berlin, Dubai, Etc. and he will run a High 2:03-low 2:04, can't wait until he does as I hate explaining why 2:05.38 is the American Record when Ryan Hall has run 2:04.58, when Rupp runs 2:04.57 or faster (And he will) I will be happy not to have to explain this anymore.

I feel bad for you, having to do all this explaining. It'll be a massive relief when he runs a fast time. We will all be very pleased for you.

Considering there is very good chance that Rupp will be stripped of all his medals, he should be considered just another 'also ran' when talking about top Americans.

Not going to happen. They catch Aden in a drug den full of needles and vials of EPO and not a single bust. Rupp is deep in a bomb-proof bunker by comparison.

NOP supertramp wrote:

Considering there is very good chance that Rupp will be stripped of all his medals, he should be considered just another 'also ran' when talking about top Americans.

I am not the books author, but it is a great read......Plaatjes deserves a spot on the list for a WC gold!!