Jshdbf wrote:
It’s a hard sport to follow. Gault couldn’t even get an answer from most pros on when their next race is.
Compared that to LeBron and Mahomes where I already know every game they’ll play through next year.
Here's the answer, it's availability along with a couple of other things. Most of our pro runners are simply not on social media, not promoting their races or the sport in general. Why should I care if I never know when the top dogs are racing or what they're up to? Now that Fisher did the half a month ago, now what is he up to and what's next? What is Jakob up to in terms of getting through his injury. All we get is a maybe race in maybe 4 months. As a spectator, all we really see is whoever shows up.
Also, to parrot the other guy, half the field in distance running are east africans with similar names. Someone will be at the top for a few years, and another takes their place. They truly are indistinguishable through no fault of their own.
Purely my own thoughts, but running is very concrete. You see the time and that's it. It's unattainable but mostly unrelatable. I bet your average hobbyjogger can name more runtubers than pro runners as a result. People gravitate towards relatability.