Whats the most inspiring run you've ever seen? Elite or not.

Ghost of ST wrote:

Umbrellaman wrote:

the kid was literally killing himself to win,

Did he die? No? Then he wasn't literally killing himself.

Killing* The OP said he was KILLING. He did not say that he KILLED himself. CTFO BRO

Terry Fox should win this no contest.

Richard Pryor running naked down Sunset blvd with his hair on fire! If your going to freebase use caution!

Haha, YO (super cereal) wrote:

ELG '04 1500 gold.

I'll second that. Greatest race ever held in my opinion.

No new story but I've never been stunned like I was after watching Solinsky's 10k, it was made even more intense by the fact that it was the first elite race I had ever seen in person. Had just recently moved to the Bay Area, was supposed to have been working all night, but got off early and decided to head over and catch Rupp's attempt. Ha!

coach d wrote:

Haha, YO (super cereal) wrote:

ELG '04 1500 gold.

I'll second that. Greatest race ever held in my opinion.

Why? He was heavily favored to win and did exactly what was expected - no less, no more.

Bikila winning barefoot in Rome.

Bayi winning the commonwealth Games 1500 in '73 was incredible, better than the Olympics in depth and quality. Maybe my favorite race ever.

Decker v. Soviets in '83 and Dixon running down Smith in NYCM around that year were awesome.

Coe coming back to win the 1500 in Moscow.

Wanjiru in both Beijing and Chicago.

Including the sportsmanship at the end, everything that's great about athletics:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOvgxVjO-8o

The most expectations, the most pressure, a 51 second final lap, and the fastest last 800 ever in a 1500 of any kind, certainly in an Olympic final.

Stefano Baldini, 2004. Everything went right for him that day. That's also what inspired me to start running, because I realized you didn't have to be African to be good.

Sheeeesh wrote:

Bayi winning the commonwealth Games 1500 in '73 was incredible, better than the Olympics in depth and quality. Maybe my favorite race ever.

Decker v. Soviets in '83 . . . .

Some of these gutsy front-running performances are wonderful. (I think Bayi's world record in the Commonwealth Games 1500 was in '74, but I agree that it's terrific. These days, almost everything at the international level is either a rabbitted time-trial or a sit-and-kick championship.)

A couple more:

Ngugi's front-running in the 1988 Olympic 5,000m.

This 10,000m performance by Steve Jone:

(I don't remember exactly where and when it was, but as I recall, Jonesy told me that he received a total of $500 for that race.)

Don't Get It..... wrote:

Why? He was heavily favored to win and did exactly what was expected - no less, no more.

Heavily favored? Lagat, the 2nd fastest 1500m runner in history, ran the World Lead to beat El G in Zurich just 18 days before the final. El G was a favorite, but not heavily favored.

Plus, he was a favorite in '96 and '00 and we know how those worked out for him. Seeing him accomplish something that he had been striving towards for over 12 years is, to most, pretty damn inspiring. Add to that the fact that with less than 50m to go he was trailing the 2nd fastest 1500m runner in history and still managed to dig down deep enough to get the win.

A close, comeback victory that marked the end of a 12 year dream, thats all the makings of a very inspirational story.

Arcadia Invitational, 2001, Mile showdown between high schoolers Alan Webb and Ryan Hall. Webb dominated with an impressive kick from 150m out to win decisively. Also, German Fernandez' 2007 state xc performance where he went out in 4:29 his first mile, 9:08 through 2mi, and finished in 14:24 to eclipse Marc Davis' highly regarded state record by 14sec.

this aint a bad finish

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fe0Ji3Og1Y8

The Dorniden race is incredible but I also love Geb and Tergat Olympic 10k. I almost got to my feet the first time I watched that...on Youtube

I should have been in that race, but developed awful hypoglycemia from the 4X8 and was vomiting all day. The positive was that I got to witness Weller's awesome grit for a second time.

The first time was the fall before at XC state, but I was only able to see him pull away in the final straight as I was coming the other way.

It was pretty neat to observe the drama between those two OUTSTANDING runners from a couple of different perspectives.

I also have to agree with EL G's amazing victory. I can remember being glued to the TV on lap 2, anxiously tapping on 3, and literally jumping out of my seat with 200 to go. What an awesome victory to pull out after all of his strife.

Avocado's Number wrote:

This 10,000m performance by Steve Jone:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlinW5ZwzGc

(I don't remember exactly where and when it was, but as I recall, Jonesy told me that he received a total of $500 for that race.)

Brussels, 1983. 27:55.38.

Terry Fox, by far.

I enjoyed watching the W400m final in Sydney. Kathy Freeman had more pressure than any athlete that I can remember. She was running for Australia and for the indigenous people of Australia. That was a pretty special moment in the Olympics.

1999 Massachusetts Indoor All-State 2 Mile Franklyn Sanchez comes from 25-30 meters back in the last last lap to beat Andy Powell 8:49 to 8:50.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WecHhJCV2Y