Is Ben MF True the stockiest elite distance runner of all time?

Ben true doesn't look big. He doesn't even look tall. 6'? I doubt it. More like 5'10".

Chris Solinksy in his hey day was 6'1" 165lbs. Keep in mind that's all muscle. As a side note, Dave Mackey, former ultraunner was 6'1", 170lbs., the dude looked jacked.

http://www.hawaiianshirtray.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Dave-mackey1.jpg

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/469218854897089788

Don't forget True was not only a D1 All American in XC and Track (sub4) at Dartmouth but also a more than once All American in Nordic Skiing where endurance and strength really come together.

Watch the sub2 replay. chris derrick with all the kenyans . dude looks 6'5 180 in that frame of reference. seriously

not sure but... wrote:

Chris Solinksy in his hey day was 6'1" 165lbs. Keep in mind that's all muscle. As a side note, Dave Mackey, former ultraunner was 6'1", 170lbs., the dude looked jacked.

http://www.hawaiianshirtray.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Dave-mackey1.jpghttps://www.pinterest.com/pin/469218854897089788

Very impressively, in a race that does NOT favor the heavy, Dave Mackey came in 2nd to Matt Carpenter three times at the Pikes Peak Marathon - and one year almost beat him - outdoing him 4 minutes on the descent:

Just wow... wrote:

At 6'0" and 165, that gives him a BMI of 22.4. Who tops that?

22.4 is a normal BMI

18 through 24 is a normal range, where anything under 18 is considered under weight and anything over 24.9 is considered overweight.

Someone else must have mentioned Peter Snell by now. It depends on who you listen to but he went about 5-10.5 and 175 or so. I do not believe that he was really very thick in the upper body but he had a very wide lower body and powerful legs.

Sometimes I wonder how he could run so fast looking like that but he was a great all-around athlete having been a tennis player first.

Usually malmo shows up and tells everyone that Lindsay was small and all of those stories of him being jacked are BS,

Just wow... wrote:

Cervid Foot wrote:

Clarke, Clayton, Centro Sr., Walker, Van Damme, Mottram, Deerfoot.

John Walker, close @ 6', 163lb., but also a middle d guy.

I think his 2:08:59 victory in NYC makes him a marathoner.

Donn Cabral is huge. He looks more like a sprinter than a distance runner. https://scontent.fbed1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/13614956_1026388927468896_450569446374631867_n.jpg?oh=0592c466442707df0197d44438d99ef4&oe=5A092279

I ran against Herb in many races in Michigan in the late 70's. He's not huge, but compared to Rodgers, yes, he looks firm and built for a distance runner and he was. I ran against him in the Crim as well. You can see many pictures on the Crim website and see the difference between Herb, Bill and Greg. I am new here, who is Malmo as I'm truly clueless:(

Herb fully unloaded wrote:

Usually malmo shows up and tells everyone that Lindsay was small and all of those stories of him being jacked are BS,

Um ... ever heard of Jason Rexing?

No...are we suppose to?

How can you claim to be a distance fan and have not heard of ANDY fcuking VERNON ?

Hey Buggs...where did I claimed to be a distance fan? 🤔

When I saw ben True take the lead in that 3000 the first thing I thought was, he was bigger than the skinnies but his arms and shoulders were still skinny too. He was an ate up big guy. He doesn't weigh no 165 pounds. Maybe in the offseason when he is fat? But not now.

And no way did Peter Snell weigh 180. People who believe that nonsense are adding Brillo and baking soda to their coke. Juantorena weighed 185, likely an upper bound, probably usually less, and was 6 foot 2, and no MD or LD elite has ever been near as big as him.

You have to have weighed 180 pounds to understand you can't be an elite at that weight unless you're extremely tall. You can't.

Bad Wigins wrote:

And no way did Peter Snell weigh 180. People who believe that nonsense are adding Brillo and baking soda to their coke. Juantorena weighed 185, likely an upper bound, probably usually less, and was 6 foot 2, and no MD or LD elite has ever been near as big as him.

You have to have weighed 180 pounds to understand you can't be an elite at that weight unless you're extremely tall. You can't.

Snell's Wikipedia site has him listed at 180 lbs (5-10). Another site has him listed at 176 lbs:

Earlier in this thread, a poster presented a b&w photo of him on a training run with a few other fellas. I commented that he looked like a "freaking fullback running with a XC team!" 😨. And looking at that photo, he looks like he could be easily be 175+ .

I have a suggestion on how to settle this: Since you're kind of a "big shot" on this site, why don't email or call Mr. Snell and find out what his weight was back then. And since you're so incredulous of his listed weight, this would settle the score once and for all, and give you an opportunity to speak with one of the great legends of mid-d running 👍