Couple of deeper cuts:
Andy Bayer, Brian Sell, Erik Sowinski
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Keeping It Real wrote:
Zatopek
Usain Bolt and it’s not even close.
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I feel like all the reading I did about Jim Ryun as a kid always pointed to Peter Snell being a very popular and kind person overall but I haven't done any extra research on that.
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yay marxism wrote:
legends1 wrote:
Geb, greatest runner ever, all round d good guy and personable
Mo became an absolute legend in the UK in 2012 with the double at London, a hero
Bekele, second greatest of all time
Rupp, greatest recent American runner. Great marathoner. Could have been on PEDs but no more than Fisher, Hocker, Ritzenhien etc
Kipchoge, marathon God and chill guy. Hugely liked. So, he's not at his best but will come back
Nobody's even heard of Zatopek who isn't old. Most of the Americans named in this thread have never been heard of outside the US.
Geb: Good person, likable.
Mo: As soon as AlSal was scrutinized he shoved all blame on his coach and best friend/training partner. Despite the fact that his name was on the suspicious list.
Bekele: Nice, humble. Personable
Rupp: Kind of avoided responsibility when the NOP stuff happened but fair enough.
Kipchoge: Sub 2. I never bought the "No human is limited" crap but I can respect it.
Zatopek: Saying he is unknown is insulting. Zatopek is respected enough where there is a fairly well known race in Australia called the Zatopek10. No one has ever equaled or beaten his 5k/10k/mara triple. Charismatic, nice, hard working(training was crazy). Remember Ron Clarke praising Zatopek to the moon and back after he gave him his gold medal. He also refused to support communist oppression in the Czech republic(after massive protests) and so was sent to a Uranium mine.
The question was who is the most liked runner.
Mo is the ONLY runner in the UK who still gets mobbed when he walks around. Look at any video of his at his beloved Arsenal. He's treated like a celebrity, every Brit knows him. I can't think of a single British runner other than him who would be recognised and loved on this scale.
The fact is, the average Joe probably doesn't even know about Mo's possible doping, and almost certainly doesn't know who Salazar is. They just remember his gold medal. You're examining him through the eyes of a runner, which most aren't.
I have heard of Zatopek, there was a big section on him in the Born to Run book from years gone by.
That said, there's a 50 minute YouTube programme about his life and political involvement I'm about to watch now, post long run.
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Bill & Frank wrote:
pretzel Man wrote:
Bill Rogers. The end.
I see your Bill Rodgers, and raise you one Frank Shorter.
Met both a few times about 10-12 years ago. Bill is genuinely a very nice person. He would ask about my training and racing to the point where I was like "what's your angle guy?" But I think he was just genuinely interested.
Frank is your typical old time runner, a little grumpy, offers unsolicited advice (if someone is going to do that, at least he has credentials) and likes to talk about how he did it back in the day.
So while Frank is a good guy, he is nowhere as nice Bill.
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Billy FTW. wrote:
Bill & Frank wrote:
I see your Bill Rodgers, and raise you one Frank Shorter.
Met both a few times about 10-12 years ago. Bill is genuinely a very nice person. He would ask about my training and racing to the point where I was like "what's your angle guy?" But I think he was just genuinely interested.
Frank is your typical old time runner, a little grumpy, offers unsolicited advice (if someone is going to do that, at least he has credentials) and likes to talk about how he did it back in the day.
So while Frank is a good guy, he is nowhere as nice Bill.
Agree 100% I was also lucky enough to have met and spoke with both men. Different generations have different choices. Still say Bill is number one back in the day.
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Steve Ovett. But closely followed by Nick Bester.
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legends1 wrote:
Geb, greatest runner ever, all round d good guy and personable
Mo became an absolute legend in the UK in 2012 with the double at London, a hero
I agreed with you about Geb. So great!
But few people who are serious the sport really love Mo. He is the "most famous running celebrity among non-runners in the UK," but that is not really what we were debating on this thread.
He was a great racer, but his time with Alberto and his late career improvements made him super suspicious.
And unlike Jesse Owens or Emil Zatopek, he didn't even serve as a model of how to be a better human being.
This post was edited 6 minutes after it was posted.41 -
Bonkers wrote:
Couple of deeper cuts:
Andy Bayer, Brian Sell, Erik Sowinski
The word "most liked" and "deeper cuts" don't go together.
Most liked album of all time can't be a deep cut.
Most liked food of all time can't be a little known Bavarian noodle nobody has heard of.
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I'm 19 and I've heard of Zatopek...
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RunnerGal10125 wrote:
I'm 19 and I've heard of Zatopek...
Pick up the book "Today we Die a Little" and you will learn all you need to know.
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usain bolt is likely the most popular and loved runner of all time when it comes to the general population
with that said, when it comes to being loved by this community, i would have to go with jakob ingebrigtsen. in the 15 years that i've spent frequenting these forums, i have never seen one runner being talked about as often as jakob ingebrigtsen.
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Grant Fisher is up there on the American side. Down to earth, friendly, thoughtful, and not to mention has delivered some epic races. You can tell his competitors all like him as well.
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Ruxton Towers XC wrote:
legends1 wrote:
Mo became an absolute legend in the UK in 2012 with the double at London, a hero
I agreed with you about Geb. So great!
But few people who are serious the sport really love Mo. He is the "most famous running celebrity among non-runners in the UK," but that is not really what we were debating on this thread.
He was a great racer, but his time with Alberto and his late career improvements made him super suspicious.
And unlike Jesse Owens or Emil Zatopek, he didn't even serve as a model of how to be a better human being.
Then the topic should be called " which runner is beat liked by hobby joggers?"
A completely different question.
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Parker Valby.
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legends1 wrote:
yay marxism wrote:
Geb: Good person, likable.
Mo: As soon as AlSal was scrutinized he shoved all blame on his coach and best friend/training partner. Despite the fact that his name was on the suspicious list.
Bekele: Nice, humble. Personable
Rupp: Kind of avoided responsibility when the NOP stuff happened but fair enough.
Kipchoge: Sub 2. I never bought the "No human is limited" crap but I can respect it.
Zatopek: Saying he is unknown is insulting. Zatopek is respected enough where there is a fairly well known race in Australia called the Zatopek10. No one has ever equaled or beaten his 5k/10k/mara triple. Charismatic, nice, hard working(training was crazy). Remember Ron Clarke praising Zatopek to the moon and back after he gave him his gold medal. He also refused to support communist oppression in the Czech republic(after massive protests) and so was sent to a Uranium mine.
The question was who is the most liked runner.
Mo is the ONLY runner in the UK who still gets mobbed when he walks around. Look at any video of his at his beloved Arsenal. He's treated like a celebrity, every Brit knows him. I can't think of a single British runner other than him who would be recognised and loved on this scale.
The fact is, the average Joe probably doesn't even know about Mo's possible doping, and almost certainly doesn't know who Salazar is. They just remember his gold medal. You're examining him through the eyes of a runner, which most aren't.
I have heard of Zatopek, there was a big section on him in the Born to Run book from years gone by.
That said, there's a 50 minute YouTube programme about his life and political involvement I'm about to watch now, post long run.
Thats true. I am also American so don't know enough about how he is viewed in the UK.
Also he is an Arsenal fan? I did not know that. Better than a United or Spurs fan. I myself am a Liverpool fan so I am loving this season.
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Prefontaine.
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Obviously Usain Bolt
Most liked distance runner is tougher.
Mo Farah did a double at his home Olympics, maybe tarnished by some associations
Bekele and Hicham El Gerrouj were dominant and also just beautiful runners
Ingebritsen was the first white dude to break up African dominance, which is at the very least super marketable, and most of his competitors will acknowledge that he took the sport to a new level.
Before my time, but Seb Coe, Bill Rodgers, Pre, Bannister and some others
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Max Telford
Ultra distance runner of NZ
Ran with him in NZ, got to know him, family, he met my dad, who became a senior marathoner, and hung out in the midst of his Alaska to Eastern Canada run.
Max ran across death valley set the record, and ran back and set the record again. he said it was his hardest run.
Training for that one was in a sauna on a treadmill, watching hours of cartoons on TV.
NZ has a lot of good fellows.
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