Which runner in history most deserves a Hollywood movie?

Rosie Ruiz.

This wouldn't be about an individual runner, but a dark comedy about the 1904 St. Louis Olympic marathon would be incredibly entertaining

Richard Shea.

Dropped out of Virginia Tech to enter World War 2. After the war, he attended West Point. While there, he ran 4:10 for the mile, won the Penn Relays, and set numerous Academy records. He had the opportunity to go to the Olympic Trials in 1952 with a legitimate chance of making the team; instead, after graduating, he chose to go to Korea. He won the Medal of Honor and was killed on Pork Chop Hill about three weeks before the war ended.

You can be certain that if there was a shred of evidence that Harbig was a genuine Nazi supporter, the GDR would not have celebrated him.

What is a "runner in history"?

Your post would read better if you'd just written, "Which runner most deserves a movie?"

Big Bird?

Harbig's wife did a stellar job of convincing everyone he was an upright citizen.

All his best performances came after he joined Hitler's Nazi paramilitary organisation and became a subject of their propaganda. Ever wonder why he was able to run so fast after he officially joined the Nazi party and became their poster athlete? I don't want to watch a movie about that.

Give it a rest. Harbig was simply much better than little Sydney Wooderaon over 800m. If he had been created in a lab they’d have had three Harbigs.

Made for tv movie about SFH on Cinemax.

Samuel Wanjiru could work well since his personal life was a disaster and his death was so mysterious.

It would be an interesting film. Someone should at least do a deep dive documentary about this guy. He also dated Flo Jo for awhile, that could add interest. Raced him on HS (I was in the Marine League, he was much better lol) but he seemed friendly at the time, didn’t come off as a gangbanger. He has never revealed where the money from the robberies went/where it was hidden. He’s also been released from priaon.

Wooderson was much better in the mile!

Richard Shea is a much better choice for a film about a mid 20th century soldier runner than a Nazi propaganda tool.

Harbog set the WRs in the 400 and 800, he was never a “miler”. Sydney was a terrific miler and 5k man as well, he could run anything 800 - 5000m, quite the comeback when he was older too. Either guy’s story would be interesting.

That David Mack stuff is also interesting. Only in America!

Mensen Ernst (1795-1843). The first professional runner. Raced horses and ran from Paris to Moscow in 14 days. Died from dysentery when trying to run across Africa.

en.m.wikipedia.org

Mensen Ernst

Mensen Ernst (1795 – 22 January 1843) was born as Mons Monsen Øyri, in the summer of 1795 in the village of Fresvik along the Sognefjord, in the municipality of Vik in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. He was a road runner and...

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snl.no

Mensen Ernst – distanseløper – Store norske leksikon

Mensen Ernst var en norsk distanseløper, som gjennomførte en rekke spektakulære langløp tidlig på 1800-tallet. Ernst var født Mons Monsen Øvri og oppvokst på en husmannsplass ved Sognefjorden. Han ble etter hvert sjømann og s...

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"Running for my Life" about Lopez Lamong that was scheduled for a 2020 release but it appears to have never been released. I was really hoping that one was going to happen.

Forrest Gump.

I think they already made that. It involved a watch.

Pheidippides