Have you ever met an elite runner? What were they like?

Whoops, I forgot. Bruce Tulloh. One of the nicest runner guys I'd ever met. Gave me loads of advice. Was a very genuine person.

craig virgin - friendly guy and quite the self promoter. when i met him he introduced himself as "world cross country champion craig virgin"

pete pftizinger - took an hour outside his day to meet with a friend and i to talk about marathon training

jenny simpson - she's just about exactly how you see her on tv. she is the most confident woman i've ever met, just has an unshakeable confidence

Local legend (1980 &) 1984 Olympian Steve Lacy of McFarland, WI comes into the running shoe shop age 50+. Looks like a "cool dad" with some shaggy hair. Says he used to run in New Balance (not that he ran pro for New Balance) and is examining the models. Tries a couple of shoes on making small talk and laughing.

At the checkout, his name was revealed. I was completely starstruck. He chuckled. Gotta love those types.

After he retired saw MJ at the Berlin World Champs - blew off fans and young kids looking for an autograph, Was pretty rude and nasty to them

Also knew a former LJ gold medalist (not Carl Lewis) who would charge people if they wanted to take a photo with him

I talked a little bit with one 'n' runner in 2021 after a xc meet (I finished ok but wasn't even close to the top of the ncaa). Very talented runner but humble - made a good impression on me. I thought he was hitting some on my then-gf but that definitely wasn't the case lol

Not sure if this counts, but Jack Daniels used to be the invited speaker at a running camp I used to go to at the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid. I'd go twice a year, once during summer training and again at the start of the outdoor season. Jack was at 6 or 7 of the 8 iterations of that camp that I attended throughout high school. Incredibly kind, sharp, witty, funny, warm person. I heard many of the same stories and lectures multiple times yet never got bored; he's fantastic to listen to. He would record us running towards, away from, and across the view field of a camcorder (this was pre-smartphone era) and would meet with us in small groups of a half dozen or so and go through frame by frame and have us give feedback on each others' form. I will never forget my senior year. He said he recognized me at this point from previous years, and that he remembered my form being painful to watch when I was younger; now, he said, my form was "basically perfect." It's one of my most cherished running memories.

Saw Woody Kincaid running in Flagstaff near NAU, he chunked deuce to me.

Some of you have met a lot of them! In some cases, even with brief interactions (e.g. Frank Shorter waving and saying hi to me when we were the only 2 runners on a track in Boulder), I could tell how friendly and unpretentious they were. (In triathlon world, Thomas Hellriegel was fun with a great sense of humor, and Dave Scott, perhaps the greatest ever, was amazingly warm and friendly, inviting me to swim with his group and making me feel he genuinely appreciated my talking with him; only met one Hawaii ironman winner who was a jerk and, even though he wrapped himself in the U.S. flag, he had a difficult time getting any sponsors - I can see why, nobody liked him!).

But the person I wanted to write about here, partly because one of you may know about him, is Scottish marathoner John Graham. I went to Scotland on my honeymoon (~34 years ago) and, at the first place we stayed, the BnB owner saw that I was going running and mentioned that her husband ran too, perhaps I would like to run with him? It turned out he was John Graham, who I believe had run the 2nd faster marathon in the world one year (behind only Toshiko Seko). I was in what for me was pretty good shape, and he explained that he was not nearly in the condition he'd been when he'd been one of the best - but, wow, what an amazing stride and pace he had, that was a very fun but challenging training run for me. He was quite kind and down-to-earth, seemed happy to have come upon someone else who loved to run, and took me on a terrific course! I think he would be nearly 70 years old now, and I can not find on the web anything about him - if he is still alive, if he ran as a master, etc. It's too common a name - do any of you know him or know of him?

Having been in the sport for many years, I have met and personally know many.

I'll drop a few below that I either know personally or have met outside of a competition - perhaps for dinner or out and about.

Cream of the crop in terms of friendliness, demeanor, and class:

Bill Rodgers

Dick Beardsley

Very personable and friendly and good hearted:

David Bett

Winfred Yavi

Jon Sinclair

Dominic Korir

Rod Dixon

Zouhair Talbi

Don Janicki

Elkinah Kibet

Something odd/strange about these:

Sam Chelanga

Erika Kemp

Natosha Rogers

Frank Shorter

Ryan Hall

Persons with cocky attitudes, zero personality, losers:

Leonard Korir

Parker Stinson

Alberto Salazar

Someone to avoid:

Craig Virgin

Henry Rono in Eugene in '83 (Really nice, shy guy)

Maggie Vesey-We used to workout at the same gym in Capitola. (Nice, but a little aloof)

Nikki Hiltz- At Aptos High School. (A likeable little mischief maker)

Bill Rodgers- Golden Gate Park in '80-81 (The best!)

Marion Irving- San Francisco (One no-nonsense nun)

Nancy Ditz- At Stanford (Came across as really smart)

Ceci Hopp- Big Sur (The greatest legs on the planet-Oh, she was also really nice)

Meb!! Amazingly humble! Was impressed (or pretended to be) when I told him I'm going to finally break four hrs at Boston this year. Seemed genuinely interested in my running. I was gushing like a school girl despite my advanced age.

Frank Shorter! He and his wife invited me to share a beer at an after party at a race in FL. So down to earth and willing to answer all of my questions which I'm sure they've heard hundreds of times. Frank took time with all of the runners and was incredibly patient. Side note...we were supposed to get Barbara Eden who had to cancel. And they brought in Frank Shorter....what a treat!

Met Parker Valby before she was elite but ran into her multiple times after she got to NCAA Champ and Olympian level and she's always been a super nice person.

I know people mostly talk about her interviews and looks but she's always been a super genuine person in the conversations I've had with her.

Similar story with Charles Hicks but I went to summer camp with him and he talked with me for a bit after he won NCAA XC. Super down to earth and always had good vibes.

Always will be a fan of them from these brief interactions.

Bernard Lagat paced a 5k at UAZ I was in once (proud to say I got lapped but not double lapped). He was chill. We were wearing the same socks and had a Larry-David-esque conversation about how its weird when socks have a designated left sock and a right sock.

When Cam Levins ran 2:09 to break the Canadian marathon record for the first time in 2018, his sponsor organized a little promo tour of running stores and clubs for him to go on. I had the opportunity to do a 5k easy group run with him and then some Q&A afterwards over a few beers (I don't believe he had any).

Really friendly dude. I was telling him how cool I thought it was to go for a run with a legend like him, and he just kept repeating what a treat it was to run with a group since he usually trains alone. The Q&A session was the first time I heard the details of the high volume he runs, but he was humble enough to acknowledge that plenty of guys faster than him succeed on less volume. The friend I brought to the event is kind of a New Agey dude and wondered if Cam used anything like float tanks or yoga for recovery; turns out there's not much time for that sorta stuff when you're running three times per day. I was embarrassed to ask him for a photo but my friend encouraged me to do it and Cam seemed happy to.

Had the privilege of sharing start lines with him at a few road races since then, and he's all business in the minutes before the gun, as you can imagine. Doing strides next to a guy like that is an experience in itself.

Leo Manzano after he finished doing a workout. So nice and encouraging :)

Will Leer gave me his bib # after the Boston Indoor Games one year

Super nice guy based on that one 2 minute interaction

I had lunch with Nick Willis in 2008 about a month after he had won Olympic silver. He was pretty quiet but very nice. I believe we chatted about what he does for fun more than running. At that time, his wife was in school for a grad program and we ended up talking mostly about her work.