Which runner has inspired you more than any other? Serious responses please.

For real wrote:

Paula Radcliffe

What a joke.

Def Kip Litton.

Steve Scott was huge for me when I started running. Always liked when he turned up at the odd road race here and there, more so during the later 80s.

The 1982 Wisconsin Badger Cross County team. Won nationals defeating the all Kenyan squad from UTEP and Providence. All of the Badgers were from a 100 mile radius of Madison.

Afew wrote:

Bob Kennedy, Todd Williams, Paul Tergat, Eliud Kipchoge, Daniel Komen, Haile G

Welcome to 2013-4.

I gave my $0.02, but I'll bite on the original question.

As a shy person, I found Steve Prefontaine inspirational. I don't condone his idiotic style of life or racing; but his ability to act was amazing. I tend to think "courageous" and "idiotic" are somewhat synonymous; but that's not the point. Regardless of how stupid he was, he was able to just act without over-thinking. He had bullocks, in my opinion.

As a runner, I think we can take something from Roger Bannister. When the world was stuck on a number--240 seconds--he just proceeded to run. I'm sure you all know the story of Bannister; there's no need for me to ramble.

Ed Whitlock....not just for his age, but his firm belief in the "amateur ethos"

Jerome Drayton....Canadian working class running hero.

I admire the runners of the 70s who ran because they loved it, or because something inside them made them feel they "had to."

I was not alive to see Coe or Zatopek run but I personally know Joe Gray. Seeing him win Club Nationals this year was inspiring because it gives me hope I can someday win a National title being that I was only just behind him (LOL) in college.

Patti

Steve Jones

Eric Liddell, of Chariots of Fire fame. Read his biographies (several of them) and see a man who had balance in his life.

Ritz... love his guts!

The runner that really inspired me was Cathy O'Brien due to her incredible display of sportsmanship at the 1992 Olympic Trials Marathon. When Janis Klecker fell at a water stop 15 miles into the race, Cathy stopped to help her up. I read about it in Runner's World back then and it stuck with me ever since.

I couldn't find the original RW article with the picture of Cathy stopped in the middle of the road grabbing Klecker's hand but I found a different article if anyone is interested:

http://www.nytimes.com/1992/01/27/sports/marathon-little-help-goes-long-way-for-klecker.html

I have always admired Cathy O'Brien as well. Her course record at Van Cordlandt Park is jaw dropping.

I have a few but one stands alone. El G, Goucher, Lauren Fleshman and Billy Mills.

-I was overseas when I saw the Evening News reply the ENTIRE Mile WR Race El G ran. We were jumping up and down in excitement.

-I just finished my first XC Season when I saw Goucher and Abdi on the cover of T/F News. I got to meet him, and get his autograph, a year later at my first Rocky Mountain Shootout. I've been a Goucher Guy since. Very cool guy.

-I saw Lauren Fleshman race the 5k at Mt. Sac. Went through the 2 Mile in 10:05, and finished a CLOSE 2nd in 15:23. I then sent her an email, which she replied to. Have been rooting for her since.

But Billy Mills is in a class by himself. He came to my HS during my Soph Year, and I didn't think anything of it. I was playing Football, running was for pussies. Completely forgot about him.

Then I started running, ran in College, and after I graduated, watched Running Brave. Bad Robbie Benson Movie, but still pretty cool. I was also training and racing on my own, and went to the XC Championships in Portland that year. Raced, got owned (Ritz won going away), and soaked in the experience. At the finish line, my Coach and I were shooting the shit, when some random older white guy comes up and starts talking to us. While he's talking to us, Billy Mills comes over and joins the conversation. At that point I knew who Billy Mills was, and it was surreal. The older white Guy kept talking about Pre, and after a while, I put two-and-two together, it was Pat Tyson. Awesome.

A month later, Billy Mills came to town raising funds for the Indigenous Games later that year in Denver. He called us up and we had dinner with him. He talked, told stories, laughed, shared, and I took it all in. It was a great night.

After that, I saw a small documentary on him, where he retold his Tokyo Story, but I was more focused on the story from home. He said back home, prayers were made for him during his trip. Not for victory or success, but that he have a clear mind, so he can speak well, make the right decisions and carry himself the right way.

As a Native who now Coaches, and still attempts to train and compete, he has had the biggest impact on me and the way I conduct myself. Great Man.

bill and frank

lasse viren

Probably a middle-aged guy in our small town who was a marathoner during the first running boom. He didn't brag about it or wear finisher's shirts, just put in the miles (including, from spring-fall, the 6 miles each way to-from work). Sub-3-hr finishes were expected, and he was part his employer's team in a "corporate league" of US Great Lakes states' region paper-industry businesses.

Despite some idiot kids' blinding him in one eye (threw an object from a car at him during one of his training runs), "Mr. G" kept going. He eventually had to hang it up because of injury, but I was at one of his last marathons, where he ran a sub-3:15 in his mid-fifties... he beat me by 7 minutes.

Again, thank you all so much for the responses. I've caught up reading them all except for the article about Walker and Bayi. I have spent a good deal of time researching and reading about all of these runners I've never heard of or know little about! There is so much I don't know about this sport, it's humbling. As I set here on my lunchbreak at work, I am inspired for my run this afternoon.

Also, NotAustin18, thank you for filling me in on Frank Shorter's training.

I appreciate the background you all have given. It's great to see how such a variety of runners have inspired all of us. Some of us are inspired by running legends, teammates, coaches, and even as simple as seeing a running picture on a wall. I have noticed a reocurring theme on this thread is that the most inspiration comes from runners who truly love what they do, never taking it for granted. They don't do it because they are forced, they do it to test and push the limits of the human body and mind. They would run even if they were not top tier athletes because they experience the simple joy that running brings.

Rod Dixon comes to mind.I first was interested in distance running while watching Viren and those chaps at the Montreal olympics. The 5000m was epic and inspired me for years and Dixon and Walker seemed like really cool guys. Then years later Dixon comes back at the New York city marathon and a fantastic finish for the win!

Dan wilson, because he actually talked to me and his words to me made me a better runner. As fun as it is to watch awesome races and be inspired by that, hearing a national caliber athlete talk to you and listen to you about your running meant something to me.