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

I had no idea Dave Mackey came within 2 minutes of beating Matt Carpenter! Not bad for a 6'1" 170lbs. ultrarunner!

http://www.pikespeakmarathon.org/results/2007ppm_m.htm

not my real name wrote:

I think we raced against each other only once (I was shorter distance) and I asked him what exactly he weighed (as we had similar builds), he said 160-165, mentioned how he'd tried to crack 160 but just couldn't maintain strength so just allowed his body to be where it naturally wanted.

hope this helps.

Gotta be careful going below a weight your body wants. I'm 6'2" 165-167 and if I get under 165 I feel fatigued and lacking strength.

At 6'2" 165lbs. people say I'm skinny. I disagree.

Just wow... wrote:

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

I think Oprah had a higher BMI when she was in her Marathon days.

That was in 2013. I'd bet he's been lower since then when at his best (say summer 2015). Maybe 160 or a bit below. Still bigger than I would have thought.

I had the same problem. Every time I tried to shed 3-5lbs, I just felt like dogsh** and was lethargic and irritable. Finally said "Screw it" and dealt with my weight as best I could. Always hated hills though, haha

Positive Contribution wrote:

Gotta be careful going below a weight your body wants. I'm 6'2" 165-167 and if I get under 165 I feel fatigued and lacking strength.

Ive races True in xc.

Bmi is a generalized indicator of body mass, but not dispersment

True's legs are super thin

Dave is the man! wrote:

At 6'2" 165lbs. people say I'm skinny. I disagree.

That is skinny! I was that weight in middle-school! 😅

Ex T.O. resident wrote:

original brooks beast wrote:

Canada's Peter Maher. Pack a day smoker turned 2:13 marathoner circa 1990.

He made Steve Jones seem scrawny.

I remember seeing Mahar before/after some races decades ago in Toronto (no where near him during the race!), he was a big rangy fellow who weighed a lot more than your average runner (about 175lbs according to bios) but on at

6' 4.5" he looked weighed like a typical skinny/lanky fellow, not at all stocky. Really light clean stride for such a gangly fellow.

He was actually 150.

...my post on a beefed up Ryan Hall was deleted?

http://runningmagazine.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/MikeAdrian_XTERRA2016RWC-069.jpg

Yes wrote:

So you think that wiki is accurate? Anyone can create a wiki page. Anyone can edit it. True doesn't look 165. I'd like to see the proof?

I hear this a lot. Can you demonstrate? Maybe make him 5'10", 215#?

Herb Lindsay?

I definitely believe True is 165 lbs. Garrett Heath is about the same size. They're some of the biggest distance runners. Not BIG per say, but they look way bigger than their competitors, most of whom weigh like 130-something.

weird... wrote:

...my post on a beefed up Ryan Hall was deleted?

http://runningmagazine.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/MikeAdrian_XTERRA2016RWC-069.jpg

What's going on here? His Wikipedia lists him as a wispy thin 127 lbs on a 5'10 frame. What happened...he must have gained 50 lbs? And I bet his times have plummeted...who would have thought.

MSDG wrote:

Page 10 of this USATF document also has Ben True at 6'0 - 165#

Page 1 of the book of common sense says that's what he told them, not them hiring medical staff to weigh him.

Like I stated before, 165 in the winter, maybe. Not when racing.

original brooks beast wrote:

Canada's Peter Maher. Pack a day smoker turned 2:13 marathoner circa 1990.

He made Steve Jones seem scrawny.

World junior cross country runner turned pack a day smoker... still impressive, but the talent was always there.

MSU Alum wrote:

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,

George Malley. Good steeplechaser and distance runner in the '70s, early '80s.

I've always said that I saw Solinsky run at USA's in his last appearance there. It was my first time seeing him compete in person and I was absolutely stunned by how huge and out-of-place he looked. It was as if an NFL tight end had gotten lost and wandered onto the track. The fact that he got his doors blown off didn't help.

Just wow... wrote:

MalAl wrote:

I also don't believe 165. This is another Solinsky-type myth where everybody wants to believe that the guy is 15+ pounds heavier than he actually is.

Solinsky's Wiki page has him at 6'1" and 165lb, so they aren't inflating his numbers.

Huge_Dude wrote:

I've always said that I saw Solinsky run at USA's in his last appearance there. It was my first time seeing him compete in person and I was absolutely stunned by how huge and out-of-place he looked. It was as if an NFL tight end had gotten lost and wandered onto the track. The fact that he got his doors blown off didn't help.

Are you sure about that? NFL tight ends average about 6-3, 250, with some like Gronk going 6-6, 265. If Solinsky has that kind of size running world class times, the scientists would have in the lab faster than you could say "mutant genetics!" 😄