Most famous runner you have met or even ran with

Ran into Ryan and Sara Hall doing a shakeout in Atlanta the day before the 2014 Peachtree Road race and was fortunate enough to join them for a few miles of the course.

Have fun with Stephen Sambu and Stanley Kebenei on a few occasions

I've run (or, better said, I've jogged) in the Olympic Village with Eliud Kipchoge, Geoffrey Kamworor, Feyisa Lilesa and plenty of other great runners. Didn't have the chance to run with, but spoken a few times, with Bernard Lagat and Jared Ward, both very nice guys. Ran a few times in different opportunities with Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima (2h08 guy, Bronze Medalist in Athens). Have a picture with Usain Bolt & another with Asafa Powell.

But would rank talks with Melissa Bishop & Emily Sisson above all these.

Joey Jogger...it was a real gas 😄

Not super famous but a funny story a friend told me. Years ago.

He went on a run with this guy who was visiting a local shoe rep or something.

The guy's name was Jerry.

My friend decided to pick up the pace a little to see what Jerry had.

Jerry had no problem with it.

Then he picked it up a bit more but noticed he was straining more than Jerry.

So he asks the guy what his last name was.

The guy said "Lawson."

Jerry Lawson was a former American Record holder in the marathon at 2:09.

I knew who he was and laughed as soon as I heard the last name.

Shorter and Samuelson handed an award to me after the Big Sur Marathon.

Craig Virgin

1. Hicham El Guerrouj - This is kind of a funny story. After college I was shadowing a physical therapist in Oregon. While I was there Hicham came in to get therapy on his leg. As I was helping him with his leg exercises he asked me if I ran track, and if so, what events I did. I replied that I ran the 800 and occasionally the 1500. He then asked me what my time was for the 1500. This honestly was the only time that I felt truly embarrassed to tell someone my time, especially because his world record time was 26 seconds faster than mine. After I told him, he just kind of nodded and said "oh." He then asked if I was still running and if I was happy with my time. Which I lied twice and said I wasn't happy with my time and that I was still training. Anyways he was a very nice guy overall. I'm just not sure if he sounded condescending because he was unimpressed, or if it just sounded that way to me because I felt horribly inadequate.

2. Galen Rupp - I trained with Galen in Highschool and College.

3. Bill Dellinger and Phil Knight - I saw frequently in Eugene.

I won't list everyone, but a few with interesting back stories:

Cam Levins - ran with him in 2011 when he was a 14 flat guy and I didn't know who he was. He was so goofy looking that I didn't believe him when he said he ran 14 flat

Robby Andrews - I did an unofficial visit to UVA the weekend he was doing his official visit and we ended up doing a workout at their track at the same time. He came over and started chatting, he was wearing a soccer shirt and I asked if he was a soccer player. He nicely said he wasn't and I realized who he was when he set a national HS record later that spring. Felt dumb for asking him that.

Craig Virgin - met him in the stands at the Olympic Trials. He was asking me questions about who some of the runners were (he knew big names but not everyone in the prelims), eventually it came up who he was.

Centro - didn't meet him but he took the toilet paper I had brought to my local track with me one morning

John Steiner - not actually a runner, but he used to give me massages and tell me about Rupp and Salazar doping before it became national news

Suzy Favor Hamilton - she was one of the pros at Footlocker the year I made it. She was dancing with a couple high school athletes and it felt weird. When the story about her came out years later my first thought was that it explained some things...

I met Drew Windle when he was a senior at Ashland and I've ran into Clayton Murphy on campus before.

Met Matt Tegenkamp after club cross in 2014, got hammered at the after party talked with him for a bit then tried to hug him, he did not go for that...

So you ran 3:52. That's a respectable time. Clearly, your not going anywhere after college with that time, but even the world record holder knows that most people can't run that fast - except on lets run.

Ghost 0f lgloi wrote:

Bad Wigins wrote:

Which event do you own the top 6 scores ever and the WR for nearly 30 years and likely a lot more, and which other event did you also jump the #2 and #3 all time jumps? And do you say "alrighty" when fans approach you?

Ha ha. I guess my point is that actually BEING an elite runner trumps being in approximately the same zip code as JJK. I'm sure you agree.

On behalf of which elite runner are you making this point? And no, I don't agree. The thread title calls for the most famous runner.

The only valid counter to JJK that I can think of is she was better at jumping than running. But she was still a runner, and more famous than any other name yet mentioned. At this point she is a living legend.

ruppbuster wrote:

Met Matt Tegenkamp after club cross in 2014, got hammered at the after party talked with him for a bit then tried to hug him, he did not go for that...

Cool story, Sean.

I beat Matthew Centrowitz in high school as a freshmen. It was all down hill for me from there

Matt Centrowitz the elder, is my age. I chased him in HS. Closest was Johnson & Wales Relays indoor 2 mile, he won, I was 3rd.

I told this Carl Lewis story before. I was working the medical office at the Nike Indoor Nationals. I walk into the medical room. Carl is standing alone against one wall. The entire medical staff is standing along the opposite wall staring at him. I walk up to Carl, put out my hand to shake and say, "the 30 foot jump in Indianapolis was fair, wasn't it?" His face lit up and we talked jumping, his current activities and stuff until someone came to get him. Before he left, there was a pile of meet programs by the door. He opened every one to his picture and autographed it. He sure didn't have to do that. I don't care about his alleged doping. He showed me some class that day.

CS Runner wrote:

Dave Bedford Seb Coe Paula Radcliffe Steve Jones

Beat Sting in an 800

Is my memory messing with me, or would Sting sometimes jump in evening track meets at Parliament Hill, Highgate?

Joan Benoit during summer of 1978 and 1979. She was from Maine and I lived there at the time. She ran with the Maine Track Club and did interval sessions at

the track in Portland occasionally. She did a lot of races in area. Very nice lady and super competitive at the time.

Also, I see Greg Meyer nearly every week now as he works and lives near me. He has some great stories.

Bill Rogers

Frank Shorter