Has LetsRun nation lost its mind? Jenny Simpson is currently beating Joan Benoit in the voting for Greatest American Ever.

Portland beatnik wrote:

Joanie is really truely nice, Jenny is fake nice, just for the camera's.

Have met them both

Someone is jealous.

Do people even recognize how Joan kicked the reigning WR holder all over the street in Chicago?

WR in '83

Gold in '84 over the likes of Grete, Rosa, Ingrid and more

Beat Ingrid like a rented mule in '85

partylikeits1969 wrote:

It's at least close. Jenny earned several medals on the world stage.

I was not alive and do not know the significance of the women's marathon events in Joanie's time. Her times look amazing. Jordan Hasay ran faster... not enough to convince me her greatness surpasses Jenny. Probably on par.

Shorter wins, anyway.

Just imagine this.

Olympic Champion versus the bridesmaid

rojo wrote:

What’s wrong with campaignin in elections? I started the thread as I was shocked by the results and wondered if they were justified. I then did some research and see why some voted for Simpson but think Joanie deserves it.

You have just as easily waited until the voting was over to make your point. Instead you're using your "authority" to get people to vote the way you want them to. It seems disingenuous at best.

You could have just *

This contest is ruined now. The only people who would vote in that scenario are the people against Simpson. Now we'll never know if Jenny would have won without interference.

Boston isn’t WR eligible. I thought people knew this.

rojo wrote:

justarunner wrote:

Seems like any result from this contest is now suspect.

A co-founder, unhappy with the results, writes an entire article discrediting one of America’s most accomplished runners hours before voting closes?

Let the people decide without your last minute Hail Mary.

What’s wrong with campaignin in elections? I started the thread as I was shocked by the results and wondered if they were justified. I then did some research and see why some voted for Simpson but think Joanie deserves it.

This can't be serious, right? Campaigns aren't supposed to be launched by the organisers of the election. It would be like walking into a voting station and an election official tells you who to vote for right before handing you the ballot.

This is a dumb contest anyway - you excluded "dopers" but that somehow meant excluding Decker and including Ajee Wilson. Host stupid games, win stupid prizes.

WinnytheBish wrote:

This contest is ruined now. The only people who would vote in that scenario are the people against Simpson. Now we'll never know if Jenny would have won without interference.

Ok fine I'm overreacting.

In response to the article (and thank you for using my post!)

It was a close match up, either of them winning is actually fine with me. I just wanted Jenny to get a fair shake when I saw this thread.

How does a rule from 1990 apply to a race from 1983? But if it does, you could look at Joans run in 1980 in NZ or Eugene in 1982, both recognized by ARRS

rojo wrote:

justarunner wrote:

Seems like any result from this contest is now suspect.

A co-founder, unhappy with the results, writes an entire article discrediting one of America’s most accomplished runners hours before voting closes?

Let the people decide without your last minute Hail Mary.

What’s wrong with campaignin in elections? I started the thread as I was shocked by the results and wondered if they were justified. I then did some research and see why some voted for Simpson but think Joanie deserves it.

the people/person/body responsible for organising an election are usually independent and do not campaign.

regardless, surely the time to question a result is after it is achieved not before.

any result in favour of JBS will sadly be tainted by your actions.

rojo wrote:

Currently Simpson leads 54 % to 46%.

Really?

Does anyone else find this shocking?

Or am I just biased because I was 11 when Jonanie won and sort of remember it as being a very big deal.

UPDATE. Rojo has written an article saying why he thinks Joanie had the better career. You can still vote up until 12 midnight.

https://www.letsrun.com/news/2020/04/who-had-the-better-career-joan-benoit-samuelson-or-jenny-simpson/

Rojo, I really disagree with this statement -

"I view winning a major marathon as pretty much equivalent to winning a Worlds medal"

There is one world championship per year. There are multiple marathon majors per year with diluted fields because not everyone runs every major.

I voted for Samuelson because Simpson has never ran all that fast. Has she even ever held an American record? Robury, Houlihan, etc. Many who haven't made it as far as Simpson were faster. Samuelson was winning and was doing so as the fastest in history. I view their competitive records as similar, but Samuelson wins based on time as the tie breaker.

Well, you're honest in your ignorance at least.

MatthewXCountry wrote:

I voted for Samuelson because Simpson has never ran all that fast. Has she even ever held an American record?

Simpson won the Boston New Balance Indoor Grand Prix 2 mile in 9:18.35 on February 7, setting a new American record, 5 seconds ahead of Regina Jacobs' 2002 American record at the same event, 9:23.38.[37]

In 2009, she set NCAA records in the mile, 3000 m, and 5000 m indoors, 1500 m, 3000 m steeplechase and 5000 m outdoors.[13] She also topped her own American record in the steeplechase at the 2009 World Championships with a time of 9:12:50, finishing 5th overall.

rojo wrote:

Currently Simpson leads 54 % to 46%.

The campaign is working. Now Simpson only 51%-49%. I expect to wake up tomorrow and find Samuelson the winner 51%-49%.

I don't know why this bothers people. I think it's pretty clear both are in the top-4 American women of all-time. Who the best is is simply a matter of opinion. It's like arguing who the best basketball player ever was, Jordan, James, Chamberlain, Bird, Johnson, Russell, Jabbar, etc. An argument can be made for all of them.

The "March Madness" format is always exciting but it also produces upsets. That's the nature of the beast. I wonder how the results would have turned out in a "Football poll" format. Have the voters rank the nominated women in order 1 to 16, then assign points to each (16 points for a first place vote, 15 for points for second place, ... 1 point for 16th place).

Well the voting just ended and Jenny won. But so did Ryun ?

Sorry, ROJO wrong again. Milers are always better runners than Marathoners. Simpson Should be winning this by a landslide.

A lot more versatility everything from 800-5000 including the steeple. vs 10k and marathon for a global appearance of what 5 races? not even close in my book.

Joan winning LA Olympics after being injured for so long was easily the greatest performance ever by an American female marathoner. Watching her win that at the age of 17 wow she just ran away from the field. She is and will always be a legend in US Marathoning lore.

your parents wrote:

Well the voting just ended and Jenny won. But so did Ryun ?

this is a far greater injustice than Simpson over JBS