After reading about the unfortunate injury of the Kenyan great middle distance runner David Rudisha, I started to think how all of this might affect Rudisha in the future if someone broke his records. Then, I started to think globally to the running heroes of decades before and the legacies that were set until they were replaced by other legacies. That's right...they were replaced and rarely ever spoken about anymore. Vibram's Five Fingers Bikila shoes were worn by many who were fortunate enough to purchase them most likely without many knowing anything about Abebe Bikila. The marathon achievements of Kathryn Switzer, Grete Waitz and Joan Benoit (Samuelson) are rarely spoken about among today's running heroines. Most people would not be able to recognize indoor middle distance runner Doina Melinte even if she had a long standing record. However, across other sports, there seems to be a cadre of players that make up "the greatest of all time." As a result , this entry will display that it is likely that running is not popularized across the masses because new winners replace the legacy runner of that time, rather than join them; furthermore, the runner heroes of the old are allowed to be forgotten rather than be viewed as the "Old Guard," resulting in no steady people's champion unlike other sports have.
In leagues like the NBA, the names of LeBron James, Zion Williamson, Jayson Tatum, Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Davis and Giannis Antetokounmpo are viewed among the greatest, but other names like Russell, Maravich, West, Shaq, Kobe, MJ, Wilt, Dr. J, 'Nique, Clyde, Hakeem, Patrick and AI are so perpetually well-known and respected that people know their greatness from just a first or last name or initials. Respect is fully given to the predecessors in the creation of a de facto line of lineage throughout decades. This is similar in the NFL when people talk about Butkus, Starr, Tarkenton, Stabler, Staubach, and later Montana, Marino, Simms, Boomer, Singletary, and Woodson (either Rod or Charles, for namesake), then even later Brady, Cam, Larry, Hester, and so on. The names of the past are not supplanted for the current names.
In the NHL, people still talk about Howe and Hull along with Gretzky and Lemieux along with players like P.K. Subban. There is no replacement overall.
Even in US Olympic Boxing, the names of American greats Meldrick Taylor, Mark Breland, Pernell Whitaker and Evander Holyfield were still mentioned when they talked about other greats like Oscar De La Hoya or even newer boxers in the more recent Olympic era. This is similar in gymnastics and figure skating where Comaneci is still revered and Fleming, Hamill, Hamilton and Boitano are still adored, and people still talk about the "Battle of the Carmens" and the "Battle of the Brians" are still respected.
However, in running, while those in the know can give you a time and a result for a certain runner in a particular year, there is not enough publicity for a core "greatest of all time list." In other words , history for running solely becomes a history of the winner because in a seemingly fickle standard that is evidenced in places like Let's Run, it appears that once someone has every record broken and is no longer the fastest, their time for the standard -bearer of excellence has expired. Because of this, in essence, running as a sport loses a lot of the every man or woman.
Why does this happen?
It is quite possible that this occurs because when a super elite like Usain Bolt achieves a time of 9.58 or 19.19, that the standard becomes so high that people en masse stop realistically trying. This seems different from the thousands of children and college students who attempted Michael Jordan's moves. They couldn't get them exactly, but the try was worth it. In the 200m, the record was not always 19.19. There were slower times that won these events that most people don't know about.
What's the solution?
By compiling a list of the all-time greats by distance, people can see who they might have something in common with for whatever reason and identify with someone to try to be the next ...whomever. But whether or not they achieve it, it can fuel the desire to try. Admittedly, this would take time because a careful blend of quantitative analysis would have to be accompanied by qualitative analysis, as well. But I am proposing it as a start to making running more widespread among the people as a sport for participating or viewing.
It will take running from a niche to the mainstream.