Does anyone know of famous people (politicians, actors, writers, musicians.....) who were good runners before they became famous for another reason?
I can only think of Nicholas Sparks. Writer of The Notebook and a bunch of other books that became movies. He was apparently a pretty good 800/miler at Notre Dame before strikin it big with his books.
ron paul
400m runner
From what I understand a former congressman from Kansas used to be some big miler or something...
Joe Strummer ran 3:20 in '81; two years after London Calling was made.
not fair. Ryun was famous because of running.
haha this is always a fun thread
OP, if youre in a hurry to get this information, then use the search function to find instances of this thread's subject from the past (This subject probably comes up once or twice per year at least)
Anyway, off the top of my head, I can think of...
Bill Cosby 400m or 400m hurdles
Tom Cruise (sub 4:30 mile in high school maybe?)
Luke Wilson 800m
Robin Williams 800m
Jim Ryun Kansas politician and sub4 in highschool
Dana Carvey - he is in the movie Fire On The Track
"You can't make the club sitting in the tub."
Darn. Well in that case, is John L. Parker a good answer? Writer of what some of us runners see as the bible, Once a Runner. Or was he already well known previously for his steeplechasing and miling? I wouldn't know considering I was nowhere near being born during the era when he was racing.
Sebastian Junger
That guy from Marathon, Greece
chonga wrote:
haha this is always a fun thread
OP, if youre in a hurry to get this information, then use the search function to find instances of this thread's subject from the past (This subject probably comes up once or twice per year at least)
Anyway, off the top of my head, I can think of...
Bill Cosby 400m or 400m hurdles
Tom Cruise (sub 4:30 mile in high school maybe?)
Luke Wilson 800m
Robin Williams 800m
Jim Ryun Kansas politician and sub4 in highschool
Bill Cosby was actually a High Jumper. If you can find his Sports album, it is worth a listen. The Track and Field bit is hilarious. Unfortunately it is ONLY available on vinyl.
O.J. Simpson- ran from the law
Ralphy wrote:
O.J. Simpson- ran from the law
lol +1
Bill Clinton visited my city in the early 1990s. He and his entourage went for a morning run on a street overlooking the city and lake.
Pugsley from the Adams Family ran a 4:17 mile in high school.
chonga wrote:
haha this is always a fun thread
OP, if youre in a hurry to get this information, then use the search function to find instances of this thread's subject from the past (This subject probably comes up once or twice per year at least)
Anyway, off the top of my head, I can think of...
Bill Cosby 400m or 400m hurdles
Tom Cruise (sub 4:30 mile in high school maybe?)
Luke Wilson 800m
Robin Williams 800m
Jim Ryun Kansas politician and sub4 in highschool
US Presidents that played football:
Eisenhower
Kennedy
Ford
US Presidents that ran cross country:
Jimmy Carter
Draw your own conclusions.
Coach D wrote:
[quote]chonga wrote:
US Presidents that played football:
Eisenhower
Kennedy
Ford
US Presidents that ran cross country:
Jimmy Carter
Draw your own conclusions.
CoachD is unfamiliar with the science of logic?
David Petraeus. He ran track or cross country in school and remained an avid runner. He ran a 2:50 marathon once.
The only other politicos with reasonably decent marathon times I've seen are Clarence Thomas (3:11) and Rod Blago (3:03). I'm guessing they probably did some kind of distance running in school but I'm not going to bother to check wikipedia to find out.
So, Thomas and Blago are decent runners, but Dean K runs a sub-3 during his 50 in 50 and people consider him a hack? What am I missing? Seems like a double standard.
towhee wrote:
David Petraeus. He ran track or cross country in school and remained an avid runner. He ran a 2:50 marathon once.
The only other politicos with reasonably decent marathon times I've seen are Clarence Thomas (3:11) and Rod Blago (3:03). I'm guessing they probably did some kind of distance running in school but I'm not going to bother to check wikipedia to find out.
Louis Luchini was recently elected to the state legislature in Maine.