herschisajoke wrote:
Ryan should be at the top of that list based on times and the combined quality and consistency of all of his marathons. The world of marathoning is bigger and more competitive now than it was back in Shorter's days. Meb should be number two.
Obviously, these things depend on what you're trying to measure, and what your criteria are. I can see Khannouchi at the top based on times, world and American records, and head-to-head results against strong competition. (Even excluding his first world record before he became a U.S. citizen, his times in record-quality marathons are unmatched, and his performances in 2002 alone -- especially his world record victory over Tergat and Geb in London -- are beyond what any other American has yet shown himself to be capable of.) I can see Shorter at the top based on Olympic and Fukuoka (at the time, de facto world championship) competition, as well as his effect on American marathoning in general. I can see Rodgers at the top based on his record of victories in major marathons and his popular appeal.
I find it difficult to come up with a good set of criteria by which Hall would be on top, however. And I'm not sure how one would come up with a one-two ranking of Hall followed by Meb, although I don't doubt that someone could come up with something to jusify such an outcome.
I probably wouldn't put DeMar and Kelley so near the top. Rankings based primarily on a string of Boston performances seem rather provincial to me, especially in light of the level of competition at Boston back in those days. And sticking Johnny Hayes in there, based almost exclusively on a single victory in a slow race following the disqualification of the first-place finisher, carries the Olympic criterion too far in my view. But people should probably just chill out and not take this stuff so seriously.