Who is the most famous runner you ever worked out with?

1968, Ron Clarke aiming to do 8 laps of sprinting the straight and quick jogging the turns I lasted 3 laps in 3:30 and he did 6(lunch to close). The pace was 15/20 and he ran in lane 3. lots of workouts with Don Kardong and Duncan Macdonald (teammates). later did some runs with Mark Winzenreid in Santa Barbara.

David Torrence (bay area track club!)

Well, Molly Huddle ran past me one time and I stared at her butt. Does that count????

National Champ and Olympian, though of a different gender..

Bovinagator wrote:

I was a member of the Florida Track Club in the early to mid 70's so Frank Shorter, Barry Brown,, Marty L., Dick Berkeley, Jack Bacheler , et.al.

Did you ever run with a guy named Charlie Duggan?

Jenny Simpson

Honorable mention:

Mo Trafeh

Jorge Torres

Billy Nelson

I ran with Bob Kempainen the day after he won the Olympic Marathon Trials, which explains why I had no trouble keeping up with him. And he didn't puke once.

disappointed i didn't make anyone's list.

but to the point, sticking with actual workouts:

carl lewis: we did repeat 600s in the fall one year while he was in santa monica. he was out of shape and ran them slowly.

steve lewis, danny everett, kevin young: every once in a while they'd blow me away in a sprint workout or on some hill repeats in santa monica.

george kersh was a regular workout partner for years.

more recently, jenny simpson--while i was visiting family in boulder i did a track workout with the boulder track club--very friendly and hospitable group--they let my son, my daughter and me workout with them without really knowing who we were (not that they should have known...).

not to the point: a few times bill cosby used to cheer us on and make funny quips from the infield while we worked out at ucla.

did a celebrity triathlon relay in malibu with duff mckagan (bike) and matt sorum (swim) of guns n roses--their personal trainer was sponsored by powerbar, as was i...

Avi-G

Charlie Duggan of Hartford Public and Springfield College?

Ran at Fresh Pond in the snow one Saturday. Had a good one going with Henry Rono in sight most of the way. As we neared the .5 to go with the turns, he goes down on the ice and I sprint past, only to have him catch me right at the finish. Unfortunately, he continued on to win the 5 and I at least could call myself the 2.5 winner. Afterwards, we warmed down together and I bandaged up his bloodied arm and hand.

Also had runs with Pfitzinger, DeCastella, Dixon, Walker, and Albie Thomas. Roomed with Monaghetti at World University XC.

Josh McDougal, Sam Chelanga, Josh Cox

DICKY P

I was running at the UNLV track in the late '80s. Sam Sitonik (UNM standout) trained there regularly. One day he jogged by w/ Henry Rono who was staying with Sitonik.

Sonia O'Sullivan - fartlek workout at Haverford College

back in the late 90's.

Don Kardong weekly when I lived in Spokane

Steve Jones, Kim Jones, Henry Rono, Kim Fitchen and Dave Frank.

At a junior college meet in LA and warming up on the baseball field. Who should we see there but Dennis Haysbert (MSG Blane from The Unit, also did AllState commercials), he was just hanging out there, some female relative (guessing his daughter) was competing. My coach and I do several laps, debating if we should ask for a pic, and then my coach decides to run up to him and yell "ARE YOU IN GOOD HANDS?!?"

Pamela Anderson

Scott "slicko" Anderson. Sure, he was lapping me on longer repeats, but we were doing the same workout.

When I was a kid in Eugene, we would sneak into Hayward Field and run laps. The Ducks doing workouts would shoo us off. One day, I got in Dyrol Burleson's lane and he yelled "track" at me. My brush with greatness.