Who had the better career: Alan Culpepper or Linda Somers-Smith?

add to the debate.

Ryan Hall or Bob Kennedy.

Both top college runners. Both national title winners. Both american record holders, and barrier breakers in their events. However neither has/had olympic medal.

2:37 at age 50 for a chick, yikes! Age grade that baby.

Treadstoned wrote:

2:37 at age 50 for a chick, yikes! Age grade that baby.

102%

When I think of someone having a great career, age grading their times does not factor into it. Ergo, I choose Alan Culpepper!

Hayduke wrote:

add to the debate.

Ryan Hall or Bob Kennedy.

Both top college runners. Both national title winners. Both american record holders, and barrier breakers in their events. However neither has/had olympic medal.

Kennedy > Ryan Hall

Carl Spackler wrote:

I recall seeing (a link) on here a while ago that Alan had moved to San Diego to work full-time for Competitor Group.

The Culpeppers eventually moved back to Colorado. I think that Alan still works for Competitor since he shows up on the local news whenever they have a race here.

Also, rumors that he is planning a Masters comeback have some truth to them:

Maybe the great Culpepper v Somers-Smith debate still has another chapter to unfold...

Bump a Slump

I VOTE FOR ALAN BECAUSE I HAVE NO IDEA WHO LINDA SOMERS SMITH IS AND HOW GREAT CAN SOMEONE HAVE BEEN IF I HAVE NEVER EVEN HEARD OF THEM.

I AM IN THE KNOW FOR THE MOST PART SO IF I DON'T KNOW YOU THEN YOU MUST BE OBSCURE.

MAYBE LINDA IS A SKILLED SURGEON OR SOMETHING AND HER MEDICAL CAREER EXCEEDED THAT OF ALAN'S RUNNING CAREER.

I DON'T KNOW. I CAN'T SPEAK TO THAT. I CAN ONLY SAY THAT ALAN WAS A BETTER RUNNER THAN LINDA BECAUSE I KNOW RUNNERS AND I KNOW ALAN BUT I DON'T KNOW LINDA.

+1

Slade wrote:

I VOTE FOR ALAN BECAUSE I HAVE NO IDEA WHO LINDA SOMERS SMITH IS AND HOW GREAT CAN SOMEONE HAVE BEEN IF I HAVE NEVER EVEN HEARD OF THEM.

I AM IN THE KNOW FOR THE MOST PART SO IF I DON'T KNOW YOU THEN YOU MUST BE OBSCURE.

MAYBE LINDA IS A SKILLED SURGEON OR SOMETHING AND HER MEDICAL CAREER EXCEEDED THAT OF ALAN'S RUNNING CAREER.

I DON'T KNOW. I CAN'T SPEAK TO THAT. I CAN ONLY SAY THAT ALAN WAS A BETTER RUNNER THAN LINDA BECAUSE I KNOW RUNNERS AND I KNOW ALAN BUT I DON'T KNOW LINDA.

Culp FTW.

I can remember a time when Culp was Meb's nemesis.

Slade wrote:

I VOTE FOR ALAN BECAUSE I HAVE NO IDEA WHO LINDA SOMERS SMITH IS AND HOW GREAT CAN SOMEONE HAVE BEEN IF I HAVE NEVER EVEN HEARD OF THEM.

I AM IN THE KNOW FOR THE MOST PART SO IF I DON'T KNOW YOU THEN YOU MUST BE OBSCURE.

MAYBE LINDA IS A SKILLED SURGEON OR SOMETHING AND HER MEDICAL CAREER EXCEEDED THAT OF ALAN'S RUNNING CAREER.

I DON'T KNOW. I CAN'T SPEAK TO THAT. I CAN ONLY SAY THAT ALAN WAS A BETTER RUNNER THAN LINDA BECAUSE I KNOW RUNNERS AND I KNOW ALAN BUT I DON'T KNOW LINDA.

+200

Bump.

Culp FTW wrote:

Culp FTW.

I can remember a time when Culp was Meb's nemesis.

For about one year, Culp > Meb.

Can't say the same thing about Linda.

For one race, Culp was better than Meb.

Fixed that for ya. Punk!

I'll go with Linda Somers because she hit the A standard at 7 straight trials.

I have no opinion on this issue.

This comparison seems a little unfair to both of these individuals.

Alan Culpepper was a full-time, international-caliber distance runner, with a range from something like 3:38/3:55 1500/mile to 27:33 10,000 to 2:09:++ marathon. He was on the U.S. world track and field championships team four times and the U.S. Olympic team two times. He won national championships at 5,000, 10,000, and marathon, and also won three national cross-country championships. (He was also an NCAA champion, which means something to some people.)

Linda Somers-Smith was (and is) a lawyer who competed at a national-class level in the marathon, with a best time of (I believe) 2:30:++. She was on one U.S. Olympic team and (I believe) one U.S. track and field championships team. She won two national marathon championships. (Someone said that she won "major and minor" marathons, citing Chicago, Cal Int'l, and Grandma's. None of those was a "major" marathon as that term is used today, referring to marathons with world-class fields. In particular, Chicago had no sponsor in 1991-1992 and bore little resemblance to the international race that was held in earlier and later years; Somers-Smith's victory in 1992, in a time of 2:37:++, was not against an international-caliber field.) In more recent years, she has continued to compete very well in age-group competition.

Culpepper competed well as a full-time professional athlete in track, cross-country, and road racing (including marathon), while Somers-Smith has competed long and well as a part-time marathoner and road racer while maintaining a substantial legal practice. Each career has something to say for it. I don't find it to be a very interesting comparison at the elite athletic level.

-1. Go out on a limb, bub. Who had the better career? You are not allowed to factor in Linda's day job, we are just talking running here.

As I said, if you're talking about elite athletic careers (in open competition), I don't think it's an interesting question. It seems obvious to me that Culpepper competed at a much higher level in a much wider range of events. If someone with much knowledge of both runners' careers believes that Somers-Smith had the better running career, then that person is apparently evaluating their respective careers by a very different set of criteria, perhaps emphasizing longevity at a moderately high level of competition within a life less centered on running.