Who is the nicest Pro runner you've met?

I've met some really nice Russian women runners. ?

Galen Rupp. He spent a good half hour talking to me. My only complaint was after every question I asked him, he would ask me two.

Dan Middleman (1996 10,000m Olympian). I met him on campus at NC State where he was training in the late 90s. I probably hung out with him for an hour. While I was completely star struck meeting my first Olympian, he was super down to earth, friendly, and fun to talk to.

Marc Davis. He was somewhat known as the bad boy of USA distance running, but I met him 2x (several years apart) & he was very engaging both times. The second time he was with another runner I knew and looked at me & said - hey I've met you.

All of the professional runners I've actually talked with have all been nice, but Bernard Lagat was the nicest. I took my one year-old daughter to USATF Nationals and after he raced the 5,000 he actually initiated conversation with us on his way to the athlete tents.

Chris Solinsky

-Nike Cross Country Nationals post-race dinner @ Nike Campus @ the salad bar

-We were both getting a salad at the same time. He was really open about his future plans getting into coaching (this was 2012, so right before he really got into his first comeback). Really just a nice guy. Ran into him a couple hours later and he remembered my name, our conversation, and even posed for a quick picture.

I was a "bigger" runner in high school so I really enjoyed seeing a pro with the "bigger" look run well. Is there any other pro built like Solinsky running now?

These folks were beyond wonderful when I met them-

Amy Cragg

Aisha Praught

Colleen Quigley

Mary Cain

Gabe Gruenewald

Heather Kampf

Will Leer

Nick Symmonds

Andrew Wheating

Riley Masters

wilson kipketer was pretty nice.

is she single?

Peter Snell

Murray Halberg

Ron Clarke

But the best ever was

Alex Henderson 4:03, 8:46 in 1958. He became part of our family and cried when I told him my mother had died.

q35yb wrote: Jim Ryun, one of the all-time greats. Look what he did without epo!

Your second sentence doesn't really have anything to do with his niceness. Great runner? Definitely. Nice person? IDK... I remember reading some pretty sh*tty things about stuff he did while in office.

Eddy Hellybuck.

Tucson, AZ

Suzy Favor Hamiliton

La Vegas

vetrunsforlife wrote:

Suzy Favor Hamiliton

La Vegas

She was VERY nice.

Rod Dixon. Called him at his hotel a couple of days before the (now non-existent) 1981 Diet Pepsi 10K in Spokane, WA. Asked him if he would mind meeting me and some other runners for a run the day before the race. We met him at the hotel and ran several miles along the Spokane River. Just a down-to-earth guy with great stories. Of course, he won the race.

Mason Ferlic. Him and his girlfriend Jamie Morrisey were at the first meet at U of M’s new faculty this year and they were both super nice and friendly and asked about what we raced and such and were very fun, even invited us back to some more indoor meets in Ann Arbor and said if they caught us again we should say hi.

Not professional, but I went to Milrose this year to watch and Justyn Knight was really nice. I just talked to him about his race and plans for the season and stuff.

EZ10Miler wrote:

I would say that the majority of the pro runners I have met have been really nice, very cool, down to earth people. The men and women I've been around see themselves just like other runners, they just happen to do it faster than others. Almost everyone high level runner I have met is very aware that their time at the top is fleeting and brief and they are just one injury away from vying for places on Olympic/World teams to looking for a job in a cubical, or coaching HS track.

There's just not enough time or money involved to be a cocky dickhead.

I wish this was entirely true.

I've met four pro runners who were rude arrogant jerks. I'm not going to name them here, but they not surprisingly they have not appeared on this thread as being nice.

Everyone else I've met were incredibly nice. There seems to be no in between.

John Trautmann: Known him since HS. Always humble. Off the track he was just one of the guys. Happy to call him a friend. Also met Bill Rodgers at a race in 1990. As mentioned by others, he's awesome.

Emma Coburn and Courtney Frerichs at Emma's 5k in Crested Butte. Courtney was so great and retold me the finish of her silver medal. Emma ordered pizza next to me and I just said Thank you for putting on your 5k. She was very nice.