Outside Mag: Galen Rupp is hard to love

I read the article, but my lack of "love" goes back to an earlier time. I recognize he's done "Great Things" on the track and road but...

I ran xc/track along time ago in Oregon and our coach was a school employee. When I heard that Salazar was his "coach" in HS I was WTF! I would probably have a bit of disdain if someone other than our school coach was coaching a teammate AND then competing for our school, it just doesn't seem normal to me. I had a similar feeling during his college years. As far a social media I don't care if he doesn't do it, I don't, but what do we know about him. He's married, has kids and plays video games, is that all? Maybe there doesn't need to be more but do something human, like visiting sick kids a a hospital, help little old ladies with their garden, something. He's like the Russian in the Rocky movie, easy to not like, until the end of the movie where he wasn't quite so bad, but Rupp isn't at the end of his move yet...

Yes, we all know Galen has the personality of an ice cube, nothing new here, so what? He is (arguably) the best American distance runner of all times just as Bekele is the GOAT.

Next please!

Lickety Split wrote:

- Desi Linden is not even in the same universe as Galen Rupp as far as world class running .... not even close. False Analogy!

- The article has ZERO respect for what it takes to succeed as a world-class runner: part of it is avoiding distractions such as social media and alleged journalist.

Geb, Eliud, Bekele. Simpson, Mo, Radcliffe, Coburn, Jager, Bolt, are not world class? Have they avoided distractions?

Article is pretty well-written but useless. We all knew this before - but might be of value to those brand new to the sport.

I, for one, enjoy Galen and his less-than-open style. I sort of wish more athletes did less talking... For example, I don't really care what food Shalane likes to eat, and I don't care about her "being honest" when she said she couldn't be happy for Rupp and Hasay because of "questions" over the NOP (she sounded a bit witchy). Indeed, many athletes in many sports could probably benefit from following Galen's example - let your performances do the talking.

John Utah wrote:

Why would he want you to love him?

Kind of what I thought. I don't love any pro runners. That's pretty passionate.

But he could work on being friendlier, like say "hi" if you run past him. A friend passed him on a bike trail but he ignored him when he said hi. He was wearing a "darth vader'ish" pollen mask, so maybe that's why. I told him he probably just wants to focus on his training.

I never cared much for Rupp and Salazar, but I admire his "I really don't care what anybody else thinks" part of his attitude. He had to develop this attitude because of all the criticism that he received in college for not winning an individual NCAA championship until his senior year. Having such an attitude is absolutely necessary for success in this world.

Outside Magazine is based in Boulder. That should tell you all you need to know. It’s a cesspool for gossip, bullying and jealousy. One of the most beautiful places on earth inhabited by the most inhospitable and fake people on earth.

Rupp is not likeable by Boulder standards. Fine by me. He NEVER talks sh*t about others and he doesn’t tweet about his next most excellent and epic adventure. He’s the anti-Boulder. And that’s why I like him and the rest of the NOP. They are real.

'side Hopkingtown wrote:

I'll just state facts. He was loudly booed when introduced at the Boston start line. I was surprised how loud.

You are 10000% full of crap. I was right on thr starting line of the Boston Marathon in 2017 in Hopkinton.

This was his first Boston. He kept to himself mostly like many other elites. He wasn’t booed at all during intros.

tartarm wrote:

'side Hopkingtown wrote:

I'll just state facts. He was loudly booed when introduced at the Boston start line. I was surprised how loud.

You are 10000% full of crap. I was right on thr starting line of the Boston Marathon in 2017 in Hopkinton.

This was his first Boston. He kept to himself mostly like many other elites. He wasn’t booed at all during intros.

I was there in 2018, and he was booed. 100% guarantee it. It was loud. It came from runners in corral 2 or 3.

I'm also sure you heard no booeing in 2017.

I totally agree. Shalane comes off on fb like an overgrown cheerleader. I actually stopped following her. Actually when she said all those things about jordan and galen I thought it sounded pretty unprofessional. You would not hear Jordan or Galen say anything about her.

They are just jealous. Galen does not give a rip. They can boo all they want they will never be the athlete he is.

With his self righteous attitude Galen has been making enemies as early as his junior year of high school. He doesn't participate on social media because his success in proportion to his crowd support is enormously lopsided. He invokes hatred and indifference more than anything else among the fans of running.

Introverted unquestionably, haughty hard to deny, not funny or clever seems to be the case: but these are not the reasons people hate Galen.

Anyone with half a brain understands very clearly he is cheating, this is the source of hate.

Galen's blood work and list of "Supplements" he takes, if accurate and made public would leave no room for doubt in anyone's mind. This list comprises more than two dozen line items of Supplements he takes regularly many of which a lot of doctors aren't familiar with.

I propose to protect Galen from exposure to the toxic cocktails by enforcing new rule. Start making his competitors wear weighted vests, this way sweet little baby Galen can still win and not have to throw tantrums and he wouldn't have to risk his health.

I literally think Rupp is in Salazar's will. I'm surprised he hasn't adopted him. It reminds me of Christopher Walker in Pulp Fiction gone to Bruce Willis with his pop's pocket watch. Except it won't be a pocket watch. Salazar will go to Rupp on his deathbed and say, "Rupp, this is my bag of PEDs, I used this when I was fighting Beardsley in Boston. When the testers came for me afterwards, I hid it somewhere I knew they would never look, up my as. They would never think to look there. I carried it for many years, and now I pass it onto you.

Runnergrl wrote:

I totally agree. Shalane comes off on fb like an overgrown cheerleader. I actually stopped following her. Actually when she said all those things about jordan and galen I thought it sounded pretty unprofessional. You would not hear Jordan or Galen say anything about her.

Maybe because Shalane’s team isn’t under investigation by USADA.

Lickety Split wrote:

- Desi Linden is not even in the same universe as Galen Rupp as far as world class running .... not even close. False Analogy!

- The article has ZERO respect for what it takes to succeed as a world-class runner: part of it is avoiding distractions such as social media and alleged journalist.

Regarding Linden, it was not an analogy it was a comparison. Most of us know that Rupp has achieved more than Linden, but as the article pointed out, we can’t really celebrate it because we have no idea if he is cheating or not, and because unlike most other champion runners, it doesn’t seem as if Rupp wants us to root for him. Linden connects and it is fun to root for her. It isn’t fun for many of us to root for Rupp. Obviously not everyone feels this way, but many of us do.

And your point about zero respect for succeeding as a world-class runner is a total red herring. Training and focus is not the subject of the article, and many successful runners are quite social. Gebrselassie was one of the most gregarious celebrities in the history of sport, both in Ethiopia and abroad, and he managed to achieve a few things as an athlete. The point of the article is that Rupp stands out among his peers with regard to his lack of openness about his training, his camaraderie, and the degree of respect he engenders. Look at the response when Meb had his victories in New York and Boston, when Shalane won. Very different from the reaction to Rupp’s wins. Rupp and Salazar clearly don’t care what anyone thinks of them, and that’s certainly their choice to make. But to many of us who follow the sport that is a shame. It would be nicer if they could acknowledge that most fans will have no way of assessing the truth about breaking the rules. It would be nicer if Rupp could have been a bit more gracious when he lost the 10,000 at the USATF meet and give a few interviews. Most of his peers do.

Rupp just doesn't have much personality. He's a dork, like most of us distance runners. He's just had a lot more success than any of us who post on LRC. He's a great American runner, and he has been for many years. All of us are jealous of his running success, whether we admit it or not. If Rupp had Bill Rodgers' or Steve Prefontaine's personality, he'd have a lot more fans, but he doesn't. Just respect him for what he does as a runner, and don't be a hater out of jealousy. Oh, and anyone who thinks he should dump Salazar, tell me, would you dump your coach if you'd had that much success under the guidance of a man who's always treated you like his own son?

Shawn H wrote:

Rupp just doesn't have much personality. He's a dork, like most of us distance runners. He's just had a lot more success than any of us who post on LRC. He's a great American runner, and he has been for many years. All of us are jealous of his running success, whether we admit it or not. If Rupp had Bill Rodgers' or Steve Prefontaine's personality, he'd have a lot more fans, but he doesn't. Just respect him for what he does as a runner, and don't be a hater out of jealousy. Oh, and anyone who thinks he should dump Salazar, tell me, would you dump your coach if you'd had that much success under the guidance of a man who's always treated you like his own son?

Anyone with half a brain understands very clearly he is cheating, this is the source of hate

Fantastic post - and great article that you linked (although the sad thing is that my biggest takeaway from it was that Messi pees sitting down).

Do you guys think these pro-Nike posts are made by Nike employees or do they hire a troll farm to do it for them?

Bottom line: unless you're a Nike sock puppet, you don't know A SINGLE Rupp fan.