Mt. Rushmore of current American distance runners

Larry Macon

Parvenah Moayedi

Dane Rauschenburg

Jill Greathouse

It's so great to see that not everyone on this site is an idiot. Well said Reed. I think you mentioned all the names I would have. And I agree that Rupp and Simpson are the slam dunks. Potentially Rowbury should be in consideration, assuming she returns to form after becoming a mom. Your Centro vs Jager comparison is spot on, and I agree. I give Huddle the edge over Shalane. And I think Muddle's future runs in the marathon will solidify that.

Rowbury Simpson Huddle and Linden

Walmsley

Karnazes

Rossi

Gump

But why Huddle over Centro? Unless for some reason you HAVE to have two men and two women. Huddle will never win gold in a track event, and she's not very close (because of dopers, albeit). Given Centro's Championship success and respectably fast times, he deserves the nod over Huddle IMO.

Rupp, Jager, Jenny, Centro (in that order)

Honorable mention to:

Huddle

Shalane

Emma

(in that order)

Hounddogharrier wrote:

Like the subject says, who would you put on have a Mt. Rushmore of current American distance runners. No Glen Cunningham, no Jim Ryan, no Alan Webb, not even Ryan Hall. My picks:

Matt Centrowitz,

Shalene Flanagan,

Galen Rupp,

Jim Walmsley.

Mine has symmetry to it ? Top on the track , top on the roads , top on the trails and top woman .

RunninReed wrote:

For instance, Centro has his Olympic gold, which Jager doesn't have. But Jager is arguably better at his event in comparison to the rest of the world than Centro is. Plus, Centro hasn't won seven straight US titles.

1500m Olympic gold medal

1500m World Championship silver medal

1500m World Championship bronze medal

1500m World Indoor Championship gold medal

5x 1500m USA Champion

2x 1500m USA Runner Up

3000SC Olympic silver medal

3000SC World championship bronze medal

7x 3000SC USA Champion

5000m USA 3rd Place

You're seriously going to tell me Jager is better than Centro? Centro is more accomplished in the harder event, GTFO.

This is actually pretty difficult for me to narrow to 4.

Simpson is definitely on it

Centro/Jager/Rupp are hard to pick between, so I guess that would round out my 4

Chelimo/Flanagan/Meb/Huddle/Rowbury/Manzano are in the convo at least (though Meb I suppose is officially retired now and Leo not far)

george oscar bluth wrote:

This is actually pretty difficult for me to narrow to 4.

Simpson is definitely on it

Centro/Jager/Rupp are hard to pick between, so I guess that would round out my 4

Chelimo/Flanagan/Meb/Huddle/Rowbury/Manzano are in the convo at least (though Meb I suppose is officially retired now and Leo not far)

Annnnnd I forgot Coburn. I'll slide her in with Chelimo at being at the heels of getting on with a good chance to surpass some on the mountain by the time her career is over.

Runners that have made an impact on the sport....not the greatest runners

1. Prefontaine

2. Jurek

3. Joan Benoit

4. Ann trason

The Dingo^3 wrote:

But why Huddle over Centro? Unless for some reason you HAVE to have two men and two women. Huddle will never win gold in a track event, and she's not very close (because of dopers, albeit). Given Centro's Championship success and respectably fast times, he deserves the nod over Huddle IMO.

ARs. She has 3, he has none. Definitely can see the argument for Centro... but every time Molly is on the start line, i believe something special can happen. Not the case for Centro.

Coburn seems very under-represented here; she has an Olympic medal, a WC Gold,the WC meet record and has been consistent at the diamond league level.

Centro & Simpson have multiple medals & each has won a championship.

Rupp might have been a stretch prior to switching to the marathon, but now with an olympic track & marathon medal and a win in a major, not to mention a very impressive AR at 10,000 he belongs here.

Walmsley... what he did at western states was cool - but give me a freakin' break! He beat a handful of white dudes who couldn't cut it in more prestigious events.

All time is Mike Morton Scott Jurek Ann Trason and Courtney Campbell. If you dont know these names you shouldnt post here.

Tons of good ones, but the top 4 is fairly straightforward IMHO:

Rupp, Jager, Jenny, Centro (in no specific order)

James “Jimbo” Walmsley

Justin “Snuggles” Tyner

Jon “Thumper” Rock

Jeremy “Gumdrop” Drenckhahn

Hounddogharrier wrote:

Tsk, tsk, that race yesterday gave ultra running more visibility then it ever had. It was no different than shorter winning in Munich, Joan Benoit in LA and Dave Scott winning the Ironman

The event is not going to be the same.

Quick. See if you can buy the Letsjog.com domain. It's going to be huge. You can be famous like Rojo.

Mmmmmmm wrote:

All time is Mike Morton Scott Jurek Ann Trason and Courtney Campbell. If you dont know these names you shouldnt post here.

What's Morton up to these days? I was at his "comeback" race. Hinson Lake the first year where he did like 145 miles or something (2011?) . No one had any idea who he was (at the time, neither did I). Shared a few loops with him during the evening and one of the absolutely most humble and nice guys you will find. Saw him I think two years later when I was crewing a friend at Umstead. Remembered who I was and we had a good conversation.

Desi

Rupp

Centrowitz

Simpson

Ditto on the lack of love for Coburn. Amazes me how a lot of the posters are putting Jager up there, but are either not mentioning Coburn or relegating her to honorable mention. If you compare her accomplishments side by side with Jagers, she is more accomplished.