colorunner123 wrote:
John Wesley Harding wrote:
I think this is a reasonable approximation of the top-20:
1. Frank Shorter - Probably the 3rd “greatest” marathoner ever after Kipchoge and Bikila and has an unprecedented legacy in U.S. distance running
2. Jim Ryun - 3 Olympics including silver in ‘68, achieved almost rockstar status from ‘65-‘67 when he was the best mid-D runner in the world and lowered WRs at 880y/1500/mile
3. Bernard Lagat - Standing AR-holder at 1500, 3000 & 5000, 5 WC medals (2 gold) & 3 Olympics while representing U.S., nearly unbeatable domestically from ‘05-‘16
4. Galen Rupp - 4-time Olympic qualifier and 2-time Olympic medalist, PBs of 3:50.9i/7:30.2i/12:58.9/26:44(AR)/2:06:07, best U.S. 10k man ever (sorry Billy Mills)
5. Mal Whitfield - 2 x Olympic gold in ‘48 & ‘52, 5x #1 rankings from ‘48-‘53, won 66 of 69 races at 800/880y from June ‘48 through ‘54, 1:47.9 PB in ‘53
6. Bill Rodgers - Won Boston and NYC 4x each between ‘75-‘80, ranked #1 in ‘75, ‘77 & ‘79, collected wins in Amsterdam, Fukuoka, Toronto, Houston, Stockholm, etc., 2:09:27 PB in Boston ‘79 made him #4 AT
7. Johnny Gray - Record 11 top-10 rankings from ‘84-‘96, 4 Olympic finals earning bronze in ‘92, broke 1:43 in 4 seasons, 1:44 in 11 seasons and ran 1:45.50 or better in 18 straight seasons, 1:42.60 PB made him #4 AT in ‘85
8. Matt Centrowitz, Jr. - Perennial world and Olympic finalist, winning Olympic gold in ‘16 & lesser WC medals in ‘11 & ‘13, PRs of 1:44.6/3:30.4/13:00.4
9. Steve Scott - Ranked #1 in U.S. at 1500/mile 10 times and ranked top-10 in the world 11 times, earned silver at the ‘83 WC and missed his best chance at an Olympic medal due to the boycott, held mile AR (3:47.69) for 25 years and broke 4:00 more than anyone in history
10. Meb Keflezighi - 4-time U.S. Olympian taking silver in the marathon in ‘04, former 10,000 AR-holder (27:13), major marathon wins in NYC ‘09 & Boston ‘14
11. Khalid Khannouchi - At one time held 3 of the 4 fastest marathon performances (2 as a U.S. citizen, including the WR), still holds AR at 2:05:38, won London (‘02) and Chicago 2x (‘00, ‘02) for the U.S.
12. Craig Virgin - 3x Olympic qualifier missed his best chance for a medal due to the 1980 boycott, former 10k AR-holder at 27:29 which made him #2 AT ca. 1980, his greatest achievement is winning world XC in ‘80 & ‘81
13. Steve Prefontaine - AR-holder at every distance from 2,000-10,000 at the time of his death, very tough to beat domestically from ‘71-‘75, heartbreaking 4th at ‘72 games, immortalized legacy
14. Ryan Hall - Fastest American marathoner under any conditions (2:04:58, Boston ‘11) & #3 officially (2:06:17), 2-time Olympian, 4 x U.S. #1 marathon rankings, AR-holder at 1/2 marathon (59:43)
15. Billy Mills - Surprise Olympic gold at 10,000 in ‘64 in Olympic record time, went on to set 10k AR (28:17) and tie the 6-mile WR (27:11) in ‘65
16. Alberto Salazar - Former 10k AR-holder (27:25), ranked world #1 at the marathon in ‘81 & ‘82, won NYC 3x (‘80-‘82) and Boston ‘82 with CRs at both, ran 21” under the WR in NYC ‘81 which proved ~148m short
17. Dathan Ritzenhein - 3-time Olympian, former 5,000 AR holder, bronze at 2009 world 1/2 marathon champs, PRs of 12:56.2/27:22/60:00/2:07:47
18. Bob Kennedy - 2 time Olympic 5k finalist, former AR-holder at 3k (7:30.8), 2 mile (8:11.6) and 5,000 (12:58.2), 9x #1 U.S. rankings at 5,000
19. Sydney Maree - Former AR-holder at 1500 (3:29.77), mile (3:48.8), 3,000 (7:33.4) & 5,000 (13:01.1), placed 5th in ‘88 Olympic 5,000, #2 AT at 1500 & #3 at 5,000 ca. 1985
20. Bob Schul - Had an amazing year in 1964, going undefeated outdoors while setting the 5,000 AR (13:38) and the 2 mile WR (8:26.4) and winning Olympic gold with a stellar kick, won the ‘65 U.S. 3-mile champs in 13:10 AR before retiring from injury
Wottle, Symmonds, Solinsky and Jager would be among the next up.
Great list. I'd put Pre a little lower and Mills and Schul a little higher.
Where do you rank guys like James Lightbody (not many americans have 800/1500m golds and sort of a 1500m WR)? How about Horace Ashenfelter with his steeple gold? Or Buddy Edelen (first american to break 30, WR holder in the marathon). It is sort of hard to put these old guys in context.
Lindgren needs to be on this list. He was sort of the Ritz of the 1960s. The difference between him and mills is basically 1 race. Marty Liquori also belongs on the list.
As you get towards the bottom of the list it gets hard to figure out who to leave off. Frank Shorter is going to be on everyones list but when you get to the 20s you are past olympic champions and guys with a WRs and long careers. You get guys like Steve Spence (WC medal, decent but not record times) or Mark Nenow (awesome 10k record).