Your running idol

ThePiedPiper

Who is your running idol and why?

For me, its Haile Geb. As a teenager in the 90s, I was fascinated by the tiny Ethiopian who had an amazing finishing kick and seemed to have a pure and innocent simple love of running.

I was just getting into marathoning when he was approaching his peak at that distance and was excited and honoured to share the same piece of tarmac with him in Berlin 2008 when he went under 2:04. His genuine personality, dedication and incredible talent at 40 continues to inspire me.

tomdempsey200

geb is amazing ...running toe to toe there with farah and bekele at 40+ ...amazing

as a spectacle has to be el guerrouj if i blank out doping speculation...just incredible to watch

loved crammie too in the 80s and his battles with aouita

Chivito550

From an Irish point of view, Sonia O'Sullivan. She is the reason I got into athletics and she is still my all time favourite sportsperson.

From a personality point of view, Rob Heffernan. Words can't describe how much of a legend and a character he is.

From my own participation point of view, and from a technical point of view, Allyson Felix. Her technique is incredible and the benchmark to proper sprinting form. In addition she is slightly built but yet incredibly powerful, which gives hope to somebody like me who is naturally a smaller build than many sprinters.

From a grassroots point of view, since living in Australia, I have come to realise how much of a proper hero Tamsyn Lewis is. Here is somebody who has won a World Indoor title, who has been to multiple Olympics, just missed out (thanks to drug cheats) on a place in the Olympic 800m final in Sydney. Yet despite all her accomplishments she still is a huge supporter of grassroots athletics. She competes for her club Sandringham in AV Shield meets, unlike some who have egos the size of the Great Australian Bight, and think they are above it. Only the other night at the Zatopek meet she competed for her club in the final of the 4x400m Victorian championships. She ran the anchor leg, with the other 3 girls averaging about 58 seconds. She picked up the batton about 50m down on the leader, and banged out a 51.8 split to overtake them in the final 20m. Wonderful stuff. Her joy afterwards showed how much something which may seem small was to her. Serious legend! And she also isn't afraid to speak out about the men in suits who run the sport.

pconn062

Ever since I seen Catherina McKiernan winning the Rás na hEireann in 1998 she was my running idol, a true cross country runner.

More recently my running hero is Fionnuala Britton, she is an example of everything that is right with athletics. Even when she wasn't in the best form at the Europeans recently, she felt like she should have won and 2nd or 3rd just wasn't good enough. I really admire that attitude.

TRR

Use to be Carl Lewis when I was a kid but not so much anymore for various reasons.

Recently would have been Marl Carroll, his PBs over a range of distances are unbelievable and if he had of been competing in an era without the dominance of today's African distance athletes I believe he would be considered our greatest male athlete!

In terms of athletes out there at the moment David Rudisha. Class athlete and based on interviews etc he seems to be an absolute gent. His WR in the Olympics was just awesome.

PaulieC

Forrest Gump. Ran from coast to coast three times in a pair of Nike Cortez.

tomdempsey200

dustin hoffman was good too..i forget the movie

lee majors(aka six-million dollar man) also

RoyMcC

Bruce Tulloh - lucky enough to meet him as well.

Running style icon - Kath Merry.

wrstan

pconn062 wrote: »

More recently my running hero is Fionnuala Britton, she is an example of everything that is right with athletics.

At a kids meet on the track in Greystones last year Fionnuala turned up to help with the field events. When the person acting as official at the high jump expressed surprise at being assisted by a European champ, Fionnuala said if it wasn't for the people who gave up their time to assist with juvenile athletics, she would never have become a European champion.

A real champ for sure!

ecoli

PaulieC wrote: »

Forrest Gump. Ran from coast to coast three times in a pair of Nike Cortez.

He is no Rocky though... That man is the greatest ultra marathoner of all time, high intensity with hurdles and finishes a 50k with plyometrics

Ultra runners today could learn a thing or two

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304744304579246311128224106



(On a serious note a man who epitomizes the value of hard work for me was John Landy)

Chivito550

ecoli wrote: »

(On a serious note a man who epitomizes the value of hard work for me was John Landy)

Not to mention fair play. There's a statue near Melbourne Park (Aus Open Tennis venue) dedicated to him picking up a young Ron Clarke when he fell. You'd never see that now, though the cynics argue he only turned around to help him because he knew he could still win regardless.

Cabaal

Watched a doc of Terry Fox last year, pretty inspiring,

Considering he got abuse from a women one of the first time's he went out running with his prosthetic (she called him a freak and told him he shouldn't be running out in public etc).

The amount of pain he must have experienced doing what he did and he kept on going for so long, how he was able to is pretty amazing.

nerraw1111

While idol is a bit strong, I have nothing but admiration for John Tarrant aka The Ghost Runner.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Ghost-Runner-Tragedy-Couldnt-ebook/dp/B0058J8DP2

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Tarrant_(athlete)

walshb

For me Carl Lewis/Daley Thompson are the greatest athletes of all time. Huge Lewis fan. He did it like no other. The most graceful and fluid mover I have ever seen on a track.

I really admire Hicham. What a runner. I think for me he goes down as the best middle distance talent in history. Better than them all. He even has wins over Bekele at Bekele's more natural distance. Hicham's range is off the charts.

Chivito550

walshb wrote: »

For me Carl Lewis/Daley Thompson are the greatest athletes of all time. Huge Lewis fan. He did it like no other. The most graceful and fluid mover I have ever seen on a track.

I really admire Hicham. What a runner. I think for me he goes down as the best middle distance talent in history. Better than them all. He even has wins over Bekele at Bekele's more natural distance. Hicham's range is off the charts.

Would Flojo and Marita Koch make it into your all time top 10?

ultrapercy

nerraw1111 wrote: »

While idol is a bit strong, I have nothing but admiration for John Tarrant aka The Ghost Runner.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Ghost-Runner-Tragedy-Couldnt-ebook/dp/B0058J8DP2

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Tarrant_(athlete)

I don't know if i even admire the man. He focused on running at the expense of all other things in life even his family and his own health. It was however one of the best books Ive ever read, very griping and emotional and captured the man and his story flaws and all.
Most of my "idols" are local people who achieved a lot from a little. I think Sean Heir is a very inspirational runner.Also Thomas Maguire who held both Irish 100k and 24 hour records at the same time, a remarkable range.But there are many more. I find it hard to relate and trust the performance level of the top people in every sport tho I know that is cynical and sad.

walshb

Chivito550 wrote: »

Would Flojo and Marita Koch make it into your all time top 10?

Here we go again!:rolleyes:

28064212

Chivito550 wrote: »

Not to mention fair play. There's a statue near Melbourne Park (Aus Open Tennis venue) dedicated to him picking up a young Ron Clarke when he fell. You'd never see that now, though the cynics argue he only turned around to help him because he knew he could still win regardless

Not quite true: http://elpais.com/elpais/2012/12/19/inenglish/1355928581_856388.html

tomdempsey200

walshb wrote: »

Hicham's range is off the charts.

not really 1500-5000 was his range...he never ran an official fast 800


aouita ran fast 800 thru 10000

geb ran fast 1500-marathon

walshb

tomdempsey200 wrote: »

not really 1500-5000 was his range...he never ran an official fast 800


aouita ran fast 800 thru 10000

geb ran fast 1500-marathon

+ 1

I know. Komen too had a great range. I guess what I was saying is that his times at those ranges are extraordinary. I truly believe that if he trained for 5 k he would have the best time over that distance ever.

I don't really include the marathon when picking.

Murph_D

Steve Ovett. Until this happened.

YFlyer

Murph_D wrote: »

Steve Ovett. Until this happened.

So you didn't admire his 3:31:36; 3:30.77 or 3:48:40 world records?

YFlyer

Aouita was my running idol.

speedster1993

This guy, legend.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p85vVmf36MU

Murph_D

YFlyer wrote: »

So you didn't admire his 3:31:36; 3:30.77 or 3:48:40 world records?

Where did I say that?

YFlyer

Murph_D wrote: »

Where did I say that?

Those records were after that race

Murph_D

YFlyer wrote: »

Those records were after that race

I realise that. I admire his records, but not his showboating. :-)

Murph_D

walshb wrote: »

For me Carl Lewis/Daley Thompson are the greatest athletes of all time. Huge Lewis fan. He did it like no other. The most graceful and fluid mover I have ever seen on a track.

What about Lewis's doping history?

Cleanman

Sonia was the first person in Irish athletics I really looked up to. Being a high hurdler when I was young, I loved watching Colin Jackson race. But for me, the biggest star was Michael Johnson. His upright running style and pure power was just fascinating.

Skid X

I read an early Biography of Seb Coe when I was a Kid. Reading about his rivalry with Steve Ovett got me hooked on Athletics. I followed his career closely after that, I always thought he was a terrific runner.

Duanington

Cleanman wrote: »

But for me, the biggest star was Michael Johnson. His upright running style and pure power was just fascinating.

Have to agree with this - the sight of Johnson powering out the curve was breathtaking, he's quite the pundit too!
I recall BBC showing some footage of him watching Bolt break his 200m world record from the studios and the man was jumping around, celebrating like he'd just broken it himself, spoke volumes really

drquirky

Billy Mills, Steve Prefontaine, Dave Bedford, Lynne Jennings, Eamon Coughlan, Geb and Paul Tergat would be on my list to start.

Letyourselfgo

For me it's Haile for both his range (3k to marathon) and his longevity (1993 to present day)

Over 3000m he's the 4th fastest of all time
Over 5000 and 10000 he's the second fastest man of all time and then has a 2'03'59 marathon and yet still wants to get all the over 40s records.

Greedy f**ker

walshb

Murph_D wrote: »

What about Lewis's doping history?

What about it? Read up on it. Lewis was never convicted of a doping offense. It was overturned. Ben Johnson was the PED user. Lewis: Inadvertent ingestion of a substance found in a herbal remedy. Minute levels found in the system, so minute they would not register a fail today. Would not be considered a PED today.

Question: Do you believe that Carl was using PEDs? I sincerely do not believe it after watching and following his whole career. His times, progressions etc. Lewis on PEDs for me would probably be a low 9.7 or even 9.6 sprinter, as well as a 30 feet jumper.

He was never known as a friendly and approachable guy, but that doesn't take away anything form his talent and success on the track.

Bit like wacko jacko. I despise what he was accused of, and I believe it to be true but in no way does it take away from the fact that he was the greatest solo entertainer in pop history!

TFBubendorfer

<mod>just a quick reminder that doping speculation is absolutely VERBOTEN on boards</mod>

You can always head to letsrun if you're mad keen to discuss this

morceli

Had a few of the irish was a big Coghlan and o'mara fan. World indoor 3k wins were great.
Non irish Ngugi was the first runner that I really liked, just liked his style. Then Morceli was another one I used to love

Murph_D

walshb wrote: »

What about it? Read up on it. Lewis was never convicted of a doping offense. It was overturned.

With respect, I would not make the comment I made without "reading up on it". However, with TFBubendorfer's point in mind, I will acknowledge that the USOC did in fact "overturn" Lewis's test failures, and that therefore he probably cannot be labelled as a doper.

However Lewis himself has admitted that he failed drug tests, and that his were among "hundreds" of failed tests to which the US Olympic Committee turned a blind eye between 1988 and 2000.

Whether the levels found at the time would constitute a fail today is irrelevant. Testing standards change all the time, for many reasons, including the discovery of new methods both of testing and of cheating. The fact is, had the US Olympic Committee applied the international rules in place at the time, Lewis would not have gone to Seoul in 1988, where as we all know he won a silver and two golds, including the one stripped from Johnson in the 100m.

Along with many others, I've personally never been too impressed that the USOC "overturned" Lewis's positive test due to his claim that the banned substances were unknowingly ingested, possibly from cold medications or herbal supplements.

Here's a list of international press articles from 2003 about the alleged cover-up, for anyone interested in knowing more. This list formed part of Bryan Denham's research sample for his 2004 article in the International Review for the Sociology of Sport, Hero or Hypocrite?: United States and International Media Portrayals of Carl Lewis Amid Revelations of a Positive Drug Test.
_____

America: Land of the Great Dope Scandal Glasgow Herald, 18 April
Drug Cover-up a Shame, but No Surprise Glasgow Herald, 18 April
Drug Runners: Carl Lewis’s Positive Tests Covered Up Sydney Morning Herald, 18 April
Lewis Joins Hall of Shame Irish Times, 18 April
U.S. Doping Cover-up Height of Hypocrisy Montreal Gazette, 18 April
U.S. Had Drug Cheats Montreal Gazette, 18 April
Was King Carl a Drug Cheat? Melbourne Herald Sun, 18 April
No Room for Complacency after Lewis Exposed as Cheat Scotsman, 19 April
Strip Carl of Medals — Hackett Queensland Courier Mail, 19 April
The Dirtiest Race in History Straits Times, 19 April
Hypocrisy: The Poisonous Virus which Knows No Bounds Straits Times, 20 April
Shamed London Times, 20 April
Could Lewis Turn from Great Athlete to Great Hypocrite? London Guardian, 21 April
American Drug Cover-up Must Not Go Unchecked Glasgow Herald, 23 April
Davies Disturbed by US Coverups Dominion Post, 25 April
Morality Missing as Lewis Seeks Refuge in Numbers Daily Telegraph, 26 April
King Carl Dethroned by His Own Arrogance Sydney Sun Herald, 27 April
Race of Shame — Sprint Stars’ Fast Lane to Disgrace Sunday Mail, 27 April
Shamed Lewis is Rapidly Running out of Credibility Nelson Mail, 1 May.

LUPE

A good recent documentary on this is 9.79, part of the ESPN: 30 for 30 Series. I think it's all up on youtube in fact

walshb

Murph_D wrote: »

With respect, I would not make the comment I made without "reading up on it". However, with TFBubendorfer's point in mind, I will acknowledge that the USOC did in fact "overturn" Lewis's test failures, and that therefore he probably cannot be labelled as a doper. .

Yes, it was overturned, and for a reason. It was inadvertent use of a herbal remedy. Far from a PED. Yes, some thought it "may" have been used as a masking agent. All speculation. I personally do not believe that he was a dirty runner. When you analyse his career and compare it to the sprint times before and after, and Ben Johnson etc, for me he's always been a natural talent.

walshb

LUPE wrote: »

A good recent documentary on this is 9.79, part of the ESPN: 30 for 30 Series. I think it's all up on youtube in fact

I have seen that. Calvin Smith is painted as the good guy. There's a lot of anti Lewis in that documentary. Smith himself was a 9.93 runner and everyone believes he was clean. I believe he was, but I also believe that Lewis was the superior athlete, yet Lewis didn't run that fast until the Seoul games. And he only ran 1/100th faster.

The guy ingested a substance that barely registered a fail at that time, a time where almost every substance was on the list, and he gets slated ever since. I think it's unfair, and it would be unfair to any sprinter. Had he tested positive for steroids or a proven PED I would accept that and I would criticize him for it.

What happened to Lewis could have happened to any athlete ever. It was for me nothing intentional, deliberate or in any way cheating. Wasn't it said that a few too many cups of coffee could have gotten you a ban back then?

Extrasupervery

My dad. He's in need of a hip replacement and still running marathons.

Chivito550

TFBubendorfer wrote: »

<mod>just a quick reminder that doping speculation is absolutely VERBOTEN on boards</mod>

You can always head to letsrun if you're mad keen to discuss this

Yes but with Carl Lewis it is not exactly speculation.

morceli

Chivito550 wrote: »

Yes but with Carl Lewis it is not exactly speculation.

Yep and the excuse at the time wouldn't stand up now, he's luck not to have been banned even on the poor standards of the day.

Murph_D

The speculation is in relation to whether Lewis was telling the truth about the source of the stimulants found in his system. The fact is that he tested positive for three stimulants, which were banned at the time because they were considered to be PEDs. It is also a fact that he was "cleared" too perform in the games, but many consider this to be a failing on behalf of the USOC, especially considering their attitude to PED use in other nations.

RoyMcC

I was enjoying reading about running idols - a pity it's descended into drugs chat

walshb

RoyMcC wrote: »

I was enjoying reding about running idols - a pity it's descended into drugs chat

That all started when I selected Lewis.

topper75

A local guy here runs a few races a year in his own time despite being in his late 70s - John Collins. Becoming cynical with age, I have few "idols", but I would dearly love to emulate John in my latter years.

In terms of widely known athletes - I love the three guys featured in the Perfect Mile (highly recommend) and I am also heavily inspired by Scott Jurek. Reading the Cliff Young story also spurred me on.

morceli

walshb wrote: »

That all started when I selected Lewis.

For a change

walshb

morceli wrote: »

For a change

I could understand a 'backlash' if I had selected Ben Johnson. The guy was on hardcore anabolic steroids. Off the charts were his improvements!

<Snip>

rainbow kirby

Paula Radcliffe - because that 2:15:25 marathon WR still looks pretty unassailable even after a decade.

Also, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't impressed by Mirinda Carfrae's ability to run 2:50ish after a 3.8km swim and 180km cycle warmup.

Tom Joad

Catherina McKiernan - I remember seeing her running under 16 cross country in Cavan when I was a young lad and she won by an incredible margin - absolutely destroyed the rest of the field. She was so modest too about her talent. Knew she was a great athlete even at that young age.

She still is giving back so much to athletics and especially to her local club and is still as modest and unassuming as ever.