Is there ANY runner who letsrun posters would unanimously be sad to see lose?

Point taken: I'm wrong to call this guy a "cheap" troll. He's dumb not cheap. As you point out, he doesn't even know how to troll well.

That said, I stand by my general point. Again, for reasons you point out, the trolling here has has gotten so weak it's not even fun to read.

I don't know if anyone is universally liked, but my vote is for Russell Dinkins (1:46 800m runner). He may not be a household name, but the guy has done so much to try to help several college track and field programs from being cut despite having no affiliation with them.

There was a time that that seemed to be happening every other month. I thoroughly appreciate what he's done for our sport.

I recall that LRC was almost universally sad when Abbey D'Agostino got tripped and seriously injured in Rio during the 5000 semifinals

It would be sad if Elle St Pierre isn't back to top form this time next year.

Wayde, is a very good answer, eric holt has been giving some great interviews lately. For a while emily Infeld was quite likable on here. Robby andrews is a great guy and it hurt seeing genuine bad luck ruin his career. Same with people like Evan Jaeger and Don cabral. Internationally you gotta love gidey, she seems to be a very nice person as well. Wightman is also very friendly on his YouTube channel.

Morgan McDonald - Coffee Club

Dathan Ritzenhein - personal hero as a youth

Ollie Hoare - Mountain Dew jetpacks

Geordie Beamish - he's Geordie freakin' Beamish

Alicia Monson - just a kid from Amery, WI

Correction: I meant to say Dathan Ritzenheimer

Parker V

Emily Infeld??

Sage Canaday

Good take, and I especially agree about Devon A…. That was crushingly disappointing to watch unfold. Really the whole timing fiasco at WC seemed to unite the boards.

The boards seem pretty universal on Larry Rawson heading to his local hs track…

I never really cared for Shelby that much, but it was exciting that we genuinely had a dual threat with medalist potential… It was even more disappointing to see Schumacher pretend he didn’t know what nandrolone was.

The answer is no one. It is the nature of these boards. There will always be at least one troll post tearing down an athlete. No matter who they are. The this athlete is DONE threads are almost always started as a troll to get reactions.

Marita Koch and Kevin Kiptum.

I think back in the mid90s, when Bob Kennedy was the only non-African to go sub13, and definitely when he took the lead in the Olympics, everyone (at least here in the US) was strongly rooting for him to do well.

He somehow almost seems to fly under the radar, and I think it’s bc he was pretty much universally liked / respected.

Agree with this. Going with that theme I'll say Geoffrey Kamworor. Has had some insane wins like getting trampled during the half marathon worlds. Then got ran over by a bike and had to watch super shoes decimate his WR while he was injured. Always living in the shadow of Kipchoge in the marathon and one of the LR's most hated Mo Farah on the track

Bekele is about as close as it ever got here I think, though he hardly ever lost in his prime track and xc days so it's gard to tell. I'd say when he moved to the marathon and for a few years after, pretty much everyone here was rooting for him. Even in the last few years, I feel like the vast majority were still hoping for something incredible everytime he ran.

He rarely gets doping accusations(which I'd incredible for a former multiple time world record holder on here)

There was genuine outrage that he was snubbed for both Olympics

And there's very little resistance to threads regarding him as the GOAT

He gets very little hate on these boards in general besides his trend to DNF(though I think that mostly comes from people who were hyped to get to see him run)

Isn’t “sad” a bit strong? It’s a sport. People win and people lose. Sometimes losing makes people better in the long run.

I think there would be collective joy if Donavan Brazier could get back to the brilliance he showed in 2019.

(At least at first, before somebody found something to grumble about.)