Nobody remembers Northop, we hear. The guys he beat in the '64 Olympics remember him. German running fans certainly remember him.
He was not influential? He was more the hero of Jackie Stewart of Scotland than Ron Clarke was, and Jackie won Commonwealth and Olympic medals.
I also saw the idea in here that Pre was a Nike PR job. While there may be a grain of truth there, the fact is that for the first half of the 70s, Pre was the most exciting and inspiring American runner around. Sure we loved Frank Shorter, and his gold medal effort, his marathon dominance, but Pre was the main story, anyone who knew running back then has to admit it.
And Pre did beat Frank in their fantastic '74 AR 3-mile run showdown.
Rupp, well hell yes he is better than Pre. Different times, different guy.