Fame? Elite runners

Shoes companies have to market them. They can have runners show up to high school cross country meets. Things like that.

USATF can put out a newsletter that they send- FREE- to coaches who can give them to kids.

runn wrote:

Shoes companies have to market them. They can have runners show up to high school cross country meets. Things like that.

USATF can put out a newsletter that they send- FREE- to coaches who can give them to kids.

I agree. The problem now is that too many athletes are trying to market themselves and they get a false sense of reality with social media. Number of followers does not equal marketability.

Meb is the only athlete that I believe will be remembered 5 years from now.

If you've never seen the person run, you're not going to remember them. Five years from now high schoolers won't have seen Meb run, so they won't know him.

I barely followed the sport and didn't really care about elite runners when I was in HS. All I wanted was to win my races, run PRs, and have fun.

Maybe it is good if kids don't have elite runners as "heroes" they look up to just to learn a few years from now that they have cheated their way to the top.

I was talking to a college girl the other day, and she didn’t know who Frank Shorter is.

Ask current HS kids who like football if they've heard of Barry Sanders.

You only remember who you see wrote:

If you've never seen the person run, you're not going to remember them. Five years from now high schoolers won't have seen Meb run, so they won't know him.

I never saw Shorter, Rodgers, Meyer, Bannister, and at least 50 other runners. But I knew all of them as High Schooler.

Some bad answers wrote:

You only remember who you see wrote:

If you've never seen the person run, you're not going to remember them. Five years from now high schoolers won't have seen Meb run, so they won't know him.

I never saw Shorter, Rodgers, Meyer, Bannister, and at least 50 other runners. But I knew all of them as High Schooler.

Unless you're pretty old and they were somewhat recent, you must've been a big running nerd to know all of them.

I'm 26 and only heard of Banister (because of the first sub 4 and there was a documentary/movie about it on TV) and I maybe heard the name Shorter once or twice, but didn't know any details. Only later did I know Rodgers, and I still don't know this Meyer guy... I'll look him up now. By the way I'm an All-American from the college days, so I probably know more about past running than your average bear.

Trent Bridges wrote:

runn wrote:

Shoes companies have to market them. They can have runners show up to high school cross country meets. Things like that.

USATF can put out a newsletter that they send- FREE- to coaches who can give them to kids.

I agree. The problem now is that too many athletes are trying to market themselves and they get a false sense of reality with social media. Number of followers does not equal marketability.

Meb is the only athlete that I believe will be remembered 5 years from now.

Lopez Lomong will be remembered if that movie they are making about him winds up being good.

I am more familiar with Katie Rainsberger's career than I do her mothers. I follow the modern sport closely, but don't know a whole lot about most of the people you listed. I am very familiar with Kennedy, Goucher and Flanagan simply because they were are relevant at a times when I have followed the sport. I have watched them race, on TV and in the stands.

You have to be very memorable in the sports arena to be remembered like Prefontaine or Roger Bannister. And that does not mean you have to be the best; sometimes you just need to do something shocking like Billy Mills in Tokyo.

Todd Kennedy wrote:

Watching Chicago Marathon with a group of HS kids and Todd Williams was broadcasting.

Not one of the 25 kids had ever heard of Todd. So I started quizzing them. No to Bob Kennedy. No to Greg Meyer and Lisa Rainsberger (winning Boston without another American being able to duplicate it for 30 plus years is meaningless I guess).

It’s sad that we have no heroes that our kids will recognize. I’m sure that Kara and Shalane will be nobodies in 5 years.

Elite distance runners or elite professional athletes in general, are NOT heroes. Stop using that word. Role Models perhaps, but definitely not heroes.

Running nerrrrd wrote:

Some bad answers wrote:

I never saw Shorter, Rodgers, Meyer, Bannister, and at least 50 other runners. But I knew all of them as High Schooler.

Unless you're pretty old and they were somewhat recent, you must've been a big running nerd to know all of them.

I'm 26 and only heard of Banister (because of the first sub 4 and there was a documentary/movie about it on TV) and I maybe heard the name Shorter once or twice, but didn't know any details. Only later did I know Rodgers, and I still don't know this Meyer guy... I'll look him up now. By the way I'm an All-American from the college days, so I probably know more about past running than your average bear.

I'm 30 and I heard of all in high school. I am a bit of a running nerd and had a coach who was sub-elite in Shorters era. But I think all those guys a lot of high schoolers would know with the exception of Meyer. I only knew him because his race with Pre at the Olympic Trials was featured prominently in without limits. Any runner who takes the sport seriously should know who both Bannister and Shorter were. Shorter was the guest speaker my senior year at NCAA XC and everyone on our team knew who he was.

From this era we have a lot of vanilla personalities who won't transcend time. For American's in the past 20 years my bet is just Meb, Lagat, and Webb(as long as American high schooler breaks his mile record) will be known amongst many up and coming high schoolers. Maybe Deena or Shalene can make that group. On the international stage Kenny B, Kipchoge, Geb, Farah, and Paula probably will.

Todd Kennedy wrote:

Watching Chicago Marathon with a group of HS kids and Todd Williams was broadcasting.

Not one of the 25 kids had ever heard of Todd. So I started quizzing them. No to Bob Kennedy. No to Greg Meyer and Lisa Rainsberger (winning Boston without another American being able to duplicate it for 30 plus years is meaningless I guess).

It’s sad that we have no heroes that our kids will recognize. I’m sure that Kara and Shalane will be nobodies in 5 years.

just because you run doesn't mean you follow running as a sport. i knew who everyone was in HS but none of my teammates did. I had running magazines, the book The Milers, Running with the Legends. Funny thing is I remember being in HS coach office and he had a big poster of prefontaine and it said Go Pre. I had no idea who he was, and thought "go pre" was something in spanish for a spanish runner! I was a big fan of Coe Ovett and Shorter.

Todd Kennedy wrote:

Watching Chicago Marathon with a group of HS kids and Todd Williams was broadcasting.

Not one of the 25 kids had ever heard of Todd. So I started quizzing them. No to Bob Kennedy. No to Greg Meyer and Lisa Rainsberger (winning Boston without another American being able to duplicate it for 30 plus years is meaningless I guess).

It’s sad that we have no heroes that our kids will recognize. I’m sure that Kara and Shalane will be nobodies in 5 years.

also.... funny you mention no one knowing Todd Williams. During the press conference after Geb won a world 10k title in a race where Williams took out the pace and lead by about 50 meter, they asked Geb if he was ever worried about the lead that Todd Williams had.... his response? "who is Todd Williams?"

Todd finished in the Top 10 at World Cross, World Track and Olympics.... not too bad for a no name!✌?

No

Todd Kennedy wrote:

Watching Chicago Marathon with a group of HS kids and Todd Williams was broadcasting.

Not one of the 25 kids had ever heard of Todd. So I started quizzing them. No to Bob Kennedy. No to Greg Meyer and Lisa Rainsberger (winning Boston without another American being able to duplicate it for 30 plus years is meaningless I guess).

It’s sad that we have no heroes that our kids will recognize. I’m sure that Kara and Shalane will be nobodies in 5 years.

Why would a high school kid know who Todd Williams was? A runner whose best marathon is now just ~3 minutes slower than the women's world record. He never won an Olympic or World Championships medal.

And Frank Shorter? He won gold in 1972, 30 years before current high school kids were even born. Are you aware of American athletes who were doing stuff 30 years before you were born? Better be Jesse Owens or some other athlete who is in history books for reasons other than just winning a gold medal.

The people you mentioned are known by nerds of the sport only. I'm one. You are one. Most high school kids are not even if they are runners.

Trent Bridges wrote:

Meb is the only athlete that I believe will be remembered 5 years from now.

Ask the average person in your office building, and they won't know Meb or Hall or Des or anybody else. It's sad. Usain Bolt is about the only person half or more would recognize.

Are you their coach? How have you not educated them on the history of the sport?