Who is History's Greatest Distance Runner?

Deerfoot - USA

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Deerfoot, also known as Lewis Bennett, was first recognized for his racing talent in 1856 when he won a five-mile race in Fredonia at the Chautauqua County Fair by running it in 25:00 flat, cashing in on a $50 purse. <snip> He went to England in 1861 under Martin to embark on a 20-month running tour, and was matched against the best long-distance runners in the world, defeating nearly all of them. <snip> Deerfoot set world records of 10 miles in 51:26 and 12 miles in 1:02:02 while on his tour. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deerfoot

Walter George

Walter George – England – ran the fastest mile in 1886, a record that was not beaten until 1931

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_George_(athlete)

He has nonetheless remained legendary and in 2010, he was inducted into the England Athletics Hall of Fame.

Alfie Shrubb

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was an English middle and long-distance runner. During an amateur career lasting from 1899 to 1905 (when he was barred from amateur competition for receiving payment for running) and a professional career from 1905 to 1912 he won over 1,000 races of about 1,800. At the peak of his career he was virtually unbeatable at distances up to 15 miles, often racing against relay teams so that the race would be more competitive. On 4 November 1904, at Ibrox Park, Glasgow, he broke the one hour run record as well as all amateur records from six to eleven miles, and all professional records from eight to eleven miles, running eleven miles, 1137 yards (18.742 km) in one hour. Altogether he set 28 world records. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Shrubb

Hannes Kolehmainen - Finnish

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His most memorable was the one in the 5000 m. In that event, he ran a heroic duel with Frenchman Jean Bouin. After leading the field together for most of the race, Bouin was only defeated by Kolehmainen in the final metres, in world record time. In addition, Kolehmainen won the 10,000 m and the now-discontinued cross country event. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannes_Kolehmainen

Kolehmainen, the first of the so-called ‘Flying Finns’ is considered by some to have been greater than Paavo Nurmi but because of the outbreak of WWI and the Finnish Civil War 1918, by the time he ran in Antwerp Olympics 1932, he was ‘past his peak’ but nonetheless won the marathon in style. Originally from Kuopio, he was gifted a ten-hectare farm in Piikkiö, near Turku, and my great uncle, Vihtori relates in his memoirs of how he and his cousins went running with him as young boys. Kolehmainen – who was based in the USA - was touted by the Finnish government during the prohibition years as a great example of clean living and temperance.

Paavo Nurmi - Finnish

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He was called the "Flying Finn" or the "Phantom Finn", as he dominated distance running in the early 20th century. Nurmi set 22 official world records at distances between 1500 metres and 20 kilometres, and won nine gold and three silver medals in his twelve events in the Summer Olympic Games. At his peak, Nurmi was undefeated for 121 races at distances from 800 m upwards. Throughout his 14-year career, he remained unbeaten in cross country events and the 10,000 metres. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paavo_Nurmi

From an improverished family of seven, the desperately poor family moved into a 40sq metre apartment, in his home town of Turku. His father died of a heart condition. The young Nurmi believes he developed strong leg and back muscles by carting heaving loads up a hill for delivery to a train station as work. He began running as a hobby and whilst in the army discovered during an army exercise which involved walking 20km with a 15kg sand bag kit that he could easily run the distance and arrived within 50 minutes. It was then he began to take running seriously. Despite his paucity of early education, when he attended Helsinki industrial college, he was found to be quite a mathematician. This is reflected in his training method in which he would meticulous time himself and prepare step be step every race. It is said that Nurmi was a ‘one-pace’ runner but he had been trained in pacing himself, although you would never guess this as from the start gun he would always run as fast as possible to leave his rivals behind. Whilst other runners n with their arms at their side just brushing their hips, he would have his elbows jutting out and his arms crossing his chest. This, together with holding his head back, instead of down, like the others, gave people the impression that he ran ‘like a madman’.

Emil Zatopek - Czech

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In 1954, Zátopek was the first runner to break the 29-minute barrier in the 10,000 metres. Three years earlier in 1951, he had broken the hour for running 20 km. He was considered one of the greatest runners of the 20th century and was also known for his brutally tough training methods. He was the originator of interval training and hypoventilation training. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emil_Z%C3%A1topek

As of 1946 15 out of the 20 fastest in the world at 5,000m, were either Finnish or Swedish. Finns had won ten out of the twelve Olympic gold medals at 5,000m and 10,000m between 1912 – 1936 and who had set fourteen out of fifteen world records at these distances up to 1948.

Kipchoge Keino - Kenya

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A two-time Olympic gold medalist, Keino was among the first in a long line of successful middle and long distance runners to come from the country and has helped and inspired many of his fellow countrymen and women to become the athletics force that they are today. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kipchoge_Keino

Kipchoge Keino was one of the first distance runners from Kenya to capture the running world’s imagination. Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia together with Kenya form the Horn of Africa, the world’s largest peninsula and on its easternmost shores, and consists largely of mountains. This high altitude has facilitated the emerging dominance of the sport amongst Africans from this part of the world.

Lasse Viren - Finnish

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is a Finnish former long-distance runner, winner of four gold medals at the 1972 and 1976 Summer Olympics. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lasse_Vir%C3%A9n

Another ‘Flying Finn’, and more recent for many of us to have had the pleasure of seeing him win live on television.

Haile Gebrselassie - Ethiopian

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He won two Olympic gold medals over 10,000 metres and four World Championship titles in the event. He won the Berlin Marathon four times consecutively and also had three straight wins at the Dubai Marathon. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haile_Gebrselassie

One of the early outstanding East African names of now many.

Mo Farah - British / Somali

Still only 39. His astonishing tale of being allegedly trafficked to the UK as a child slave from wartorn Somalia make his sporting achievements even more remarkable.

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His ten global championship gold medals (four Olympic and six World titles) make him the most successful male track distance runner ever, and he is the most successful British track athlete in modern Olympic Games history.

Mo Farah and all of the aforesaid runners epitomise all that is great about long distance running. Nurmi used to run in his every day clothes and plimsolls. All you need is the will, the air, good luck, high altitude for good measure and perhaps a dash of the ‘twitch muscle’ phenotype. You don’t need to be rich or join an expensive club. From the Ancient Greeks to today, nothing quite captures the imagination and lights the literal and metaphoric Olympic flame more so than the long distance runner, IMV.

Who else should be included?

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/VhHj5PG