Who is the fastest? (Read 500 times)

Training like a pro =/= being a pro.  I was decent enough to get into some great racing experiences and events at the regional and national club level and as a result be around some people who were really fast.  I'm aware of at least 4-5 people with faster marathon PRs here, including one former elite from outside the US and another currently training to run like 2:13 or something.  But I'll let them call themselves out.

But since I am a has been I am here posting and they are out there running or recovering...

I remember there was a thread in which one of the posters was Justin Young - but not sure if he is still active on RA. I know of one sub 2:20 guy here - if you want to know who, you have to peruse the musings of our resident philosopher marathoner who interviewed him quite a while back. Also there is one other guy who has been winning Paavo Nurmi for the longest time ever and he is sub 2:30 as well ...

DIsclaimer - I dont know any of them personally, just some trivia I know and i am barely scratching the surface. Old hands like Bhearn , Spaniel etc would definitely know more but its a bit uncomfortable to name other runners here (answering your original question), without knowing if they would like it or not.

I don't understand the whispering and reluctance to name names of fast runners. They put in a metric shit ton of hard work and miles, show discipline and consistancy, and their races reflect that. Jeff interviewed Scott Wietecha, a 2:18:52 marathoner. It is here: http://www.logicoflongdistance.com/2012/03/interview-scott-wietecha.html?m=1  Everyone who talks about him mentions what a nice guy he is. No skinny, elite, prick BS.

Ben Schneider is the one that wins Paavo every year. He was the top American at Berlin where he ran 2:26:52. Also, he can put down beer like a beast.

Goo (real name is a mystery to me) came over in the invasion. He is a sub-2:20 guy who ran for the Czech national team and had his chances at running in an Olympics ruined because of a boycott. This always makes me sad. Funny guy.

Those are just marathon times. Of course their shorter stuff is impressive as hell, too. There are a bunch of other fasties in here.  I'd love to see what the RA PR's are.

I have to say, I'm not really sure who the fastest women are. Do we have any 2:4x women around here?

One way of finding contenders...

 

Go to 2000 miles user group

 

set in a time range (eg 1/1/2013 to 31/12/2013)

 

sort via distance run (miles makes champions.. right?)

 

compare logs with total time taken and then dig down into pr's.

 

usual suspects were on top

Uhhh, well by that logic I should be fast.  Why?  I'm running at nearly a 3,000 mile per year pace, and yet I'm old, fat, and slow. 

Hey Shipo - i'm not saying everyone on top of the list is fast... i'm saying if you then look at total time taken... and pick out the people with low total times compared to running distance, they are generally the faster people... not the cleaniest method of finding the fastest pr's on RA, but it gives an idea and few names ...

Also... do you just want people who are currently fast, or those who were fast? There are probably some people here that are a bit older but had really awesome times in college or when they were younger. I bet there are several former high school state champions in track and cross country around here...

-Kelly

I would love it if Eric threw together a couple leaderboards -- but I realize lots of people don't particularly care to see their name on lists like that.  But it would be fun to see how good some people really area around here (I find it inspiring).  And it would also be great to find a nemesis or two (which I also find inspiring).