Running Heroes
I just recently wrote an article titled “The Two Things That Still Hold True” for Like The Wind Magazine. It is a comparison of the (sub-)cultures of running and punk/hardcore. For this story I interviewed a whole bunch of awesome people and immediately felt connected to them and their stories. You can read their full interviews over there in the “Running Palaver” section.
An interesting finding when talking to runners with a hardcore/punk background appeared, when I asked them about the person who inspired them most as a runner. All of them either named a friend or a non-runner. It appears that the "no idols" attitude of punk has pushed through to their running lives.
Only Bryan Poerner names Gelindo Bordin (1988 Olympic Marathon Champion).
"I speak with him a few times a day, and when I could listen to him talk about his training and racing all day. He was an animal. One standout note is that he used to make peace with his god prior to races, as he always thought he might push himself so hard, he might die. What is more punk than that?".
Maybe that’s also the reason why Bryan has a 2:24h marathon PR.
When I was once asked in an Interview who my personal “running hero” was, I answered without great hesitation “Scott Jurek” (It was a similar reaction as if someone asks me for my favorite band and I always use “Bad Religion” as an answer. It’s always a sure shot). There are a lot of inspirational runners out there and some of them are much more present than Scott Jurek, but it was him, who had the biggest impact on me. The balance between extraordinary accomplishments, a very simple and humble lifestyle, vegan diet, introversion and a good dose of not taking things too seriously simply appealed to me and still does.