Who’s Your Team?

With the World Cup obsession in full swing and baseball in season, sports fans are displaying their favorite teams and players with jerseys, stickers, tattoos, and social media rants.

From this novice’s perspective, World Cup team affiliation seems largely to do with nationality, while American sport teams have fans for a variety of reasons…They have a player the fan likes, the city they represent has some significance, there’s a collegiate attachment, or they’re foes of a team that the sports fan dislikes even more.

Individual sports have fans too, tennis being a great example. Some people were hardcore Agassi fans, some Sampras, while some (including yours truly) loves seeing Rafael Nadal beat by anyone.

Tiger had his fans until his personal…uh…exploits turned a lot of fans off, but the Nike machine has done a good job reinstating his image and fans have returned.

During the Olympics, I find myself rooting for some gymnast or curler or cyclist or runner because of the short bio that shows them in “normal life” in whatever-town, USA. Something connects me to them, and I find myself pulling for some 80 pound girl to win the vault.

This Saturday, I assume most Kiwis will be pulling for Vajin, Brits for Jez, etc, but aside from those, our sport doesn’t seem to have “favorites.” Sure, some people like Jurek’s vegan philosophy, Anton’s running Jesus persona, Jenn’s party-girl physical appearance or Kilian’s brazenness, but enthusiastic “fans” aren’t very common in this sport of ours.

Or are they?

Do you have a favorite MUT runner? Why? The brand/team they represent? Their philosophy? Their physical appearance? An inspirational book they wrote? Something you hear them say in an interview? Has that favorite runner changed over the years?

Why separates MUT running from other sports where they rabid individual fans? Is it the everyday man aspect of running? The intimacy of the activity?

Please share your experience.

18 Responses to "Who’s Your Team?"

Dan Williams says:

June 23, 2014 at 9:58 pm

I’ll always pull for Yassine Diboun in any race he’s running b/c of Animal Athletics and the personal connection here in Portland..

But beyond that, it’s all about just being a fan of the sport and connecting with the glimpses of personal narratives we get from you (interviews and links to blogs) and others (ahem, Trail Runner Nation) over the years. Chris Vargo and Mario Mendoza for Nike, and Dominic Grossman and GC Calamentes all of stories I can connect to in one way or another, so it makes it easy to want them to do well.

And then there’s the local non-pros who I love seeing FB posts from of awesome adventures and reading race reports and all that.

Much better than following Ronaldo’s exploits in my opinion…more real anyway.

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1. Dan Williams says:
  
  June 23, 2014 at 10:02 pm
  
  Calmettes – stooped spellcheck 🙂
  
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Patrick Krott says:

June 23, 2014 at 10:16 pm

Emelie Forsberg is one of my favorites because she always posts these pictures on Facebook that make it seem like her life isn’t even real. It’s as though she’s living in a fantasy land where the only thing that exists are mountains, awesome mountain trails, flowers on the mountains, and outdoorsy paraphernalia that encompasses the mountain-esque aura, such as hot green tea, homemade fig cookies, and hand-woven wool mittens.

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Mic Medeska says:

June 24, 2014 at 5:15 am

Rickey Gates. The dude spent years just seeking out the best/hardest mountain running in the US and Europe and killing it. His short video “European Mt Running Tour” is one of my favorite videos ever made and it’s just text and some feet running/pedaling. 2 things he has said also have stuck with me, and I have to paraphrase. He was asked who inspired him, and he said, “myself”. Not in a stuck up way, but he drew upon his own achievements to inspire himself, and then when asked why he picked certain races he commented that he would never cherry pick a race, he would always seek out the hardest terrain, the toughest competition, and/or iconic races. He would feel more proud finishing 6th to top level competition than winning a mom and pop local 50k.

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Jeff says:

June 24, 2014 at 6:24 am

The 2010 WS100 made me a fan of Geoff Roes. The way he ran his own race and overtook Anton and Killian in the 2nd half was epic.

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Ethan says:

June 24, 2014 at 6:25 am

I think I’m fairy typical in not having real ‘favorites’. Generally pretty pleased to see anyone doing well, but there are a few exceptions. I like to see Killian lose sometimes because he always wins everything, and I find myself rooting against Anton K because I feel like he popularizes a lot of non-scientific and probably detrimental-to-health approaches to things (eg all minimalist, no speed work, no rest for injuries). I also am especially fond of Hal since his UTMB episode a couple years ago.

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Tim says:

June 24, 2014 at 6:55 am

A good way to promote individual favorites would be MUT trading cards. Instead of the stick of gum that comes with normal baseball cards you can substitute a gu or something. I’d buy them. My favorite is Jenn Shelton because I like to (think of) her of her as someone that would shotgun beers with her fans after a race. The male side is definately Zach Miller. A hometown hero.

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Lucus says:

June 24, 2014 at 7:05 am

Jorge Maravilla – cool attitude, serious competitor

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Sprinkles says:

June 24, 2014 at 7:16 am

I most certainly have favorites that I am pulling for, but mostly on a race by race basis. In our sport pulling for a great performance usually trumps pulling for a “favorite”.

That being said, I always pull for Sharman, what’s not to like about the guy? He is inhuman in his abilities, funny, was super nice and open with advice when I met him, and runs to set records in costumes… Oh and he’s short! I always root for the short guy.

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eric schranz says:

June 24, 2014 at 7:55 am

If I’m betting, I go with Max King. My friend Jesse told me years ago…”Never ever ever ever bet against a good steeplechaser” and that’s stuck with me.

Otherwise, Mike Wardian is a helluva nice guy, he’s got a real job, family, and finds a way to race constantly. Gotta go with Iron Mike.

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cb says:

June 24, 2014 at 8:39 am

T. Olson and The Vargo. I respect both for being open about their life challenges.I feel they both represent different types of MUT runners as well. Speedster vs. Grunter.

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1. Jazone says:
  
  June 25, 2014 at 6:39 am
  
  Ditto on these two for reasons stated. Have appreciated Vargo’s positive attitude and sharing on various podcasts.
  
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Jimmy Mac says:

June 24, 2014 at 8:47 am

Since everybody likes an underdog (or an unknown, upstart, second-chancer, come-from-behind-win sort of runner, etc) I’m going to go with the unassuming, supremely humble Geoff Roes based on that 2010 WS win, catching and passing Anton. Then I gotta say Timmy Olson in ’12, I don’t think he was too many folk’s favorite; I was following along on the iRF feed all day, rooting him in. Then Zach Miller at LS50 this year was pretty cool, dude hops off a cruise ship treadmill and blows up the field. Of course there’s Rob Krar, pharmacist during the week, wins crazy fast ultras by weekend.

What other sport has these kinds of stories/characters?

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Shelby says:

June 24, 2014 at 10:09 am

This is a sport that it’s hard to pick favorites, there’s so many awesome people running at the front. I can only think of one time I’ve met someone that was standoffish, all the rest were open, friendly, down-to-earth and easy to engage in conversation. It’s so hard when several of my favorites are in the same race, like Hardrock this year…sheesh! I mean, I’m always rooting for Timmy, Krar, Joe, Hal, Dakota, Tony, Sage, Zach, Mike (Morton/Foote/Wolfe), Jeff, Karl, Kilian, Seb… Ellie, Pam, Meghan, Michelle, Emily & Emelie, Frosty, Nuria & Stevie. I mean what’s a fan to do??

I’m happy when any of them do well, but probably am most excited when the older runners (30+) have a great day and show the “kids” how it’s done. (So says the masters runner!). They have fewer years left of running at the front, so seeing them do well makes me extra happy, knowing that the 20-somethings are still years away from their peak and destined for future greatness. 🙂

Bottom line, I love seeing great performances, regardless of who it is because the people in this sport are so dang awesome.

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Jon L says:

June 24, 2014 at 10:20 am

My fav’s are first off Anton because he made me enjoy running in a way i had never done before. I always love if Karl Speedgoat Meltzer is in a race too, his trackrecord speaks for himself and I appriciate the way he speaks his mind on things.

Last but not least my fellow countrywoman, Emelie Forsberg, she has a wonderful approach to running and that seems to be working for her, just look at her results.

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Micah Ward says:

June 24, 2014 at 11:30 am

I’m sort of an old school guy and have been following Frank Bozanich for years. If ultrarunning had a Prefontaine it would be Frank. Or maybe Pre was the Bozanich of track. Listen to his two podcasts to see what I mean.

I like Mike Wardian for just being so prolific. “A race? Where? I’m in!”

And finally Mike Morton. He potentially gave up the best years of his career serving in Special Forces and then came back to win Ultrarunner of the year.

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Benji says:

June 24, 2014 at 6:03 pm

Females: Emelie Forsberg and Anna Frost because every video I’ve ever seen, shows them smiling and having fun. Isn’t that what it’s supposed to be like?

Males: As I learned more about the sport, I enjoyed reading about the folks who had real jobs and then came and crushed the ultra world on the weekends. So, it’s really fun to watch people like Zach Miller. Sage, Anton, and Killian for the ever impressive inspiration.

So, really, no favorites… I love to watch/read it all!

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SDA says:

June 24, 2014 at 6:40 pm

I’m going with Dylan Bowman. Seems like a really nice, humble guy. That being said, that seems to be a character trait of many runners you interview.

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