Bill Rodgers (runner)

"Boston Billy" won the Boston Marathon four times and New York four times in a row between 1976 and 1979, while running a running shop and coaching on the side. He raced often and with visible joy, stopping to drink and even to tie a shoelace in his 1975 Boston win. His career shows what high-mileage amateur-era racing looked like before appearance fees and pacemakers changed the sport.