Who had the best career? Webb, Dathan, Hall?

I don't know, but that 12:56 by Ritz was astonishing.

Ritz based on longevity and peak performances.

All three are very similar. All American records, all lots of injuries and setbacks along the way, all solid but no out-of-this-world competitive accomplishments like a global medal.

From there I would say Webb. At one point it looked like he could beat anyone in the world at his event, something Hall/Ritz can't quite say. And at one point he did WIN some big international races, not just a high placing or a time trial.

Given most high schoolers don't live up to their hype as seniors I think it's pretty fortunate that all three ended up with solid pro careers.

The more I start think about it, the more I realize this is a very difficult question. I assume you are referring to all of their post-collegiate careers so I will work off of that premise (if we include high school and college then the obvious answer is Ritz).

I guess the way I will attempt this will be based off of their "big" performances on the world stage. I do not have time to look up the IAAF tables right now, but that may be another way of going about this.

Hall: 59:43 half AR, 2:08 London fastest debut, 2:06 London, 08' Trials win and trials record, 2:04 Boston, and 2 time Olympic team member.

Ritz: 60:00 3rd place World Half, 12:56 AR, 9th place Beijing beating Hall, 2:07 Chicago, and 2 time Olympic team member- in 10K and marathon.

Webb: Standford 10K over Ritz, 3:46 AR, 2 mile AR, 3:30 Paris Diamond League win, and US Champ win over Lagat.

Am I missing anything?

Based on the number of big performances from each I would rank them as follows:

1. Hall

2. Webb

3. Ritz

However, I still think Ritz possesses the capability to throw down a few more big performances before retirement. Hall maybe but less likely.

Ritz

Webb

Hall

I'm going back to High School for my ranking. Ritz and Webb are really close. Both have decent range. Webb is the fastest HS miler of all time(debatable greatest of all time with Ryun) and Ritz is one of the greatest HS XC runners of all time.

Webb's mile record is still standing as opposed to Ritz's 5000m but I think the prestige of the mile doesn't top the 1500m. In my personal opinion event prestige, 5000m>Mile>Half Marathon.

Ritz had a better college career so his NCAA XC and 5000m win and World Jr Bronze puts him over the top for me. Ritz also has decent times on track and roads, neither of which Webb or Hall have.

1. Ritz

2. Webb

3. Hall

Ritz broke Kennedy's American Record in the 5000. That was a big deal. Third place at Zurich.

And he placed 6th at the World Championships in the 10,000.

He made 3 Olympic teams, once in the marathon and twice in the 10,000, plus a 4th place at the marathon trials.

Was the top America in the 2008 Olympic marathon.

Bronze medal in the world half marathon championships.

Third fastest American ever in the marathon

Pretty accomplished for a number of years and a wide range of distance

Webb's 3:46 marathon AR is a very big deal. And his whole 2007 year was great.

When he was on he was great and he had great range with a 1:43 800 through his 27:34 10,000m (beating Ritz).

But he only made one Olympic team and two world championship teams.

Hall is the fastest American marathoner outside of Khannouchi. And the fast half marathon.

But losing to Ritz in 2008 Olympics and dropping out in London 2012 puts him at the bottom of these three.

Great question. I think the best way to approach is through PR's

If I were to look back at my career as any one of these individuals and think about what stands out the most would be:

1:43

3:46

8:11

13:10

27:34

Given that none of them have Olympic medals and only ritz has a bronze in the half marathon, just looking at those times would impress me the most. The range webb had was incredible and shouldn't be lost on anybody. I cannot picture symmonds or solomon breaking 28 in the 10k nor ritz, rupp, or tegankamp running under 1:44 for the 800.

Hall and ritz have fantastic PR's and accomplishments like the bronze, Olympic trial victory, fastest debuts, and American records. I think 12:56 is significant given it broke a mental barrier in us distance running psychology and 2:06 made the world acknowledge hall's presence in an otherwise African dominated event.

it's a shame there is not an Olympic medal or major marathon victory to point to, as that may have been a better deciding factor.

regardless, three unbelievable runners that changed the game for all of us over the past 15 years. 3:46, 12:56, 2:06...hard to be mad if I had any of those attached to my name

And I do not think it is a given ritz had the best high school career. xc bronze is EXTREMELY impressive along with two footlocker victories. but think about 3:53 for a second. 3:53 changed everything - it changed expectations from high school to the professional level. Gabe jennings 3:35?? that will hardly get you a pro contract these days. the day webb ran that mile brought US running out from the dark ages. ritz, however storied a high school career, did not do that like webb did. I would rather have webb's high school over ritz.

and since I never answered the original question:

1 webb

2 ritz

3 hall

1) Webb

Webb finished 2nd at footlocker his senior year. He broke the most legendary HS record. He is the 8th fastest miler in history. He won the olympic trials 1500 in 2004 as well as the Ostrava 1500 over Lagat and other big names. He beat Ritz at his best distance in his first ever attempt at the stanford 10k in 2006.

Webb set world leading times at 1500m & the mile in 2007. He was also the second fastest in the world at 800m. At one point Webb had faster PRs than Ritz & Hall at every distance on the track. Webb was the best middle distance runner in the world in 2007, something neither Hall nor Ritz can say about their respective events.

2) Hall

Hall ran a 4 minute mile equivalent over 1500m his senior year and finished 3rd at footlocker the previous fall. He finished 2nd in the NCAA XC championships his junior year. Hall has had a stellar road career. In 2007 he ran under 1 hour for the half in his first ever attempt. He ran a 2''08' marathon the same year.

Later that year he won the olympic trials marathon over Ritz and broke the trials record. He ran 2''06' in the 2008 London Marathon. In 2009 he finished 3rd in Boston and 4th in NYC. In 2010 he finished 4th in Boston. In 2011 he finished 4th in Boston and ran 2''04'58. Hall finished 2nd in the 2012 olympic trials marathon over Ritz.

3) Ritz

Ritz is the greatest HS XC runner of all time. He won 2 footlocker titles against loaded fields, the latter of which included webb & hall. He also finished 8th as a sophomore. One of the greatest accomplishments of his career came at the 2001 world junior XC championships where he finished 3rd to earn a bronze medal. He beat the defending 10,000m world junior champion as well as the defending world junior XC champion. In that same race he also beat a future 13'01/26'30 5k/10k runner.

Ritz ran 13'44.7 for 5000m his senior year, just missing Gerry Lindgren's then 37 year old HS record. He finished in 4th place as a true freshman at the 2001 NCAA XC championships ahead of Webb. He was undefeated in XC as a junior and won the NCAA XC championships ahead of Hall. He set the american collegiate 10,000m record in his junior year and made the olympic team.

Ritz made the 2008 olympic team in the marathon finishing 2nd at the trials behind Hall. He finished 9th in Beijing. In 2009 Ritz finished 6th at the world championship 10,000m final in Berlin and broke Bob Kennedy's 13 year old 5000m american record by running 12'56 in zurich. He made the 2012 olympic team over 10,000m. In 2012 he ran 2''07'48 at the Chicago marathon to became the 3rd fastest american marathoner in history.

Reasoning behind the rankings:

High School:

Webb had the best HS career. His 3'53 is legendary and will stand the test of time.

Ritz had a great HS career but he lost points for not setting any track records. He was the best XC runner by far.

Hall was a great XC runner and great track runner as evidenced by his 1500. He was however inferior to Ritz in cross and to webb on the track.

College:

Ritz had the best college career. He finished 4th as a true freshman and and beat webb in the process. He won cross as a junior over hall. He was the fastest ever american to run 10k on the track in college and made the olympic team at the end of his junior year.

Hall had the next best college career. He finished 2nd in NCAA cross and ran a 13:22 5000 on the track to win the NCAA championships.

Webb had the worst college career. He did have a good cross season as a freshman, winning conference and placing high at nationals. He was injured indoors as a freshman. Outdoor he bombed at NCAAs despite being the best in the field by far. He then left college.

Professional:

Webb had the best professional career. He began his return to form in 2004. He made the US national XC squad to go to worlds over 12km, showing great range. He won the prefontaine classic mile in 2004. He won the olympic trials 1500 and dominated the field. He won a golden league 1500 over big names. He ran an american 2 mile record. He ran a 13:10 5000m in 2005. He ran a 27:34 10k in 2006 beating Ritz, setting an american debut record. He dominated the international middle distance scene in 2007 by running 1'43/3'30/3'46 and beat many big names in the process.

Hall had the next best professional career. He had had a great road career setting the american 1/2 marathon record, american debut record in the marathon, and becoming the fastest ever american marathoner under any conditions as well as the 2nd fastest on record eligible courses. He set the olympic trials marathon record in 2008 and finished 2nd at the trials in 2012. He routinely finished in the top 4 at major marathons.

Ritz has had a good professional career, but one that is inferior to webb and hall. He bombed his marathon debut in NYC. In 2006 he ran a PR of 13:16 for 5000m at the US championships and finished 3rd. In 2007 he ran an 8:11 2 mile at the pre classic but finished behind tegankamp who set the american record. He did make the olympic marathon team in 2008 however and finished 9th in beijing ahead of hall. His best year came in 2009 when he became the highest placing american at the world championship 10k and broke kennedy's american 5k record.

Webb had the best high school and professional career. This makes him the clear winner.

Hall had the 2nd best collegiate career and 2nd best professional career. His better professional career is what allowed him to edge Ritz for the #2 spot.

Ritz had the 2nd best high school career, the best collegiate career, but is behind webb and hall as a professional.

The professional career is the weighted the highest and thus, these are the rankings.

Also I forgot to mention Ritz's terrific bronze medal at the world half-marathon championships in 60:00 flat.

Even with this factored in however I would keep my rankings the same, though the gap between Hall & Ritz for 2nd is very close.

Mick Jagger

SMiLE, that is a good point about the all time list. curious to see where hall stacks up with his 59:43 or 2:06, or where Ritz stacks up w/ his 12:56. hell, even galen prob isn't in the top fifteen all time w his 26:48 (i honestly have no idea).

obviously there are several metrics with which to use, but the all time sorta settles things to a less disputable parameter. Webb.