Ritz: "I'm probably the best American half marathoner ever,"

Let's be honest though, be the best HALF marathoner is like being the best 60m runner. It's not the real thing

Curp ran a comparable time 25 years prior. 25 years!

I would say yes its true. but its like saying im the best ever at the 15k or the best ever at the 500 meters.

60m is as real as it gets.

Nope. Hall is.

Don't forget last fall he ran another 60:12 right behind Mo on a slightly aided course.

If Estrada had run a half every 4 months, he'd be ahead.

He's just baiting Rupp.

Quality Qontrol wrote:

He's just baiting Rupp.

Yep. Anyone else here he was mad as he had to lawyer up after being part of the NOP?

Viva la vida loca wrote:

Curp ran a comparable time 25 years prior. 25 years!

Malmo's 61:43 in 1982 must rank high on the U.S. all time list. Possibly his best running performance.

He is either first or second. No doubt about that. He definitely focused more on the half marathon over the years than Hall did. Remember at one time he was the best American 5k runner ever!!

Definitely. Worth sub-2:10:00

War Against Science wrote:

Viva la vida loca wrote:

Curp ran a comparable time 25 years prior. 25 years!

Malmo's 61:43 in 1982 must rank high on the U.S. all time list. Possibly his best running performance.

Of course KK ran 1:00:27 in 1997 and1:00:47 in 1999 before he became a U.S. citizen. KK was arguably as good as any of them at the half marathon, but it is not clear that he cared much about it.

Wtf. How can he claim to be the best American when Hall ran faster a few years before his Ritz's pr?

It is different if somebody runs nearly as fast 30 or 40 years before the current record. That is then a defensible argument. But to run slower than the American record, there is no argument to be made.

At the very least, he should be able to back it up with an Olympic medal, or something. But it's the half marathon, so that argument can't even be made. I really don't see how he can claim this. Plus it is so conceited to say that even if it is true.

Don't get me wrong, Ritz's half marathon record is fantastic. But he's only the second fastest, so second best american.

How would you feel about a half marathoner who runs a 60:00 in the year 2042? Not too impressed?

Actually, just realized he is baiting both Rupp and Hall; payback for Hall claiming to be a 2:05 marathoner.

I would say without a doubt he's the best. He's run a lot of them AND he's run several in the 60:xx range. Hall has that one outlier at 59:43 and then if you look at his others, they were always just marathon prep races and much worse than any of Ritz's top 5 races.

Pollly P wrote:

How would you feel about a half marathoner who runs a 60:00 in the year 2042? Not too impressed?

Lol. Why stop there? Why not ask how I feel about 60:00 in the year 2142?

This particular type of comment has always been a pet peeve of mine.

rojo wrote:

Ritz has run 3 of the fastest 8 half-marathon times in history according to Track and Field News. His 60:00 also came in a championship race - the 2009 World Half Marathon Champs - where Ritz won a bronze.

All-Time US Half Marathon List According to TFN

59:43 Ryan Hall (Asics) 01/14/07

60:00 Dathan Ritzenhein (Nike) 10/11/09

60:51 Diego Estrada (Asics) 01/18/15

60:55 Mark Curp (New Balance) 09/15/85

60:57 ————Ritzenhein 09/16/12

61:00 Meb Keflezighi (Nike) 10/04/09

61:07 Abdi Abdirahman (Nike) 09/17/06

61:10 ————Ritzenhein 03/17/13

61:17 Khalid Khannouchi (unattached) 09/17/00

61:20 Galen Rupp (Nike Oregon Project) 12/13/15

Outdoing Hall, Meb, Khalid...

It looks like what Ritz should actually be saying is that he is "the most under-performing American marathoner ever.

I'll be interesting to see if he can still run near the form he had under Salazar. Probably.