Ryan Hall Running 2011 Bank of America Chicago Marathon

The winner of the trials gets six figures.

Hall understands that the trials will be a hard long run for him and not a full out race. All he needs to do is stay with the lead pack through 16-18, hammer a mile or two and then cruise home while high-fiving everyone.

He also understands that he needs to compete against an international field one more time before the olympics. If he just runs the trials, he will be competition soft by the Olympics.

After the trials, he will have plenty of time to recover and gradually build to the Olympics. That is part of the reason the trials are in January this time around. In 2004, the trials were at the beginning of February, and the US got two medals.

I don't know about anybody else, but I get really excited every time I hear this guy is racing another major marathon. He seems to be one of the few americans with enough talent to challenge the top east africans, and I know he hasn't fully delivered that yet but watching him lead boston this spring was enough to get me hoping again.

Precious Roy wrote:

In 2004, the trials were at the beginning of February, and the US got two medals.

?????

One medal from the February Trials (not 2). The other medal came from an April Trials.

side note: Neither Meb or Deena won the trials.

He's declared? OK.

Given his history, there's a very poor chance that he'll actually run this race.

I agree with Nutella that Chicago is the best opportunity to cash in on the "2:04". If he instead waited until after the Olympics to cash in, he would have an Olympic Trials and an Olympic results that will be nowhere close to his "2:04". Some might even begin to wonder if the tailwind actually DID make a difference at Boston. This has payday written all over it.

I interpret Hall's comment near the end of the interview to mean that he recognizes this too.

Jesus boy is going to have his ass handed to him in the trials. No 2012 Olympics for Hall.

Rashid Ramzi 2012 wrote:

Jesus boy is going to have his ass handed to him in the trials. No 2012 Olympics for Hall.

By who, chief?

history lesson wrote:

I once again feel obligated to educate the ignorance that continually takes place with this boards lack of understanding when it comes to the marathon.

1. It takes approximately 3 months for a World Class Marathoner to train for a marathon.

2. It takes approximately 1 month to recover from a Marathon before any serious training should resume.

3. If a marathoner runs more than 4 marathons in a 2 year period, they will increase their chance of injury 10 fold. This is why Deena and Meb and even Hall to a lesser degree has pulled out of Marathons over the last few years.

You can not talk about time between Chicago and Houston without including what was done in the 12 monts prior to Chicago as well as the 12 months following Houston.

1. If World Class Marathoner can be defined as one which wins gold at the Olympic Games, Emil Zatopek was World Class. He decided to run his first marathon, the Olympic Games, on the spur of the moment, after winning the 5,000 and 10,000. That is a lot less the approximately 3 months you claim. Yes, the pace has quickend since 1952 but that was OB at the time.

2. True, marathoning for the masses is different than elite marathoning. However, there are guys and gals out there that can "race" 26.2 miles every weekend. They do not use a month to recover before they resume training.

3. There was a time in history when guys would bone up and race. Often. They did this because they were hungry. Now there is a soft fluffy corporate dollar involvement which takes away the hunger. Because the data is readily available, I offer Bill Rodgers competitive marathon career. True, BR never medaled and had a crappy '76 Games. But he was out there, up front, in more than the 4 races per 2 years you suggest.

The lesson is always the same...each runner is different.

Please do not attempt to force people to conform to your way of thinking when there are examples of others achieving success in other ways.

poor chance wrote:

He's declared? OK.

Given his history, there's a very poor chance that he'll actually run this race.

Exactly how many major marathons has Hall pulled out of? One?

So, you are saying that a very poor chance is equal to what? 90%?

I like your math, dude.

1. In the 1950's no one had yet figured out how to train for the marathon, so the entire field allowed everyone to do things wrong. This is the reason that 3 hours was considered world class.

2. We agree on this one THE MASSES ARE NOT WORLD CLASS.

3. Bill Rodgers, Dick Beardsley, Alberto Salazar, Greg Meyer, and Patti Lyons, are all American Legends that prove my point. Not one of them can put an Olympic Result on their resume that they would list in their top 10 races. WHY? Because they all overraced.

I am not forcing others to think like me. I am forcing others to view the history books.

1. Dean Karnazes

2. Dean Karnazes

3. Dean Karnazes

history lesson wrote:

3. If a marathoner runs more than 4 marathons in a 2 year period, they will increase their chance of injury 10 fold.

Have you done it? I have, and disagree.

Well this is exciting because we all know that Chicago is an easier course than Boston and if he can run high 2:04 at Boston we can realistically expect a 2:02 at Chicago. This should generate some buzz for him.

Aamap wrote:

Well this is exciting because we all know that Chicago is an easier course than Boston and if he can run high 2:04 at Boston we can realistically expect a 2:02 at Chicago. This should generate some buzz for him.

Please tell me you're joking. A sub 2:06 would be a phenomenal result for Hall at Chicago. Hall has a better chance of getting raptured during the marathon than running a 2:02...

But he ran 2:04 at Boston and it is a harder course than Chicago. Use some logic buddy.

The world record in the marathon is 2:03:59, and you think Hall can be "reasonably" expected to run over a minute faster than the world record on a course that is certified for world records? When is the last time the world record in the marathon dropped by over a minute? Back when it was a 2:09 in the late 1960s. Sorry, I just don't think he's that much better than Geb at the marathon. In fact, I think Geb is quite a bit better than Hall at the marathon, and that's why I see Hall maybe cracking 2:06 on a good day at Chicago.

Rashid Ramzi 2012 wrote:

Jesus boy is going to have his ass handed to him in the trials.

Not if he finishes. He's had two marathons in his life when he wasn't the first American and in both cases he was the second.

Hall has run sub 2:09 four times. No other active US marathoner has done it more than once. Hall has run faster than Ritz's PR six times. The 10 fastest times ever run by Americans were run by Hall, KK, KK, Hall, KK, KK, Hall, Hall, KK, and Bob Kempainen.

If Rupp goes crazy and decides to run the trials as his first marathon then you might be on to something. Other than that? Ritz is going to have to (a) be healthy and (b) PR by a minute to beat Hall. Neither one is going to happen.

Mappy - I believe Hall will run a 2:02 and then get raptured. God likes his marathoners fast.

prolific wrote:

history lesson wrote:

3. If a marathoner runs more than 4 marathons in a 2 year period, they will increase their chance of injury 10 fold.

Have you done it? I have, and disagree.

Please share your WORLD CLASS results. You know that post was NOT talking about the masses?