wejo wrote:
... he decided to drop out instead of risk damaging his career.
He decided to drop out instead of "damaging his career"???
Interesting.
Doesn't dropping out of the Olympic marathon sort of by definition qualify as 'damaging his career"?
Or has the Olympic marathon become just a side show for the professional athletes and the important marathons for their careers are the ones with the big prize money?
Glad someone else has basic knowledge of the facts.
Facts and logic have no place on letsrun, though. We just talk out of our asses and criticize after-the-fact.
Why criticize someone for standing up for what they believe in. Do you do that? Try it once and see how much resolve you have, or do you believe in nothing?
Why not bash the Africans for crossing themselves many times before and after a race?
Commodus: Livius, if you listen very carefully, you can hear the gods laughing!
Fall of the Roman Empire, 1964
Old Man Runner wrote:
God said you should rest on the 7th day. Ryan should have known this.
The seventh day is Saturday. Today is Sunday.
Guor Marial, who ran as an independent, finished in 2:19:32.
Congratulations!
The reality is that the Olympics IS a sideshow for many of these guys. Saving themselves for major marathon pay days. That said, it could be argued that Mutai had more to lose than anyone by virtue of his place on the world stage and the competition he faces in his country. He wasn't 100% but he finished. The irony is that dropping out kills the marketability of any of these guys.
Is it cross country season yet?
Am I the only one wondering what "water on his knee" means. Does this mean a fluid buildup in his knee?
Olympics is a sideshow for many gals too, case in point, Paula Radcliffe.
It's fascinating to see the Anti-Christian obsession play out on threads like this. Not. It's boring and predictable and says nothing about Hall and everything about the posters.
Meb is a great runner and always runs smart and comes up big. But I would wager that if he had an injury like Hall or Abdi (but we are not talking about Abdi, are we, because he is not up front about his faith) then he would have dropped out as well.
If Hall made a bad decision, that choice should be fair game on these threads. It is difficult to believe, though, that the haters who have filled this thread with intense virulence have enough information to really weigh in while the race is still going on. The disdain for Hall's faith is both ugly and intolerant.
david okeyo jr wrote:
wejo can you look into the official reason the Olympic marathons were scheduled for such late starts?
Official reason? Because it's far more spectator friendly
Just for the record, Meb is pretty up-front about his faith as well. Clearly, a bit more guarded in the comments he makes than Hall, but up-front nevertheless. Check out his web page:
or read his book, Run to Overcome.
After listening to the odyssey and moby dick on his last long run Hall decided to listen to The Cat in the Hat today.
dumb wrote:
Official reason? Because it's far more spectator friendly
wtf !
Old Man Runner wrote:
God said you should rest on the 7th day. Ryan should have known this.
Since Sunday is the first day of the week and you are talking about Saturday (the 7th day) you look quite ignorant. You make no sense.
Dirt wrote:
here we go, first ripping on Tebow's faith, now Ryan Hall...you're just gonna go straight to hell...
This is absurd. If anything, people like Hall and Tebow will burn for following MAN's interpretation of God's will. Intelligent people understand that no god works in our lives the way Hall and Tebow (and all the other nut-job Christians) would have you believe.
I am not sure I'd be quite so critical. I wonder whether part of the equation here is in their contracts. Is it possible Abdi and Hall were influenced by contractual incentives to go to the start line whether they were ready or not.
Ryan Hall is open to criticism on other grounds:he thinks God is his coach, doctor, training partner and trainer. It's not working. Get a real coach and a doctor used to working with world class distance runners. Get some great athletes to work with. Ask Jesus if you can move to Portland.
I suppose there will be another chat thread elsewhere, but I can't closewithout paying tribute to Meb. This man should be well past his prime. His PR is three minutes slower than many of these guys. And yet, there he is again, as always, further up in the results than anyone expected. Silver medal in 2004, first, second and fourth place finishes at NYC, now this. Bravo, Meb !
Floyd Pink wrote:
It's fascinating to see the Anti-Christian obsession play out on threads like this. Not. It's boring and predictable and says nothing about Hall and everything about the posters.
Meb is a great runner and always runs smart and comes up big. But I would wager that if he had an injury like Hall or Abdi (but we are not talking about Abdi, are we, because he is not up front about his faith) then he would have dropped out as well.
Maybe you're too obsessed about Hall's Christian thing in this thread. Did you know why the comment from sp!ke that the thought of Meb dropping out of an Olympic race is laughable? Bcs he wouldn't. Meb is known to finish a previous Olympic trial while injured with a fractured pelvis and suffered a big career setback afterwards. Most "smart" "professional" runners nowadays would just DNF, especially for a race that's not profitable, when suspect of any injury. But not Meb, if you don't already know why this guy is so respectable.