Paul Ryan's marathon

Earth to Rojo. You operate a running website. This issue came up because Ryan claimed he broke three in a marathon and it turns out he ran 4:01. I wish you guys would eliminate all the political threads not just the ones that criticize GW Bush.

Double Standard wrote:

RoJo

Paul Ryan licked up the amazed praise from the host and added that he faster when he was younger. He did not mispeak.

You, Rojo, the person who has been fighting for truth in athletics should not try to equate that with the 57 states thing. Lets run does not care bout geography here. I mean 57 states do not exist, the time Ryan said exists and thus more believable without fact checking.

Otherwise you stop the Block, Gatlin, Lance and other passionate fights you participate in.

He is a liar, it does not matter in policy and power. But in athletics and on lets run that matters and do not try to make excuses for him we will respect you more

I'm not saying he did or didn't lie. I'm saying, Obama once said there were 57 states and didn't mean that. I do believe there is a chance he could have misspoke here and think your conclusion will be based on which way you lean.

If the time was 4:35 or 3:35, I would say - 100% he lied. Since his actual race time was almost certainly high 3:50s and he said high 2:50s, he could have misspoke.

The fact of the matter is if you break 4:00 in the marathon, you are still doing pretty well. Last year at New York, according to marathonguide.com, there were 46536 finishers and 15165 broke 4:00. The NY site lists 47340 finishers and someone who ran 4:00:00 was 15336th. Either way, if you break 4:00 hrs, you are in the top third of the field as that's 32.6% or 32.4% percent either way.

0.325876741

If he lied, it raises VERY VERY serious concerns to me as to me lying is a big deal. When it came out that Herman Cain was clearly lying about his affairs, I lost all respect for him immediately.

I know it wasn't a big deal for many Dems when Clinton lied, but to me, I think when we are picking the president and VP, we should only be choosing the very best. No affairs, no lies, etc.

It hasn't been a good first week for Ryan as I knew little about him until this week and I'm very troubled by what I've heard so far in terms of him playing loose with the facts.

But I really think your conclusion as to whether he lied or didn't lie will depend on which way you lean politically.

Do all the dems on here who are irate for Ryan possibly lying about a marathon time know that Biden flat out plagiarized in law school and plagiarized his stump speech for the 1988 presidential race? Biden said he was the first in his family to go to college - no true. He said he came from coal miners- not true. He said he graduated in the top half of his law school class - not true. He said he attended law school on an academic scholarhsip - not true. He said he had three undergraduate degees - not true.

I'm pretty confident if you read that slate article, you'll have to agree it's impossible to get worse than that.

As a result, I won't be making my choice for president based on who is or isn't the best VP. It's hard to get much worse than Joe Biden - he's a proven liar who recently implied said Republicans want to enslave blacks.[/quote]

You are doing pretty well with this time nowadays.

Back in 1990 you were in the second half of the field (1990th out of 3277 = 60.7 %).

Compare this with a 2:55 h back than (130th out of 3277 = 3.9 %).

As Nicholas Thompson said:

So Paul Ryan can't be forgiven for this bragging:

Wikiwatcher wrote:

As Nicholas Thompson said:

It’s the difference between racing and running.

Actually, it's the difference between running and jogging.

AstuteObserver wrote:

Lying is intrinsic to politics and academics. Most important lesson I have learned while completing several college degrees: never trust a professor. I have no doubt this applies to politicians.

Let me get this straight college boy: After coming to the conclusion that you couldn't trust college professors (I wonder, was this during your first degree, your second, your eighth?!?) you were then able to remove all doubt that politicians lie?!!? Really!?!?

And, thus, I guess, we are to conclude that Ryan lying about his marathon time is OK??

Man, this is weak. Really really weak.

And Rojo - sheez! The ridiculous gyrations you're going through here to minimize what Ryan has done are, to any observer - astute or otherwise - obvious. Please, please, just cut your losses now. I'm sure you're going to vote for RR no matter what, but stop defending Ryan and his lie on this site. It ought to be beneath you. It's a shame that it isn't. Some of us still remember you and Wejo begging users in '04 to vote for W - you knew he would be a great president. Whether he Kerry would have done better or not, one thing is for sure: W was not a great president.

As someone said above, drop the politics. If for no other reason then you're pretty bad at discussing them.

rojo wrote:

I'm pretty confident if you read that slate article, you'll have to agree it's impossible to get worse than that.

I don't agree - and so doesn't the author of this article:

(...)

Twenty-one years on, how much should Biden's past behavior matter? In and of itself, the plagiarism episode shouldn't automatically disqualify Biden from regaining favor and credibility, especially if in the intervening two decades he's not done more of the same, as seems to be the case. But no one has looked into it. The press should give his record since 1988 a thorough vetting. It's worth knowing whether the odds-on favorite to be our next vice president has truly reformed himself of behavior that can often be the mark of a deeply troubled soul.

This was published on August 25, 2008. If there were any dark spots from the two decades between 1987 and 2008, the Republican campaigners of 2008 wouldn't have missed them.

"I'm not saying he did or didn't lie. I'm saying, Obama once said there were 57 states and didn't mean that. I do believe there is a chance he could have misspoke here and think your conclusion will be based on which way you lean."

Your analogy is inapt and pointless. Nobody disputes that sometimes people say things that are inaccurate. Obama certainly did in the instance you cite. So what? It didn't benefit him and there was no way it could be seen as benefiting him. It was just a stupid misstatement of a fact every third-grader knows.

Ryan's marathon PR, however, was not an established, universally known fact. It was up to him to provide us the information. He was telling us something about HIMSELF. And he didn't just say, "around three hours," he said: "under three." And he said, "high twos." And the said, "two fifty something." And when the interviewer suggested this was very fast, Ryan quadrupled down: "I was fast when I was younger, yeah." It had all the hallmarks of wanton self-aggrandizement.

Now, is this a serious issue? Of course not. Maybe there was nothing venal about it. Maybe he was blasted after a long day on the campaign trail -- it's a grueling, grueling thing -- and for some reason he got it in his head that he had gone under three, and he just went with that train of thought. That seems really weird, but, hey, whatever. I don't hold it against him. Hell, it's not like he lied about Medicare, and a plant closing in his hometown and the facts related to the presidential commission on the deficit. Now THAT, if he had done that, that would be some serious lying, I'm sure you'd agree.

Yes, I do not trust politicians.

I two BS degrees, one in geophysics and one in civil engineering. MS in civil engineering. Within 2 months I will defend a Ph.D in civil engineering. I also have a MS in geosciences that could be obtained with a couple months work.

Agree. I am pretty surprised by Rojo's reaction. The guy obviously lied. Is it the worst lie ever? No. But it is a gratuitous lie about how fast you run. It diminishes the accomplishments of others who worked hard to get times like that.

RoJo,

I respect you, respect the website, won't even call you names regardless of what my mind is telling me to. Normally, I am one who understands your logic on many an issue, but not on this. You have not convinced many any

Get, this logic, there are not 57 states in this great union (that is mispeaking). Sometimes, you do not have to look for equivalences on the other site. BS is BS and it can stand alone. Ryan was very specific about his time and he went on to say he younger and faster then because of his age, had the board not called him out, he could be basking in the unearned admiration. He justified his lie at that point. Everyone who has run a marathon, especially a single one knows their time.

You are welcome to be Republican, indeed if most republicans were like you, the party would be dominant and thriving.

Lets not digress, but, just apply your already set standards against any cheating in athletics. Were this a geography site, then the 57 states could have been an issue. THIS (your very own) site is a running site. Internationally reknown, you have to draw a line about cheating in athletics. And be proud of its contribution to the issue. I am worried about you

Disagree with the 57 states analogy due to surrounding interview. Perhaps if

57 states, or is it 56 or 58, I don't know, definitely about 57 though.

Holy Smokes!

Yeah, I know a lot about geography.

I never said he didn't lie.

I just said I think there is a chance he didn't. He very well may have.

I do know Biden is a proven plagiarist.

I don't like voting for the lesser of two evils but again I'm not voting based on VPs. I dont think I could ever vote Biden in for anything - I'd have to just abstain from voting or write in someone.

He's also claimed to have climbed "around 40" of the 54 14,000 foot peaks in Colorado. And he got at least one glowing opinion article about it (in the Denver Post). Any chance that's exaggerated too? Apparently everyone who summits those peaks has to fill out a register...

(1) self promotion

(2) talking without knowledge

(3) misspoke

Those are the possibilities, I go with number 2. And ryan's response was pointing at that also.

fabricator wrote:

Plus he's a numbers guy, as Chairman of the Budget Committee, he is touted for his acumen with figures. Oh, the irony.

Exactly. And this is why this story deserves to have legs.

Ryan's ONE principal self-trumpeted qualification is that he's a numbers guy: fearlessly honest with them, in fact. He's on the ticket because Romney folks want to make sure that the economy stays front and center. (The Obama-sucks-at-foreign-policy argument is hard to make after the Osama bid Laden takedown.)

If Ryan doesn't just misstate his marathon PR, but wildly exaggerate how good he is, getting the number wildly wrong in an effort to make himself look like a stud when, in fact, he IS a stud these days, still in excellent shape.......

That tells us all we need to know about his character and his competence. The two are completely intertwined. What his marathon lie shows us is that he's not the man he claims to be. His ego is bound up with trivial sh-t.

I'd be the first to say that not every person who ran a marathon automatically remembers his time. But nobody gets it wrong by an hour.

Numbers guy! Hah.

YOU DIDN'T RUN THAT.

Here's another t-shirt logo:

RYAN MATH: 3ish = 4ish

As runners we get what it takes to run a marathon. We set goals, we train for the event, think hard about our pace for the event, and sure as hell remember roughly our time for our only marathon.

Paul Ryan is Lyin Ryan.... a liar. First thing in the articles he says he ran marathons, note the s. He ran one. Then he lies about his time. I deal with hobby joggers all the time and they know what pace they are trying to hit and they definitely know the barriers - sub 4 hours is a big deal to them AND they know they are slow. Ryan says he was fast and says he ran a fast time. He full of it. This isn't a simple slip, he says he is fast, he said he ran marathons and he give a time that required way more dedication and work and gets a lot of respect. This was all a lie. Also his brother talks about bragging rights in the family - Paul Ryan's time that he lied about is very much faster than his brother who is the fastest in the family. You grow up with brothers and you know these things. This is his character - a LIAR.

His many other lies...

They call it "spin" now but they are lies....

From

www.factcheck.org

Paul Ryan’s acceptance speech at the Republican convention contained several false claims and misleading statements. Delegates cheered as the vice presidential nominee:

Accused President Obama’s health care law of funneling money away from Medicare “at the expense of the elderly.” In fact, Medicare’s chief actuary says the law “substantially improves” the system’s finances, and Ryan himself has embraced the same savings.

Accused Obama of doing “exactly nothing” about recommendations of a bipartisan deficit commission — which Ryan himself helped scuttle.

Claimed the American people were “cut out” of stimulus spending. Actually, more than a quarter of all stimulus dollars went for tax relief for workers.

Faulted Obama for failing to deliver a 2008 campaign promise to keep a Wisconsin plant open. It closed less than a month before Obama took office.

Blamed Obama for the loss of a AAA credit rating for the U.S. Actually, Standard & Poor’s blamed the downgrade on the uncompromising stands of both Republicans and Democrats.

And when he wasn’t attacking Obama, Ryan was puffing up the record of his running mate, Mitt Romney, on taxes and unemployment.

By the way as a small business owner I am way better off than I was four years ago. Now if we only had a working Congress even more great things could get done.

I meant to say "Not everybody who runs a marathon 20 years ago remembers his exact time." Some people go through phases, lose interest in running, let it go, and misspeak.

But competitive athletes like Ryan, guys who have remained active but haven't run additional races, guys who speak about times the way he elaborated his comment about this race: those guys remember. Ryan has been a personal trainer. And he's a numbers guy!

I work for the USPS, his wife is a lobbyist for UPS and he lies about his marathon times. And I'm supposed to support his policies?

Read "Betrayal Of The American Dream" by Bartlett and Steele, as well, then try to watch FOXNEWS with a straight face.

More t-shirt logos:

FAST PAUL

MARATHON MAN, SORTA

I like this one:

PR: YOU DIDN'T RUN THAT

And this one:

MEMO TO "FAST" PAUL RYAN: BUSTED!

And this one:

IT'S 4:01. DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR VP CANDIDATE IS?

How about.........

TWO-FIFTY-WHAT? OH, YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT THE MINIMUM WAGE!

Guy O'Leighken wrote:

He's also claimed to have climbed "around 40" of the 54 14,000 foot peaks in Colorado. And he got at least one glowing opinion article about it (in the Denver Post). Any chance that's exaggerated too? Apparently everyone who summits those peaks has to fill out a register...

Yeah-I saw this too. I have my doubts about that claim. Unless he spent a summer or two here in Colorado-and did nothing else in that summer-there's no way he climbed 40 distinct fourteeners. A couple of crazies have done all 54 in 12 days or something-but a flatlander coming here on long weekends-no way it happened. I suspect "around 40" means 4 or 5.