Ryan Hall's post-LA facebook statement

boomheadshot wrote:

From an ignorant, outsider's perspective....I think he needs to just shut up and nut up. Stop entering the race knowing you have the cushion of God's love to fall upon when you feel uncomfortable and want to quit. If you want to excel in this sport, then you need to be a little more selfish and start to feel some shame when you quit. Stop being satisfied and humble that you are in God's good graces and already have a free ticket to Heaven. Start truly sacrificing again and experience the pain and discomfort of a hard, full race. Jesus was frickin' nailed to a wooden board with a vine of thorns smashed onto his cranium and left to suffer or days. You want to honor your heroes? Do the same. Grind out a hard race, make it hurt, and sacrifice for your God.

Exactly. If you aren't tough enough to compete to your best in a tough sport, especially the marathon, recognize it is time get out; nobody lasts in running forever. People stop at some point, due to disinterest, mental weakness, injury, etc. He should just move on to motivational speeches at big races and things of the sort.

I would love to see Ryan in a 10k or 5k this summer

Some posters here act as if he owes them something.

So he is not running well, or something happened that only he knows at this point.

It's not the end of the world, if you think you can do better, go out there and race.

Can we just drop the looser

PLEASE !!!

He has lost all gumption he had

Please lets move on

grappler wrote:

Dear rude guys

Ryan Hall has run better times than...well, anyone here.

Bull s***

Let's be honest, when our running careers are over, do you measure your athletic career by comparing your times to others, or do you try to understand the underlying foundation of why and how you were able to push yourself to the next level. I've found that I could care less how fast I was, but I like finding meaning in the need to improve, to work harder, to do better the next time and how I can apply that to other areas of my life... that's what I'm proud of.

There comes times in our lives where the focus and drive for one area of our lives transitions to others. For example, you could be a rising star in your chosen career, but then you get married, have kids, and you find that your career takes a hit because you've re-focused your energy towards your family.

There are very few people who can continue to focus and push themselves to achieve perfection in a singular path. However, most people don't lie to themselves when they hit the crossroads of who they are now compared to who they were when they started the journey. This is Ryan's problem to me.

Ryan isn't interested in running fast. He's interested in funding his religious and foundations outreach. I'm sure he'd like to run faster, but he's lying to himself if he thinks his focus is there, because the focus and dedication it would take to run the performances that he so easily speaks off would require his outreach agenda to take a back seat. He uses his faith as crutch to avoid professional criticism.

Until sponsors and races quit giving him a platform to fund his other passions, there's no real reason to self critique or to adjust his priorities. He sells himself as someone who has the ability, training, and focus... RIGHT NOW, to win races, that's why he's paid. The reality is, that's a lie. He runs because he loves it, but running 2:04 is lip service to fund the goals of his faith. He's grown out of running.

Personally, I could care less about how fast Ryan Hall runs. If he makes a comeback and makes the Olympics, great, if not, whatever. If he doesn't care, then why should we. The better question is, if he doesn't care, why should race directors and sponsors?

the god stuff makes you complacent. why be upset with yourself when it's all part of His plan?

Just like I did with Tim Tebow I have bestowed upon Ryan Hall many gifts yet kept some away. With Tebow I placed him in the friendly sport of the NCAA football but cruelly didn't allow him the passing accuracy to succeed after his three years of amateur glory and adulation. With Hall I cruelly kept the gift of desire from him. I am God's Will and I rule all.

grappler wrote:

Dear rude guys

Ryan Hall has run better times than...well, anyone here.

And, you guys are ridiculing him?

Let me get this straight: in order to critizise someone, you must be better than him. That means that Renato Canova can´t tell Bekele that he ran a miserable race unless he first goes out and run faster that KB. That means that the only one who can coach the fastest runner in the world is...God.

hesa looser wrote:

Can we just drop the looser

PLEASE !!!

He has lost all gumption he had

Please lets move on

If you can´t spell "loser" you´re one yourself.

well,. wrote:

grappler wrote:

Dear rude guys

Ryan Hall has run better times than...well, anyone here.

And, you guys are ridiculing him?

Let me get this straight: in order to critizise someone, you must be better than him. That means that Renato Canova can´t tell Bekele that he ran a miserable race unless he first goes out and run faster that KB. That means that the only one who can coach the fastest runner in the world is...God.

To the extent that he's criticizing ridicule, OK. One can argue that little of that is justified in the course of being a fan (unless moral/legal lines are being crossed). But yeah, in general the PR snobbery is such complete BS. The NFL obviously would not exist if the price for fan entry was....what, being a blue chip college recruit, at least? News flash, DBs who are overly proud of your 15 or 16-something PRs, NO sport would ever be prominent if you had to be in the 90th-something percentile in order to watch/comment. I sure as hell hope that NONE of these guys have the nerve to complain about a lack of attention paid to track.

I AM SOOO EMBARRASSED.

Finally someone started talking about HEART! A topic sorely lacking in all threads Ryan Hall. Finally, the obvious topic has been flushed out, in all the distractions about religion and coaches, or lack thereof. I do not agree he has no heart. I would however say it is way, WAY below average in the will department, as compared to elite distance runners. In some races he exhibited much more heart than in others over the course of his career. As a human in the bigger scheme of things, there is actually nothing wrong with being a content, happy person with a great family, and an insanely talented runner with a mediocre amount of will. To be able to run a 2:05 marathon, and a 3:41 HS mile with his relative level of heart is a rare, rare trait.

umstead wrote:

a 3:41 HS mile

womp womp

Ryan I ran competitively in college and ran for Brook’s shoes for two years without a paycheck. I received $1,500 a year for gear. I paid my own way to my races and was just happy to be on the starting line. I always made it to the finish line even if it was the worst race of my life. My best Half is 1:08:08, and Marathon is 2:23:16. My track bests were 800m 1:52, 1000m 2:24, 1500m 3:45, Mile 4:04, 5000m 14:17, and 10,000m 29:05. This year I was running in January and collapsed on the track and was diagnosed with a 90% blocked LAD in my heart which is Coronary Artery Disease. I am only 32 years old and can now only dream and hope that someday I can figure out how to run again. I look at someone with your potential and credentials dropping out of races because you don't want to run a 2:17 marathon man you are blowing it. At least you have the potential to run a marathon and not have to live life wondering what you could have done had someone just believed in you enough to give you a paycheck to train and run. You are going to lose so much more respect if continue down the path of just quitting everything race you run. What are you going to do when real life begins and your job is not going very well quit? Overall you need to decide do want to keep racing and quitting the races or do you want to walk away from it regardless you have to figure out what you really want and if it is not being a runner anymore no problem find something else to do.

Corey Duquette wrote:

I look at someone with your potential and credentials dropping out of races because you don't want to run a 2:17 marathon man you are blowing it.

2014 Boston Marathon Results

HALL, RYAN 2:17:50

Running a 2:30 or 2:40 marathon would destroy Hall's marketability. Better for him to drop out and keep the checks coming in.

To describe Ryan Hall as having "heart" is to insult those athletes who have actually shown determination, courage, tenacity and perseverance in their training and racing.

Ryan Hall is brash, deluded, and takes no personal responsibility for his many failings as an athlete. He trains foolishly, constantly injuring himself, and races foolishly, running at paces that hint at self-sabotage. This is not heart.

Ryan Hall could learn a lot from Shalane Flanagan. She is a woman who races and trains with both her heart and her head.

Reality biter wrote:

Running a 2:30 or 2:40 marathon would destroy Hall's marketability. Better for him to drop out and keep the checks coming in.

^this