Ryan Hall picks London

Here you go. Verrazono at the start biggest hill, 59th Street bridge - mile 15 next biggest. Pulsaki, Willis and Third Ave bridges also small hills. Going from Harlem to Central Park - 23-24 toughest hill.

BTW lots of real hills in NYC.

Hall is smart to go to London. He is healthy, extremely fit and full of confidence. His comments after his American record indicate that he likes the longer races. American distance runner have to be ready to compete on the world stage and beat the best if we are going to make any progress against the Africans and be taken seriously around the world.. I ran the full marathon in Houston on that day and the roads were wet from overnight rain. Ryan had to have lost time because of ths slick roads, slight wind, and no rabbits. He might have been close to 59 on dry roads with help for the first 15 K. I think he will go sub 2:08. I would take him very seriously if I were competing against him. He will do well but regardless of the outcome he will be a better runner because of it. And America will get to see our best runner take on the world. Go Ryan!

2:08 will be 2 minutes back.

We know that about 2 weeks ago, Ryan Hall was in incredible shape. The question is, what kind of shape is he going to be in April?

Look what happened to Haile G. last year. He broke the world record for the half marathon, then 3 months later had a relatively poor performance (although still under 2:10).

I wish Ryan Hall nothing but the best, but I think that Tokyo would have been better timing.

Jason

Come back to this thread in a couple of months and congratulate me for my prediction:

2:04:25

I'm very good at predictions. The world will be going "WHAT?" How did that happen? Ryan Hall is the real deal.

MAYEROFF wrote:

We know that about 2 weeks ago, Ryan Hall was in incredible shape. The question is, what kind of shape is he going to be in April?

Look what happened to Haile G. last year. He broke the world record for the half marathon, then 3 months later had a relatively poor performance (although still under 2:10).

I wish Ryan Hall nothing but the best, but I think that Tokyo would have been better timing.

Jason

it's kind of hard to use Geb as an example because he injured his hamstring in that race. so you can't claim that it was peaking too soon that did him in. would he have run the same if he didn't mess up his hammie en route? we don't know. according to Hall's camp he was just training through this, so that right there is a good sign...

MAYEROFF wrote:

We know that about 2 weeks ago, Ryan Hall was in incredible shape. The question is, what kind of shape is he going to be in April?

Look what happened to Haile G. last year. He broke the world record for the half marathon, then 3 months later had a relatively poor performance (although still under 2:10).

I wish Ryan Hall nothing but the best, but I think that Tokyo would have been better timing.

Jason

Sorry Jason, but the Geb example is a bad one....he blows on wet roads....lets hope it's not wet again in London this year.

Jason, AGAIN, why must he blow his wad asap, instead of planning a great series of races in the future? Thank god he and his coach have more patience and foresight than you.

Skuj wrote:

Thank god he and his coach have more patience and foresight than you.

A spring marathon is a lack of patience for Ryan Hall.

I think Hall would've been better off running the US Olympic Trials Marathon and not a spring marathon. Instead, he could've seen what he could do for cross country, then run some 5000's and 10000's for part of the summer, and then start training for the marathon in the fall, a la Ritzenhein & Co. I think Hall is kind of setting himself up for disappointment, again. He did it with the 5000, where he ran some good fast races for being at his level, then went to Europe and sucked, then decided to try running other distances. Now he did really well at the HM, so he's going to go back over to Europe and try to run in a really fast race for his first one. I don't think it is that wise. To quote a line from TLC,

"...don't go chasing waterfalls, stick to the rivers and the lakes youre use to...".

Peace OUT!

Nate-d-o-double-gizzee....

Zeby wrote:

Come back to this thread in a couple of months and congratulate me for my prediction:

2:04:25

I'm very good at predictions. The world will be going "WHAT?" How did that happen? Ryan Hall is the real deal.

If you're such a great predictor, go to Vegas and put your money where you keyboard is.

Was he thinking of a Spring Thon before 59:43?

He runs 59:43. 3 months later he does London. 7 months after London = The Trials?

Seems like a good plan for me.

Jason wants Hall to Do It All Now because he happened to score a stellar run in January 2007. Perhaps Hall and his coach will actually BACK OFF a bit, because Hall "overperformed" for the time of year? This is smart training and planning. Not spraying bullets everywhere....actually taking aim.

Thank goodness Ryan isn't injury prone. He's in such good shape right now he's only going to improve and then peak for the big pay day in so many many ways.

Salazar and Culpepper are the fastest American debuts ever. Ryan will shatter that record IMO. low 2:07's. Hopefully the wx cooperates as the field definitely will.

I can just imagine the talk in Beaverton. Wow, did we blow it!

It's interesting to see just how much airplay his half had...Flocast and Let's Run must be on a retainer :)

I applaud Hall for his willingness to compete against the best in the world. In the long run you don't win races, football games, basketball games, etc. without competing against the best.

Just putting in an early prediction

1:03:30 half

1:05:15 seond hald

2:08:45

wisdom wrote: look at Meb after he turned to marathoning full time, he's not posted anything on the track worth talking about.

I'm pretty sure his OLYMPIC SILVER MEDAL is worth talking about!

I'm also pretty sure Meb is happy with that compromise.

Still waiting for some real wisdom.

Good luck to Ryan Hall.

I might be wrong on this, but doesn't he need a qualifying time to get in? I assume that's part of the reason for a spring marathon.

Disappointed Fan... wrote:

Huge management error.

Yep. He needs to run a few good years worth of fast races on the track. That's where the big boys are. The marathon is for guys on their way out on the track - usually.

Nope, his 5k from last year gets him into this year's Trials. 5k and 10k qualifiers get a pass into Marathon Trials this time around.

That's why we've sucked at the marathon for a generation - although we are definitely in an upswing. This isn't 1930. 40 year olds don't dominate the marathon. Hall ran 59 and change. He's spoken about how he really likes the training for the marathon, how the long tempos are great to run. What is his optimal distance? Well, right now it looks like the half. Why not try the marathon? My guess is that, what with what he says about the training and what with how his half stacks up against his 5K, the high end of the range will be good to him. We'll all see, though, won't we. Can't hardly wait. Hell, it's not like he's shipping out to do infantry duty on the perimeter of the green line in Bagged'n'Dead. That would be something to be worried about. Running London is something to be excited about.