Ryan Hall Disappointing

If he did get 2:06 in London then why is every one complaining. Rogers and Shorter could only dream about the times they are running today. What was Shorters gold medal time in the marathon. I could google it, but I think I will make a guess and say 2:12. I know his pr for the mile was a poky 4:16.

I think people are complaining because that was only his 2nd marathon ever, and it seemed to indicate he would continue to improve as he got more experience.

(Correction to my previous post: the 2:06:17 was in London 2008, not 2007 and he got fifth. Ryan's debut was London 2007 at 2:08:24)

52.43 wrote:

That is 70th best performance of all time, second best non-african performance behind Takaoka (2:06:16) and second best distance performance ever for non-african runner including track (3k-Marathon, Iaaf points).

14th best run ever in London!

To put 2:08:04 into perspective: 2:08:04 won Paris 2005 and Abel Kirui ran 2:08:04 in London 2010.

2:08:07 won Xiamen 2011. Paul Tergat ran 2:08:15 for second place in London 2001.

To learn from this? Either he can improve, or he should look for races that he can win - he could improve from that mentally.

So do africans not run races anymore? Why is non african performances relevant. Perhaps in baseball we should add a category for non hispanic performances.

Somewhere, Terrence Mahon is cackling, "Ha! Where is your tailwind now, my young apprentice."

Run4God16 wrote:

Ryan Hall I'm Disappointed.

You are disappointed because you never had realistic expectations.

Disappointment means 'falling short of expectations' to me.

I didn't expect anything else from him, so I wasn't disappointed.

A bit bored, perhaps.

I thought Ryan ran a good race. Just because you are in great shape and your training is going well does not mean only can do so much come race day. He was obviously not feeling his best today and still stuck it out for a 2:08 when many others would call it a day after 16 miles.

Shorter's gold medal time at Munich was 2:12:19, not that it matters. His PR for the mile was not 4:16, more like 4:01-02. He ran a 8:27 indoor 2M. Shorter won 4 Fukuoka races, when it was considered the unofficial world championship. He won a gold and silver medal (lost to a drug cheat) in the marathon and a 5th in the 10,000 in 1972. He is by far the greatest American distance runner of all time.

Hall is a great runner, but could be even greater if he would get away from the marathon occasionally and run some track races like Shorter did.

stuck with match.com wrote:

So do africans not run races anymore? Why is non african performances relevant. Perhaps in baseball we should add a category for non hispanic performances.

Hey, you're smarter than you sound.

Run4God16 wrote:

Ryan Hall I'm Disappointed.

Why? The only person whose running I've ever been dissappointed in is myself. I casually read the results of elite races, but I've never been dissappointed in (or thrilled with) any elite runner. I care more about my own performance in the weekend joggerville 10K than I do about elite races.

LOL Dave, well I am not kidding so I guess I am an idiot, a fool, or a tool.

You're right in that the media "hype" around Hall is in the small bubble of those who are targeted by the major running mags, shoe, and apparel companies. As Jenner and others have demonstrated, athletics athletes do not have much, if any, appeal outside of our small world. So, Hall has got to feel the pressure to cash in now. The media who want to sell advertising too add to his attraction by playing up the "white hope", "native born" stuff. They set the expectation that he can run with the likes of Mosop and Korir. It must get inside his head a bit. Plus, as I said, he needs to cash in now. So, that is a lot of pressure on him to do endorcements, advertising, promotions. Even on race day he had an interview just minutes before the start. All of it must be a big distraction.

I actually think that this chasing after dollars is going to be the death of the sport. Read Neil Postman's "Amusing Ourselves to Death" for an compelling analysis of how the media impacts everything it touches.

What I'm really disappointed about is that Mosop didn't go under 2:03. Then he gives weak ass excuses about his achilles. These runners who always have an excuse for not running faster are pathetic. At least he didn't DNF.

If Mosop really wanted it and ran a smart race he could have gone under 2:03 or at a minimum run a WR. Maybe a change in coaching is called for. Mosop will never beat Makau by goofing off like he did in Chicago.

Bill Huntington wrote:

Shorter won a gold and silver medal (lost to a drug cheat)

Easy buddy. There is no proof that Waldemar Cierpinski took PEDs.

Lets face it. East Africans are genetically superior to run long distances very fast. Also, their culture produces a greater hunger to succeed at running.

Now I am not saying that there are the rare few non-east african who can win a major race. However, I am saying that there are an ABUNDANT amount of east africans with the talent (if not more) and training ability of Ryan Hall. So he is greatly outnumbered.

Therefore, for an American, European, Asian, South American, Australian, and whomever I left out to make the top 5 of a major marathon is a an accomplishment.

so taking out his boston tailwind, his average lifetime marathon time is right about 2:08 flat.....and why the heck are we debating if he had a "good" race or onot? sheesh people, he ran EXACTLY what he's been running his whole career (at least on average), and yet so many are disappointed? get over it!

it's just like alan webb (except hall doesn't freak out as bad....well, maybe a little, he did ALSO dump his coach), when webb had a "bad" race in feb indoors in boston, he ran 4:00. big flippin deal, so then he has a "good" race, he would have run 3:56. that's not too shabby, esp for feb! same thing with hall, he goes and "pops one" and he might run 2:06 high/2:07flat. would we all complain about that? get over it, end of story.

Obi Wan: "That boy is our last hope."

Yoda: "No. There is another."

Read the following under "Drug Allegations".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldemar_Cierpinski

That list is pretty telling. Hall is clearly (consistently) faster than any American marathoner before him, and his times would be even more remarkable if not for the incredible surge in marathon performances worldwide.

However, the other statistics, like the fact that his 5k/10k speeds are minutes slower than some of his competition, is equally telling. While Hall is head and shoulders above the rest of American marathoners, the Kenyans are head and shoulders above Ryan Hall right now. Criticize his front running, his poor positioning, his whatever, but the bottom line is he's getting spit out the back of the pack sometime between 14-19 miles into the race, whatever race tactics he employs. (Alternatively, other Americans can't even get into the pack).

He's an incredible athlete, and he DOES have the ability to win one (or more) marathon major, but he has to keep training with the plan to get fast and strong enough to run 2:03. Because, frankly, that's the type of speed Mutai, Mosop, and Makau are aiming for. You can't expect to win a race with 4x or 5x 2:04 guys in it if you're only in 2:06 shape. The law of averages says one of them is going to have a good day.

Hall doesn't need to be 59:43 sharp each time he toes the line, but his training needs to adjust so he runs some (shorter) tempos at 1:01 pace to compliment his 15 mile ones at 2:07 pace. It sounds stupifyingly obvious, but you have to be able to run at 2:03 pace if you intend to win a race that will be won in 2:03 (or 2:04, 2:05, etc.).

Bill Huntington wrote:

Read the following under "Drug Allegations".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldemar_Cierpinski

Waldemar Cierpinski was East German, yes. A lot of East German athletes used PEDs.

Ryan Hall is American. A lot of American athletes (e.g. Marion Jones) used PEDs.

This doesn't proof anything.

Allegations are allegations, nothing else.