He thought he knew better and got an injury. Could have happened under a coach or not. We at least know now he most definitely would have, as in did, get an injury under the latter.
He thought he knew better and got an injury. Could have happened under a coach or not. We at least know now he most definitely would have, as in did, get an injury under the latter.
Maybe he had an abridged version of the Odyssey...just a short run today.
Didn't God inform Hall to drink more water to alleviate these types of problems?
For Hall, not Abdi, check the posts about predicting his Olympic performance. Again, I am a prophet.
I feel bad for Hall and Abdi, but I feel much worse for Ritz.
I must say I am beyond disappointed in Ryan Hall for many reasons. 1. I thoroughly respected him for his mountainous faith to allow Christ to guide His life and submit it to Him. 2. He has greatly helped redefine the bar for American distance running by his performance at Boston last year. 3. His many charitable acts and love for serving the world.
This race has unfortunately restructured what I think of him in some ways. Saying that you allow God in as your coach sets up many many risks. With those risks, you BETTER be ready to back up that faith at any cost! Although risky, I'm not saying it wasn't divinely inspired for him to make that move. One phrase that ryan hall said some years ago that really stuck with me some ears ago was, "it's not about the medal. It's not about the record. It's not about the time. It's about pouring yourself out.". I had this quote on my Facebook wall for some years now. I'll be taking it off today due to the hypocritical acts of this statement. One makes a mockery of Christianity and not backing it up completely. I highly doubt there would be much trash talk had he even run 3 hours and was walking in agony. That would be heart. That would be pouring yourself out. First thing I did yesterday was wake up to see how ryan hall did hoping that I could see maybe top 5. I woke up to dnf and the doubts began to cluster in. If his primary purpose was to minister to those who are not Christians, I would hope a ridiculously humble apology is coming in the near future to God, to his country, to the other runner that could have run in his place. What an extreme disappointment. I just lost complete respect for who was once one of the only people I looked up to.....
Totally disgusted with Hall and Abdi. If there's ever a time to race through a little discomfort, it's the Olympics. They're both gutless. Hamstring "tightness" ... give me a break. Maybe if he would have tried, it would have loosened up a little. They're both horrible representatives for the U.S.A.
I agree with other posts - it seems planned.
If Abdi and Hall dropping out was planned, and I do not disagree; what does this say about American distance running?
Who's got any potential in the pipeline? I am not sure the USA will have anyone who could be a contender in 2016. Aside from Meb, who have we had since 2000?
Maybe this should be a new topic to get comments on because this is very concerning and the outlook is bleak.
It was God's plan.
ranbarts2 wrote:
Aside from Meb, who have we had since 2000?
Actually, aside from Meb, who have we had since 1976?
Kara and Shalane both complained about pain while running on the course, and I don't believe they were coming in with any injuries.Ryan and Abdi choosing to TRY to run the race shows that they do place some value on it. It if was just some dinky 10-miler, they probably wouldn't have shown up.
disgusted wrote:
Totally disgusted with Hall and Abdi. If there's ever a time to race through a little discomfort, it's the Olympics. They're both gutless. Hamstring "tightness" ... give me a break. Maybe if he would have tried, it would have loosened up a little. They're both horrible representatives for the U.S.A.
I agree with other posts - it seems planned.
Disgusted is a good word. Embarrassed, perhaps? I don't even care about the injury, it was the description afterwards, 'I could have run a 3 hour marathon' - well then you do it. You are representing your country. I just can't believe it, 50 minutes.I know it doesn't matter in the least, I hope Ryan Hall fades into obscurity.
disgusted wrote:
Totally disgusted with Hall and Abdi. If there's ever a time to race through a little discomfort, it's the Olympics. They're both gutless. Hamstring "tightness" ... give me a break. Maybe if he would have tried, it would have loosened up a little. They're both horrible representatives for the U.S.A.
I agree with other posts - it seems planned.
Authentic Christianity wrote:
I totally agree. There are lots of people for Ryan to emulate and Meb is a great one! If he's of another religion than all the better! We must remember that Ryan Hall is still a relatively young man and, hopefully, will learn that a person needs to balance reason with his faith.
He should realize that calling God his coach is going to be considered 'a bit wacky'. But Hall is obviously very much a fundamentalist Christian with a penchant for evangelicalism. That's who he is and I, for one, enjoy interesting personalities who know who they are more than people who try to be carbon copies of the status quo. Bottom line: Ryan Hall would be better served with a coach (who respects and understands his faith), but teaches him the benefits of balancing faith and reason.
Dare I say: Why he wants to use up so much time/energy in prayer for his own personal [coaching] needs may show that he has much room for maturity. Prayer, so I've learned, is so much more than asking about fulfilling your individual needs. As I see it, running "can be" such a selfish pursuit that it only makes sense to leave much of the planning/thinking/organizing to a coach.
The less you can focus on yourself all the time the better. And be humbly thankful for your coaches' presence in your life! Every single day as you journey together. Walking with Christ [or running with Christ] is not meant to be such a solitary pursuit. Let a coach in on it all and start putting your head together with someone who can spend their time/energy on preparing you to be at your best during this short venture of professional athletics.
Ultimately (with a coach and this approach), Ryan Hall would be able to more likely connect with a wider audience. Out of this he could then spread the Good News that he has apparently found. Lord knows in this crazy, mixed up world we could use a little positive inspiration.
Kid has talent though and just needs some professional and heartfelt guidance/mentoring...that's how I see it.
Well said! I tend to agree that he'd be better off with a coach. Seeking God's guidance doesn't require abandoning human wisdom. Even a young Jesus had to learn life skills from human authorities. (I won't get into the arguments about whether Jesus existed; but even scripture acknowledges that he was "subject" to Mary and Joseph.) And tapping into one's faith doesn't preclude acknowledging that God can send other people to help with an enterprise--or why build, for example, colleges with a religious focus?
I think Ryan Hall is, from what I've seen, a good, genuine kind of guy--who is also imperfect, as people, even good people, are. Everyone's a work in progress.
As for his dropping out--or Abdi's--I tend not to want to judge things like that. Only these two runners can know what the dividing line is between gutting something out and accepting that it wasn't their day and that they'd risk serious damage by continuing.
Hope is a stubborn thing--and especially with the Olympics, I can see where it would be very, very hard to give up an opportunity such as that. There could be the thought that "Maybe, just maybe race day adrenaline will get me past this!" In some cases, for some athletes, it has done just that, and for a major competition like this, I can only imagine how hard it would be to look at an injury realistically and face the profound disappointment of not being able to start.
Hope they both recover and have future racing success.
Leaving the faith out of it, because it's personal and Hall only comes across as Tebow-like when he's interviewed that way, someone asked about three years ago when Hall would return to the track. I answered in 2012, after he misses making the marathon team in the trials. Well, I was wrong, but I do believe Hall peaked in 2007. Coach or no coach, the legs only have so many hard marathons in them. I doubt we'll ever see 2:06 or sub-60 in the half from him again, regardless of whether he seeks worldly guidance. Boston was an outlier, with a hurricane tailwind and cool conditions. 2:03 winning time followed by a 2:12 the next year? Ok.
I don't think Hall made the wrong decision dropping out if his hamstring wasn't firing. I think Hall made the wrong decision not giving up his spot to begin with, knowing that he wasn't going in 100%. Same with Abdi. Ritz could've trained for both the 10,000, knowing he didn't have a chance at a medal, and the marathon. Or Gotcher. Heck, I know Ritz hasn't delivered the time yet, but he beat Hall in 2008 and he had the fastest closing 5k in this year's trials I believe. If he would ever learn how to even or negative-split, he would be much faster, and he would've made this year's team.
Personally, I think Hall is done, especially if he's chasing big marathons, because he's probably caught up in the injury cycle, unless he backs off and lets his body heal. At best, he's just another 2:09 guy now. But the hurdles should merely serve to strengthen his faith if he's for real. There's far more to life than running. In fact, I would propose that, because he derives his self-worth from his faith rather than worldly pursuits, it will likely inhibit his running anyway, which isn't a bad thing.
Nonetheless, the thread about who's done the most post high school between the big three in Hall, Webb, and Ritz firmly goes to Ritz in my mind now. Three-time Olympian and a heart of steel. My early 2016 projection for Rio for the marathon is Rupp, Ritz, and ?
yeah20 wrote:
Disgusted is a good word. Embarrassed, perhaps? I don't even care about the injury, it was the description afterwards, 'I could have run a 3 hour marathon' - well then you do it. You are representing your country. I just can't believe it, 50 minutes.
I know it doesn't matter in the least, I hope Ryan Hall fades into obscurity.
Grow up. Please, I beg of you...
Sagarin wrote:
Leaving the faith out of it, because it's personal and Hall only comes across as Tebow-like when he's interviewed that way, someone asked about three years ago when Hall would return to the track. I answered in 2012, after he misses making the marathon team in the trials. Well, I was wrong, but I do believe Hall peaked in 2007. Coach or no coach, the legs only have so many hard marathons in them. I doubt we'll ever see 2:06 or sub-60 in the half from him again, regardless of whether he seeks worldly guidance. Boston was an outlier, with a hurricane tailwind and cool conditions. 2:03 winning time followed by a 2:12 the next year? Ok.
I don't think Hall made the wrong decision dropping out if his hamstring wasn't firing. I think Hall made the wrong decision not giving up his spot to begin with, knowing that he wasn't going in 100%. Same with Abdi. Ritz could've trained for both the 10,000, knowing he didn't have a chance at a medal, and the marathon. Or Gotcher. Heck, I know Ritz hasn't delivered the time yet, but he beat Hall in 2008 and he had the fastest closing 5k in this year's trials I believe. If he would ever learn how to even or negative-split, he would be much faster, and he would've made this year's team.
Personally, I think Hall is done, especially if he's chasing big marathons, because he's probably caught up in the injury cycle, unless he backs off and lets his body heal. At best, he's just another 2:09 guy now. But the hurdles should merely serve to strengthen his faith if he's for real. There's far more to life than running. In fact, I would propose that, because he derives his self-worth from his faith rather than worldly pursuits, it will likely inhibit his running anyway, which isn't a bad thing.
Nonetheless, the thread about who's done the most post high school between the big three in Hall, Webb, and Ritz firmly goes to Ritz in my mind now. Three-time Olympian and a heart of steel. My early 2016 projection for Rio for the marathon is Rupp, Ritz, and ?
I think running 2:04 was really what Hall wanted to do, more than actually winning. He seems extremely unmotivated by beating other people. So he may have trouble getting motivated for something, esp since he has been flat or worse at two OGs.
I agree that he needs a coach to sort out his goals and get his confidence back. Maybe world cross next year would be a good oddball thing to do. he would get destroyed most likely, but could help his mindset.
But here's the thing about Hall being "just another 2:09 guy."
We don't have all that many 2:09 guys in the US and of the ones we have Hall is arguably the one with the most "appeallng" and recognizable name. What other US marathoners are advertising Nissans or whatever it is he's selling when he's listening to "The Oddessey" in that commercial?
If he'd run well in London he'd have enhanced his "value" even more. But even in dropping out, he's still going to be able to command a big appearance fee, probably a six figure one, for a fall marathon if he's healthy and if he's really healthy add a healthy five figure prize on top of that. And if he wants and is healthy he can do that again in the spring. But if he runs that three hour marathon and hurts himself too badly to run a fall marathon all or much of that money goes away.
I'm not saying I liked what he did but I do understand why he did it. Most of us want our sport to be a professional sport.
Well, for professional athletes earning money is usually their top priority.
If ELITE RUNNING is still important in the grand scheme of things, then I believe that DPMRunner and Authentic Christianity put up great posts in terms of humbly seeking guidance and having a different venue to bring some positive news to this God-forsaken, secularized society, devoid of a moral compass. If it's not, then I stand by what I said.
This shows a tremendous lack of understanding about Christianity.
If Hall had pulled out and started pounding the ground (a la Uceny) that would have been a poor show of his faith. He, however, walked off knowing that there are far more important things in life than the Olympics, his faith in tact. As a coach and athlete I am appalled that Hall walked off the Olympic marathon course. As a Christian I humbled that someone is truly as grounded as he is to not let it define himself. Say what you want about him as a runner, but this kid's got faith to spare.
HRE wrote:
But here's the thing about Hall being "just another 2:09 guy."
We don't have all that many 2:09 guys in the US and of the ones we have Hall is arguably the one with the most "appeallng" and recognizable name. What other US marathoners are advertising Nissans or whatever it is he's selling when he's listening to "The Oddessey" in that commercial?
If he'd run well in London he'd have enhanced his "value" even more. But even in dropping out, he's still going to be able to command a big appearance fee, probably a six figure one, for a fall marathon if he's healthy and if he's really healthy add a healthy five figure prize on top of that. And if he wants and is healthy he can do that again in the spring. But if he runs that three hour marathon and hurts himself too badly to run a fall marathon all or much of that money goes away.
I'm not saying I liked what he did but I do understand why he did it. Most of us want our sport to be a professional sport.
Well, for professional athletes earning money is usually their top priority.
True, though I don't agree that he has the most widely recognizable name anymore. But, given that he's a pretty charitable dude, there's nothing wrong with chasing money, because it's not hypocritical. However, I still think the mistake was in not conceding his spot to begin with. It was no secret that he's been injured for months. Did anyone really think he was going in anywhere close to 100%?