Ryan Hall DNFs at LA. Will he ever run a good marathon again?

Ryan Hall is just one more example of white privilege. His sponsors stick with him because he appeals to a broad fan base who prefers that their heroes have fairer complexions. Meb on the other hand, has to actually win something to get a tenth of the endorsement money that Hall gets for basically being a religious wacko who quits. Could Meb get away with this?

And JK has coached exactly how many top marathoners?

wejo wrote:

rojo wrote:

It amazes me so many people bash Hall. I should right a column

and I'll left one :;

Glad the brotherly love is strong.

gdj wrote:

Ryan Hall is just one more example of white privilege. His sponsors stick with him because he appeals to a broad fan base who prefers that their heroes have fairer complexions. Meb on the other hand, has to actually win something to get a tenth of the endorsement money that Hall gets for basically being a religious wacko who quits. Could Meb get away with this?

The fact that this thread is 8 pages long show why sponsors are interested in him.

Also, although I know that there are a lot of "record eligible" fetishists out there, Hall is as much of a 2:04 marathoner as Bill Rodgers is a 2:09 marathoner.

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Possibility 3. Taking thyroid hormone messed him up

Possibility 4. He stopped taking thyroid meds and can non longer complete

Possibility 5. Both of the above.

Possibility 6. It's all part of gods plan for Ryan

.....................................................................................

Two possibilities.

1. His pride destroyed his career. No coach gave him the flexibility to travel and ride the gravy train. The result is he has been his own worst enemy and he wasn't disciplined enough to maintain the required top-tier edge.

2. His success 4-7 years ago was a fluke and he just isn't/wasn't that good. Being that there is no such thing as fluke good races, all things point to #1. With that being the case, it's hard to feel sorry for him.

Interesting about the thyroid meds....

I thought he did look heavier than usual during the race. Not that he is fat, but compared to Mo or Galen...

I just hope he doesn't pull out the "overtrained" card again. You make yourself believe you are overtrained long enough and you are gonna end up well undertrained...

What is the difference between Show Up, Get Paid, and DNS as opposed to Show Up, Get Paid, and DNF? The dude's 15 minutes of fame are almost over if he doesn't make it to the Olympics and if you were a race director and paid this jabroni whatever to do the race just to watch him not finish or just stand on the sidelines how would you feel? You might as well take your money, put it in the toilet and flush it away.

I think the main problem is that for his body, he's done marathoning. He's probably torn up his muscles too many times - they just stopped healing.

Same thing that happened to Alan Webb.

But no reason Hall shouldn't be running 2:12...he trains alone, right? maybe he needs a big pack to get lost in, to have fun with, to race, to see how peers deal with setbacks, to let a little of his pride go, to get beaten on 'race back to the barn' days...

Asics doesn't really have a team, but maybe there is some group that would

I AM SOOO EMBARRASSED.

Obviously Hall wasn't going to start running bad as soon as he left Mahon. The years of consistent hard work gained from training under Mahon stuck with him for another while. He left in the fall of 2010, ran 2:04 @ Boston because he still had his incredible base under him. Then after that things slowly started going downhill. Sure, he made the Olympic Team in 2012, but got dropped by Meb @ the end. Considering how strongly he finished the trials in 08, he should have easily won in 2012 as well.

Then after that, well we know what's been going on.

The animus towards Hall is indeed curious. Is this another case where the public built him into something greater than he was and then gleefully cheered as he fell short? I would have loved for him to take the stage afterwards to discuss his issue(s), but he ducked. I do think he needs to take some responsibility for his attitude post race (I ran into him after Peachtree briefly and tried to just shake hands and say hang in there and he never even made eye contact). I don't know why race directors don't make media availability a requirement of the appearance contract a la Marshawn Lynch.

Ryan Fan wrote:

I would have loved for him to take the stage afterwards to discuss his issue(s), but he ducked. I do think he needs to take some responsibility for his attitude post race (I ran into him after Peachtree briefly and tried to just shake hands and say hang in there and he never even made eye contact). I don't know why race directors don't make media availability a requirement of the appearance contract a la Marshawn Lynch.

That would be a good requirement. But otherwise when should we expect to hear something out of Hall regarding his performance at LA? Never? Won't he have to sit down for an interview or something sooner or later? He can't hide from us forever! He owes us an explanation! We have a right to know!

god hath forsaken him.

gdj wrote:

Ryan Hall is just one more example of white privilege. His sponsors stick with him because he appeals to a broad fan base who prefers that their heroes have fairer complexions. Meb on the other hand, has to actually win something to get a tenth of the endorsement money that Hall gets for basically being a religious wacko who quits. Could Meb get away with this?

I love meb as a runner. But the guy has been in the US for 30 years and he still has an accent that makes it difficult to understand.

Also we don't know the behind the scenes negotiations.

As for your comment. What about Tiger Woods?

I don't see too many people criticizing what Ryan Hall did during that ~5 year peak. It was undeniably awesome.

I also don't think you would have seen as many people criticize him if he'd run something fairly pedestrian today-- say 2:14, top 5 overall and second American. (Yes, there would have been some critics, but taking the heat into account I think most people would have judged it as a B/B- level performance.)

For, what drives me insane is to see someone with that much talent and experience pace himself like an eighth-grader running his first cross-country race:

0:04:42

0:04:50

0:04:41

0:05:06

0:05:08

0:05:04

0:05:08

0:05:18

0:05:19

0:05:15

0:05:15

0:05:22

0:05:46

I know that he was running with the lead pack at 5k. But why? Did he really think they were going to run 2:05 on that course with that weather? It's just very, very frustrating to watch someone race so foolishly-- especially when there is a great model of someone (Meb) who uses smart strategy and conservative pacing to rack up wins and top-5 finishes at major marathons.

otter wrote:

I've been around long enough to see the odds of a comeback are stacked up pretty high against him but I have also seen many surprises over the years. I can still remember DeCastella's win at Rotterdam when I thought his career was over.

I know you guys were laughing about it but I wouldn't be shocked if he jumped in Boston if he felt he was ready to run.

I also don't understand the negativity here but I guess that will never change. Guys like Ritz and Solinsky who have had their share of problems don't receive the same hatred. I'm glad they don't but Hall doesn't deserve the flack either.

Hall gets the "hatred" because he is easily the most talented marathon runner the USA has ever had. He's the only guy to have the raw talent to go head to head with the Kenyans shortly after finishing college. We feel collectively, a sense of disappointment at opportunity lost. With Hall's talent, all he needed was the right day to be able to win Boston or even the Olympics. For now, it appears his window has closed, but I sure hope I'm wrong.

As for Boston, no joking, I think he should do it. His race yesterday was basically a half marathon, he should train hard for 3.5 weeks then have a short 1.5 week taper. He can do it. He should do it. You don't take 2 weeks off and shut down your season after a half marathon at Ryan's level, he should take advantage of the situation. He probably won't, but I hope he does.

Ryan,

Bribe Mahon with a family size box of Drake's Coffee Cakes to coach you again.

Sincerely,

The Elephant

He didn't do anything that absurd.

I just want to say that I really feel for him and hope he comes back very strong. Some people here forget how much of a ride on the edge it is at sub 2:10 level. IIRC, Hall ran 9 times 2:10 or faster + a 2:12 in Beijing. Hard to argue with the fact he's the fastest US marathoner ever. I know. Khannouchi was 2:05. Meb has Olympic Silver and some wins. But 9 x 2:04:58 - 2:10:low. That's just absurdely good. I always loved how he went crazy right from the gun (1:02:13 half way into London 2008, 1:01:55 half way in Boston 2011). No one else in the US has ever shown this kind of positive craziness. Even if he never runs anything fast again he has a GREAT career. Do I believe he could have done more with a little luck? Absolutely. But that's life. I wish hin the best - and really: Don't bash him too hard. He doesn't DNF or run 2:17 because it's so much fun to him, I'm sure.

Pikachu