Ryan Hall's Performance The (fill in the blank) Best American Performance EVER

And here's a list that's actually accurate:

http://www.alltime-athletics.com/mhmaraok.htm

I think the ARRS site is the most comprehensive in terms of rejecting aided performances:

http://www.arrs.net/AL_HMar.htm

and they explain why they exclude lisbon certain years:

http://www.arrs.net/HP_LisHM.htm

But maybe it is good to see one with all the aided performances on there like you have provided.

But I want to try and keep this thread on the topic of where Hall's performance ranks.

I was actually having this same discussion earlier today when I found out about the result, and I also ranked it as the 2nd best US performance of all time.

Top 5:

KK's WR marathon at London

Hall's sub-60 1/2 marathon

Kennedy's sub-13 5K

Virgin's World Cross wins

Mills' 10K Gold Medal

MJ's 200 and 400 WR's are both far superior performances, Just like Mo Greene's 9.79 is and Every one of Carl Lewis's performances at 84 olympics. Hall would have got beaten by any number of African's, Your sprinters are far superior to your distance runners, look at your 200 and 400 guys for the true talent in your pathetic country.

so now are we back to the question of which is better an olympic gold medal or a WR and in this question a AR?

Congrats to Ryan for an outstading performance!!!!!!

I do hope in all of your enthusiasm you keep in mind this is a "road" race and not a track race. I am not trying to take away from this performance, as running such a time in January is great, but let's not project too far as to it's value as a legitimate time on the track for 5k or 10k.

I would rank it as the most surprising.

I'm excluding Mills because I don't remember it.

On Topic: I'd say KK's marathon is obviously the best. I'll give BK and Hall's performances a tie.

According to the IAAF Scoring Tables,

Ryan Hall's 59:43 = 1266 pts.

Michael Johnson's 19.32 = 1335 pts.

Michael Johnson's 43.18 = 1300 pts.

Maurice Greene's 9.79 = 1293 pts.

A 59:43 Half Marathon is "equal" in pts. to the following performances:

100- 9.86

200- 19.75

400- 43.69

800- 1:41.89

1500- 3:28.54

Mile- 3:45.11

3000- 7:25.87

3000 Steeple - 7:59.27

5000- 12:47.58

10000- 26:42.14

Marathon- 2:05:23

I'm a bit skeptical of the middle distance times... However, according to IAAF, Ryan Hall's was the best USA long distance performance ever.

justthefacts wrote:

I do hope in all of your enthusiasm you keep in mind this is a "road" race and not a track race. I am not trying to take away from this performance, as running such a time in January is great, but let's not project too far as to it's value as a legitimate time on the track for 5k or 10k.

um, who cares?

wejo wrote:

I must say I'm totally shocked.

You're not the only one. I know that he showed a lot of promise in high school and college, and he had several strong xc performances last year, and but what has he done that would suggest this great leap forward?

Any idea how long the course remeasurement and ratification process will take?

Billy Mills gets the top ever distance performance. Hall's run was like Mills very suprising though not an upset. We must remember than performances are not as special if they don't occur at the Olympics. However, Hall's run is amazing in the way that it shows other Americans that they too have the ability to run with other top runners and can shy away from the pathetic excuse that they aren't African, etc. Congrats Ryan for a huge breakthrough!

wisdomsitsinplaces wrote:

Billy Mills gets the top ever distance performance.

Sorry, but I don't equate "best" with "most dramatic" or "most attention-grabbing."

For what it's worth, if the course was accurately measured, Hall's performance today was probably the best distance run (from, say, 3000 meters up) of all time by anyone born outside of Africa. It's really astonishing.

Avocado's Number wrote:

wejo wrote:

I must say I'm totally shocked.

You're not the only one. I know that he showed a lot of promise in high school and college, and he had several strong xc performances last year, and but what has he done that would suggest this great leap forward?

Any idea how long the course remeasurement and ratification process will take?

Well, he did set the AR for 20k at Drebecen last fall, so it's not totally out of left field.

As for the course measurement, it may have been pre-validated; if so, the records count as soon as they're approved by the USATF records committee. I'll check w/ the validations chair from RRTC to see what the status is for Houston.

So where does he go from here? Does anyone know for sure whether he will run at the Marathon trials next year?

thats insane... breaking the american record be over a minute and 10 seconds

Wejo, where the heck does JK get his charts, did he make these conversions himself or what? I am always skeptical about rating performances based on anecdotal evidence.

Man Wejo, I am shocked too. I'm not sure anyone saw that coming.

Ryan Hall has shown by this performance that he is clearly in the same league with Dathan Ritzenhein in all distances, and quite frankly any other American. This was such a superior performance that maybe even in CC he has a real shot at beating a healthy Ritzenhein.

He's been a peg down in my mind due to very inconsistent performances, but regardless of whether he takes a step or two back, this performance is so good that he gets to remain in any discussion about who the best in the US is.

Never thought I'd say that of Webb, Tegenkamp, Hall and Ritzenhein that Ritzenhein is in fourth of that group. Right now he is.

CONGRATULATIONS Ryan Hall. Ryan's AMAZING performance 59:43 (1/2 marathon) have me eagerly awaiting his 10000m debut! I really hope Ryan planned his track 10000m debut overseas against the world top 10000m men and here against a U.S field.