What Does Ryan Hall Need to Do in Houston For You to Consider it a Positive Performance?

You run to win the race. Hello? You run to win the race.

A win would be positive, is quite possible given this field.

A time in the vicinity of 62 would also be positive.

But that's just my opinion. Ryan's view is apparently that as long as he "runs with joy" it's a positive performance. So I predict that, regardless of his time or place, he will consider it a positive performance.

Having had all sorts of problems physically, mentally and spiritually with my running, my wish for Ryan Hall is...

FINISH THE RACE, WITH A SMILE ON YOUR FACE!

Hail Satan!

1:02:20 and a solid second to Trafeh.

I'd call that a positive sign.

I think his run today was positive. You should look at the course map, it had lots of U-turns (evidently to be similar to London 2012) so the finishing times were probably reflective of the course. It was not run on the same course when he set the AR.

A fast course should stay a fast course , not the play making of guys like Glen Latimer , we want a course like London , give me a break !

All would have liked a super fast course.

Let the marathon course have turns.

1/10

I live in Houston and watched the race. Hall ran decently but it's the same old Hall. He is just as happy when he loses as when he wins. You can train and you can learn to race but maybe you can't learn to be competitive. Some people hate to lose. Pre would be a good example. Maybe Hall will never hate losing enough to be a winner.

Junk Master wrote:

1:02:20 and a solid second to Trafeh.

I'd call that a positive sign.

How much to Hall pocket for the win?

sub3over40 wrote:

I live in Houston and watched the race. Hall ran decently but it's the same old Hall. He is just as happy when he loses as when he wins. You can train and you can learn to race but maybe you can't learn to be competitive. Some people hate to lose. Pre would be a good example. Maybe Hall will never hate losing enough to be a winner.

Could be. Maybe he'll never love winning enough to be a jerk, either.

I think Ryan realizes that all he can give is his best (even if that means mistakes along the way), so that's what he needs to shoot for. Too many people act as if the results dictate their worth as a person--which forces many to give up because they aren't winning anymore. (Seriously, a lot of kids come out of high school winning most of their races and get to college and can't handle not being #1.)

I think Ryan's interviews show that realizes he's trying to learn to be confident enough to REST. He can't be overly disappointed by every loss or it will begin to send running back into the realm of being enjoyable only when you win.

Personally, I run fastest off of a relatively consistent pace. For a while I ran against that, thinking I needed to have the confidence to run with the leaders, if I hoped to win or place well. Eventually I had to learn that the confidence I needed was that I could let the leaders go and be good enough to catch them. Confidence isn't always front-running and doing all-out workouts everyday. It's a confidence in a plan, and Ryan ran for the win today, but didn't run to win for the past few weeks/months--he trained to win a different day, that's all.

jeezus, to quote the rock'losers whine about their best. winners go home and f%@k the prom queen'granted a juvenille statement but never the less, there is some truth to it.

Cheetah wrote:

[quote]sub3over40 wrote:

I think Ryan realizes that all he can give is his best (even if that means mistakes along the way), so that's what he needs to shoot for.

I may sound old but maybe Hall's problem is generational. He as grown up in an enviroment that everyone who participates gets a gold star. His generation played in soccer games where no one kept score. You speak of high schoolers who burn out in college because they are no longer # 1. What causes this? It is being coddled from a young age and not being told that it is not ok to just run and finish, that winning means something and you have to grow as you move up in the competitive world. At his level, showing up is not good enough. Maybe the reason he does not have a coach is that he can't handle criticism...even if it is oonstructive. Hall's own expectations have been so dumbed down that he doesn' care if he is blowing it and doesn't want to hear a coach tell him the news.

Oh please, this is such a stupid argument. 6 year olds get a gold star for participating and that is developmentally appropriate, but by the time a kid gets to the 6th grade sports are cut throat competitive, more than they have ever been.

sub 105

Not mention God in his post race interview......good luck.

He hated to lose, but his run until you drop instead of race smarts style cause him to lose on many occasions. Maybe a happy medium would be better.

sub3over40 wrote:

I live in Houston and watched the race. Hall ran decently but it's the same old Hall. He is just as happy when he loses as when he wins. You can train and you can learn to race but maybe you can't learn to be competitive. Some people hate to lose. Pre would be a good example. Maybe Hall will never hate losing enough to be a winner.

i think it is funny that some people think ryan hall has a problem with his running right now. he just ran 62 min w/o training specifically for this event. he beat everyone but one person (most of which were training for this race).i expect to see him closer to 60 min in 2 months when he races again. i see no problems here.

truth911 wrote:

jeezus, to quote the rock

'losers whine about their best. winners go home and f%@k the prom queen'

granted a juvenille statement but never the less, there is some truth to it.

Well, I think that you spelled most of the words correctly. So, that could be considered a sort of truth. Other than that, basically juvenile fluff.

Brett Larner of Japanese Rrnning Blog

http://japanrunningnews.blogspot.com/

sent me a few races where the winner was sub 60 with the next guy minutes behind:

A few from races in Japan, none of them with pacemakers:

4:20 – Mekubo Mogusu, Ichinoseki Int’l Half Marathon, 9/27/07

1. Mekubo Mogusu (KEN) – 59:58

2. Akira Kiniwa (JPN) – 1:04:18

3:55 – Samuel Wanjiru, Sendai Int’l Half Marathon, 7/10/05

1. Samuel Wanjiru (KEN) – 59:43

2. Daniel Njenga (KEN) – 1:03:38

Close, but not over 2:30:

2:23 – Mekubo Mogusu, Marugame Int’l Half Marathon, 2/4/07

1. Mekubo Mogusu (KEN) – 59:48

2. Takayuki Matsumiya (JPN) – 1:02:11