Ryan Hall Running 2011 Bank of America Chicago Marathon

Hall is either making a good choice or a horrible one.

Ryan Hall doesn't have to be 100% fit to kick every other American's butt in the marathon.

For American running, I hope it's the former.

He and maybe Ritz seem like the only two that might have a shot at performing well in the Olympics. Maybe Meb, but he is past his prime.

I don't think he will have any trouble dominating the trials. His difficult part will be the Olympics which will be his 4th marathon in 16 months.

I agree.

Meb can tactically run with Hall, but other than him I'm not sure if anyone can be close. Ritz was the closest at the last trials but hasn't given us any reason to believe he'll be there.

He doesn't have to be 100% to get a spot on the team in January; so in Chicago he can make his money, pop a fast one (hoping the weather is good), and gain more experience with the Marathon. He'll recover and then hop into some specific work and be ready for the Trials.

Will be an exciting fall for sure!

I think if you asked him, and he had to answer truthfully, which he would rather win - US marathon major or the olympics...he might actually choose the marathon major.

Or put another way - he wants to win a bloody marathon. He is unlikely to win the Olympics, but maybe he has a shot at Chicago.

He should easily be able to focus on Chicago if he so chooses. He only needs to finish top 3 in January and then he'll have more than 6 months to prepare for the Olympics.

Shoebacca wrote:

He should easily be able to focus on Chicago if he so chooses. He only needs to finish top 3 in January and then he'll have more than 6 months to prepare for the Olympics.

Betcha he runs Boston in the interim.

I usually bash Ryan Hall but this seems like a smart decision:

- having run 2:04 will give him a great paycheck in Chicago and NYCM was too close to the trials anyway

- it's also his last paycheck for a while, he can't run any Marathon between trials and London 2012

- he only has this one chance to monetize the 2:04. After London 2012 and the trials, if he disappoints he will be remembered for that and Boston will get an *, if he doesn't that means he has a medal he can monetize

- if he is smart he really just runs the trials for place 3, 2:12 should probably be enough. That's a hard tempo. Very hard tempo. But should be recover quickly.

Calender Girl wrote:

I don't think he will have any trouble dominating the trials. His difficult part will be the Olympics which will be his 4th marathon in 16 months.

Which isn't too much at all, especially if the OT doesn't strain him too much. That's 5 1/3 months of rest between each one, with over seven months between OTs and Olympics.

What do you all think Hall gets in terms of an appearance fee?

$150,000 or more?

Hard to pass up that much cash when there will be no payday at the Olympics.

smd wrote:

Betcha he runs Boston in the interim.

No he won't. Nothing to win, everything to lose.

Nutella1 wrote:

smd wrote:

Betcha he runs Boston in the interim.

No he won't. Nothing to win, everything to lose.

Nothing to win? Other than a couple hundred thousand in appearance fees?

edumacator wrote:

Nothing to win? Other than a couple hundred thousand in appearance fees?

Yes, but it could very well end his career. He would run 2:10 or so, withdraw from London 2012 etc.

Ok, but maybe those couple hundred thousand $ will be enough to convince him....we'll see.

Nutella1 wrote:

No he won't. Nothing to win, everything to lose.

"Nothing to win"?? Except an appearance fee, and a chance to win the race. Other than that, your comment makes complete sense.

agreed, and I really really really hope I am wrong but this seems like a bad decision. Too many variables that can go awry. Not just in the races themselves but in training for them

mike mayhem wrote:

Hall is either making a good choice or a horrible one.

god wants ryan to make more money - seems odd

I once again feel obligated to educate the ignorance that continually takes place with this boards lack of understanding when it comes to the marathon.

1. It takes approximately 3 months for a World Class Marathoner to train for a marathon.

2. It takes approximately 1 month to recover from a Marathon before any serious training should resume.

3. If a marathoner runs more than 4 marathons in a 2 year period, they will increase their chance of injury 10 fold. This is why Deena and Meb and even Hall to a lesser degree has pulled out of Marathons over the last few years.

You can not talk about time between Chicago and Houston without including what was done in the 12 monts prior to Chicago as well as the 12 months following Houston.

hrunner wrote:

god wants ryan to make more money - seems odd

I see what you did there. Nice one.