Dang, if God is coaching Hall, I wonder who the heck is coaching all those Kenyans and Ethiopians? They must have some pretty strong juju in those hills.
Dang, if God is coaching Hall, I wonder who the heck is coaching all those Kenyans and Ethiopians? They must have some pretty strong juju in those hills.
How can no one have pointed out this gem:
"We believe God sees us as perfect, almost as if we have a Jesus suit on..."
Jesus suit?
What should be addressed here is how so many people accepting that Ryan thinking god is talking to him, and telling him what to do, is fine BUT when an Islamic Jihadist does the exact same thing we don't hesitate for a minute to call them crazy. It's all crazy. It's all delusion.
Sam Harris addresses the craziness quite well here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22cYcsVPOok
If Elvis is talking to you is that crazy?
"This is constrained by our common sense on every other domain of discourse." Couldn't have been said better.
Former Was wrote:
It's like a gay person who says "Hi, I'm GAY, my name is Bob," instead of "Hi, I'm Bob, and my sexual preference I'll just keep to myself instead of forcing society to acknowledge it all the time."
Fixed it for you.
Todd the sprocket wrote:
Former Was wrote:Ryan:
God does not want you to win.
The US Olympic Trials are kind of major
Hey Toad, FYI: Meb won the Trials.
10sleep wrote:
Todd the sprocket wrote:The US Olympic Trials are kind of major
Hey Toad, FYI: Meb won the Trials.
Hall won the 2008 Trials with a trials record in 2:09:02.
Ryan may not have won a major marathon yet but he's doing a HELL of alot better than you or anyone else wandering these boards, unless of course you are meb, who is also a christian.
There's a difference between being a Christian and being a douche bag.
After just about every major victory the VAST majority of those Kenyans an Ethiopians seem to either cross themselves or fall to their knees in silent prayer briefly. Some juju I'd say.
Strangest part of that whole story was the bit about the "glory cloud." Somehow dust, illuminated by lighting and perfectly timed with the singers singing "glory cloud," all of the sudden becomes an act of god.
Hall is delusional, a borderline lunatic who happens to be on the best runners in the world.
This is a tangent, but whatever, that's pretty much what LetsRun is for, right?
While I don't believe in God, I am unbothered by Hall's evangelism. His evangelistic faith drives him to build hospitals in Africa, support human rights advocacy groups, fight poverty in the developing world, and help the inner-city homeless through running . . . and call attention to these actions in hope that others will join him. These are good things.
Sure, he might talk about Jesus a lot, and that may make some (including me) a bit uncomfortable at times, but that's our problem, not his. He's not saying all gays and non-believers are going to burn in hell; his beliefs may be out there (according to some), but they're not hateful, and are, in fact, driving him to make the world a better place.
It's embarrassing to see fully functioning adults who still believe in a god. Look at the real world guys.
a different SN than most times wrote:
This is a tangent, but whatever, that's pretty much what LetsRun is for, right?
While I don't believe in God, I am unbothered by Hall's evangelism. His evangelistic faith drives him to build hospitals in Africa, support human rights advocacy groups, fight poverty in the developing world, and help the inner-city homeless through running . . . and call attention to these actions in hope that others will join him. These are good things.
Sure, he might talk about Jesus a lot, and that may make some (including me) a bit uncomfortable at times, but that's our problem, not his. He's not saying all gays and non-believers are going to burn in hell; his beliefs may be out there (according to some), but they're not hateful, and are, in fact, driving him to make the world a better place.
Can't this be done without religion?
Also a gem:
“So he really thinks God is saying, ‘Run 10 times 1,200 meters today,’ or ‘Take tomorrow off’?’ ” said Dathan Ritzenhein, who finished ninth in the marathon at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, one spot ahead of his countryman Hall. “Wow.”
That being said, my favorite quote from the article is this: “So he really thinks God is saying, ‘Run 10 times 1,200 meters today,’ or ‘Take tomorrow off’?’ ” said Dathan Ritzenhein, who finished ninth in the marathon at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, one spot ahead of his countryman Hall. “Wow.”
Ritz is pretty incredulous about Hall's coaching model (as am I), but he's not disrespectful. After all, Dathan knows better than anyone that the situation is working at least pretty well (see Olympic Trials Marathon, Houston, January 2012).
That being said, I wish God would tell Ryan that he'll be speaking to him through Bob Larsen from now on and Ryan should be getting his workouts from him. Oh, and that he shouldn't race another marathon until next fall and should focus on getting his 10,000m PR as far below 28:00 as he can summer while having some fun on the domestic roads circuit (Bloomsday, Utica, Beach to Beacon, etc), too. And that while this six days a week stuff is fine for now, when he starts his marathon-specific block next October he should get back up to 115-125 mpw and stop taking time off. Sunday long runs aren't work--they're fun!
I mean, if God is going to give him specific advice, he might as well give him better specific advice.
That being said, my favorite quote from the article is this: “So he really thinks God is saying, ‘Run 10 times 1,200 meters today,’ or ‘Take tomorrow off’?’ ” said Dathan Ritzenhein, who finished ninth in the marathon at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, one spot ahead of his countryman Hall. “Wow.”
Ritz is pretty incredulous about Hall's coaching model (as am I), but he's not disrespectful. After all, Dathan knows better than anyone that the situation is working at least pretty well (see Olympic Trials Marathon, Houston, January 2012).
That being said, I wish God would tell Ryan that he'll be speaking to him through Bob Larsen from now on and Ryan should be getting his workouts from him. Oh, and that he shouldn't race another marathon until next fall and should focus on getting his 10,000m PR as far below 28:00 as he can summer while having some fun on the domestic roads circuit (Bloomsday, Utica, Beach to Beacon, etc), too. And that while this six days a week stuff is fine for now, when he starts his marathon-specific block next October he should get back up to 115-125 mpw and stop taking time off. Sunday long runs aren't work--they're fun!
I mean, if God is going to give him specific advice, he might as well give him better specific advice.
Ryan just needs to pull that weight vest out of the closet...he'd break 2 hours in London!
When you get called a douchebag on Letsrun you have really arrived.
Yep, Hall is "weird" about it. 'Cause Gabe Jennings wasn't weird about his deal or anything. Here's the deal: who cares?
Tolerance means putting up with people. Deal with it. The fact that it bothers so many people so much merely exposes your lack of tolerance. Christians get douchebag jackasses shoving their secularism in their face all the time. So now a Christian is shoving his religion in your face? Maybe he is a douchebag. But apparently you are to.
Show a little grace, and not the religious kind.
Honestly? wrote:
What should be addressed here is how so many people accepting that Ryan thinking god is talking to him, and telling him what to do, is fine BUT when an Islamic Jihadist does the exact same thing we don't hesitate for a minute to call them crazy.
Easy: in our society, training for and running marathons is much more acceptable than flying passenger aircraft into buildings.
Any other mysteries you would like explained?
A few of my former college teammates made t-shirts in 2009 with a Nike swoosh that said "God chose Dathan."
umm....how does Hall force his faith into your face and why are you so uptight about a dude's faith? Part of what Hall believes is that he has a duty to share his faith. If it offends you so much, why did you read every word of the NYT article, knowing before you even started what it was about? Was Hall there with you in your Mom's basement, forcing you at gunpoint to do so? You're so upset about hearing and reading about Hall's Christian beliefs that you actually started a thread about it so you can discuss and debate it? If it offends you so much to read someone say they love God, why do you go out of your way to keep reading about it?