Prediction: Ryan Hall WILL Return to the Marathon within 5 years

He will compete again at the marathon distance most likely.

A race director will pay him a nice appearance fee for a meet and greet at the expo and he will compete in the marathon on race day.

He won't compete to win but could run respectable 6 minute miles for the distance.

Many in the running public love the guy.

He would definitely increase interest in any marathon he attended.

Interstate 80 wrote:

He will compete again at the marathon distance most likely.

A race director will pay him a nice appearance fee for a meet and greet at the expo and he will compete in the marathon on race day.

He won't compete to win but could run respectable 6 minute miles for the distance.

Many in the running public love the guy.

He would definitely increase interest in any marathon he attended.

I don't see it happening at all. Maybe a 10k or something at some point, but I just doubt that he'd want to run another marathon. He's been quoted as saying that he doesn't want to be in it unless he's competing at the very highest level. An "easy" pace is running for around 3 hours. Someone whose ability to run more than a few miles without profound exhaustion doesn't seem like the most likely candidate to take that on. Maybe a 10k fun run way down the road or the like. That's just my guess though.

I can see him doing it.

Everybody needs money and appearing at expos and running races could be his employment.

No, no, just...no.

Interstate 80 wrote:

He will compete again at the marathon distance most likely.

A race director will pay him a nice appearance fee for a meet and greet at the expo and he will compete in the marathon on race day.

He won't compete to win but could run respectable 6 minute miles for the distance.

Many in the running public love the guy.

He would definitely increase interest in any marathon he attended.

Spoken like an agent that is still looking for pay days

Hall will be the new Rodger/Shorter. Will show up at all marathon expos for $5-10k to sign some posters, go for a jog, and then shoot the gun. He's pretty much been doing this the past few years anyways. Meb already does this too.

His T-levels were always low so maybe it could happen. I think there is no reason why not if whatever is causing his fatigue goes away somehow.

road rashed wrote:

Hall will be the new Rodger/Shorter. Will show up at all marathon expos for $5-10k to sign some posters, go for a jog, and then shoot the gun. He's pretty much been doing this the past few years anyways. Meb already does this too.

Exactly. There was some confusion in the Summer of 2015 when he travelled to Australia to participate in the Gold Coast Marathon.

I can't recall exactly, but did he end up being a pacer for some non-elite group.

Let's hope so.

Pretty sure he's returning to the Oly Trials marathon to root for Sara.

road rashed wrote:

Hall will be the new Rodger/Shorter. Will show up at all marathon expos for $5-10k to sign some posters, go for a jog, and then shoot the gun. He's pretty much been doing this the past few years anyways. Meb already does this too.

As noted by others, he's already been doing this.

And yes, he will be in Los Angeles for Sara. In fact, he's slated to take part in a shakeout run with LA Marathon participants the night before the Trials.

road rashed wrote:

Hall will be the new Rodger/Shorter. Will show up at all marathon expos for $5-10k to sign some posters, go for a jog, and then shoot the gun. He's pretty much been doing this the past few years anyways. Meb already does this too.

This would be such a sweet gig.

I have a friend with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Came on in late 30s after running a lot of Marathons "just for fun", then ran one "all out" and was never the same since. No amount of rest has resulted in recovery or a good feeling body for more than a few days since. It is now something like 10 years later.

I sincerely hope that is not the case for Hall and I would not wish it on anyone who loves athletics.

The reality is that most high level athletes have 5-10 great Marathons in their body. After that they struggle with injuries, fatigue, etc. Hall has certainly run more than 5 great Marathons. Sadly, the statistics are not in his favor. He started Marathons early and he is done early as a result.

This has to be one of the most ludicrous threads on letsrun. Hall is incapable of 20 mile weeks. That means he cannot run a marathon in an entire week, and you think he is going to return? Best case scenario, hall finishes another marathon in his life, that'd be a big step up saying he's finished 1(?) since the 2012 Olympic trials.

Brett Phelps wrote:

People saying the man's done. Just wait for his T-levels to rise back to normal and he won't be able to resist that competitive itch. At age 33 he's still got time to make a come back.

I can actually see that happening in the next year or 2 when he get health and realizes nothing else will pay him $50K for just showing up.

Unless he's willing to take something for his low-T/chronic fatigue/adrenal fatigue issues (and he's not at all at this point), I do not think his body will recover. Too many years of too many very hard miles. Seems he's too resistant to basic medical help.

I would not be surprised to see him competing again - he is so young and so involved in the running world.

I can only see him coming back if he started doping. God knows HGH, EPO, and HGW are the only reasons Galen Rupp is still around

I could see a sub 2:20 if he made a full recovery from his chronic low t. Maybe something as fast as sub 2:12. Meb was running 2:08 at age 38 and Hall is arguably more talented.