Huge fan of Ryan and Sara Hall...but why is Sara over racing right now??

If it ain't broke don't fix it. Some athletes do well off of racing a lot. Some don't. You do you booboo.

She’s the bread winner for 6 in their family, but I hear ya.

She reminds me of the runners back in the 70's/80's- they raced more often. Especially when road racing became more popular- many people ran the "circuit" and raced, sometimes, weekly or a couple times a month.

I'd like to see more American runners at the major road races.

Sara Hall has a history of doing things like this. In 2015 she ran world XC 2 weeks after a marathon. In 2017 she ran Frankfurt in 2:27, then 5 weeks later ran CIM in 2:28. She races a lot in general. We should encourage it in a time when some pros train hard and only race 2 or 3 times a year.

Her consistency and improvement has been amazing. You cannot knock to result she has been getting, so this seems to be working for her. The Hall's seem like great people, she deserved the success she is attaining.

I disagree. Ryan and Sara were some of the footlocker alumni that attended footlocker nationals my senior year there, and she was one of the only one who walked the course with us before. She brought one of their dogs at the time, and was really down to earth. She didn't distance herself, and I got to spend a loop of the course just picking her brain about FLN strategy, her career and at the time, Ryan's recent marathon successes.

All in all, after FLN, I was a huge fan of the Halls. Ryan and Sara both made an effort to be approachable and offer advice to young athletes competing.

I do echo the sentiment of a prior poster that it cannot be ignored that she does have to provide for 4 children, plus a husband. So there are no appearance fees at the olympic trials. How much does she likely make off her base plus bonuses strictly through Asics? I am not referring to race sponsor bonuses or appearance fees.

I agree with OP. Wish she was more like Rupp and the BTC folks who disappear for months at a time and only show up when they race once or twice a year.

Sara's the main bread winner in the family. Someone has to pay the cellphone bills.

T.M.A.D.D.D.H.A.S.F.N.E.

Sara is 36 years old. The time during which she can compete on an elite level is quickly coming to an end. She needs to strike while the iron is hot. She should race as much as possible.

I'm watching out for her. It is my will.

20 Second PR wrote:

Sara Hall has a history of doing things like this. In 2015 she ran world XC 2 weeks after a marathon. In 2017 she ran Frankfurt in 2:27, then 5 weeks later ran CIM in 2:28. She races a lot in general. We should encourage it in a time when some pros train hard and only race 2 or 3 times a year.

agree 2x.

Yep certainly not traditional for this day & age but it seems to be working for her plus she's placing well & collecting prize money and appearance fees.

Also heard her say in an interview she would basically do some workouts in a marathon build where she said it was similar enough to racing a marathon -- why not just do that instead I guess. The 10 miler 1 week after a 2:22 was bold. NYC will be more tactical so she can run 2:25-28 & try to place as high as possible there. That seems doable with 5 weeks in between.

If you play your cards right in between races, it’s possible to do this without getting hurt.

runn wrote:

She reminds me of the runners back in the 70's/80's- they raced more often. Especially when road racing became more popular- many people ran the "circuit" and raced, sometimes, weekly or a couple times a month.

I'd like to see more American runners at the major road races.

Agreed, Sara is only "over-racing" given today's never-race climate. Compared to decades past, she's not racing even as much as Rodgers was.

I think I have heard her say that she thinks that she gets injured if her build up is too long and does better with a shorter build up and more racing.

It's crazy but she has always dome this and I can't remember a time when she bombed a race. Also I'm pretty sure Ryan has a lifetime contract with Asics, I'm sure he makes some money from it.

The female winner got $12k at the US 10 mile champs, plus and additional 5k for the equalizer. That's a possible 17k for the win. On paper, the female field was weaker this year than in years past. Molly Huddle was not in the field, unlike previous years, and Kellyn Taylor was a late addition. Plus, she's done the race before and said she enjoyed the course. So I'm speculating that her legs felt good, she's raced well after a marathon before (as others have pointed out) and it seemed like an attainable pay day.

LOLOLOL if you think she's racing so much because they need the money.

Ryan's contract was HUGE, hers is solid, nothing like his was, but once you add in all of her prize money she's doing very well, averaging around $10k per race to go with her contract. Plus her and Ryan team up quite often to do 'talks' at random events and they get paid thousands of dollars to do that. They are doing perfectly fine and don't need to do a ton of races to try and get as much money as possible. But I guess they won't be able to rake it in forever, and they've got 30 years until social security would kick in, so they may be getting as much as they can while they can.

I have always gotten the impression that she just loves running. She has always raced a ton. Also, she was looking to 3peat at the US 10 mile champs. Given the fitness she showed in Berlin, winning the 10-miler was likely pretty easy for her. Why not get paid 20k for a training run given the opportunity?