Ryan Hall Pulls Out of 2013 New York City Marathon
Fastest American marathoner in history has now pulled out of the last three marathons he’s signed up for and hasn’t finished a marathon since January 2012
by LetsRun.com
October 22, 2013
The fastest marathoner in US history, Ryan Hall, has pulled out of next week’s 2013 ING New York City Marathon.
“In my zealous efforts to have redemption in this year’s ING New York City Marathon, I overstepped the first and most important rule—making it to the line healthy,” said Hall in a statement released by the NYRR. “A long string of very aggressive training has aggravated my hip and it has not been able to fully calm down, such that I don’t think racing on it is wise. I am very disappointed that I won’t be lining up on November 3rd as I had so looked forward to, but I am refocusing now on getting back to 100% and going after some big goals in 2014. Redemption will have to wait, but it will be all the more sweet.”
Hall’s pull-out was far from a surprise as he’s been struggling with injuries for most of the last two years. Today’s pullout means when Hall runs his next marathon presumably next spring, it will be the first marathon he’s finished in more than two years.
Three Straight Pullouts Plus a DNF
Hall last finished a marathon at the 2012 US Olympic Trials in Houston in January of 2012. Since then, he’s dropped out of the Olympic marathon in London with a hamstring injury, pulled out of last year’s ING New York City Marathon (before it was cancelled) due to plantar fasciitis and tightness in his leg, then pulled out of this year’s Boston Marathon before it started with a quadriceps strain.
Quick Take #1: As mentioned above, this pull-out was far from surprising. When Hall announced he wasn’t running the Rock ‘n Roll San Jose Half-Marathon last month, our first thought was, “Is a pull-out for New York next?” The answer was yes.
QT #2: The question now becomes, “Is Hall’s career as an elite marathoner finished?” Once the injuries start piling up, it can be tough to come back. That being said, if he’s looking for hope, he can look no further than Martin Lel. The former world #1 has only finished two marathons since 2008 but he was just added to the start line for New York last week. Lel turns 35 next week whereas Hall just turned 31 last week.
More: Discuss this in our forum: Ryan Hall has withdrawn from NYCM.
