Podcast: We Talk To Jim Ryun After Naming Him The Greatest American Distance Runner of All-Time
by LetsRun.com
May 8, 2020
Our weekly LetsRun.com Track Talk podcast is here (subscribe here) and what a special show it is this week. This week we devote the entire show to talking to Jim Ryun – the athlete that the LetsRun.com visitors recently voted as the Greatest American Distance Runner of All-Time. During our talk, Ryun talks about his entire career, during which he ran sub-4 and made the Olympics in high school before being named Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year during his freshman year of college as he broke the mile WR and met his future wife on the same day. Along the way we of course talk about the 1968 and 1972 Olympics. In 1968, Jim snagged the silver and we point out that if you convert his time for altitude, he ran the equivalent of 3:29 for 1500 in the process according to the NCAA. We also talk about current track and field stars and Jim talks about the relationship he’s had with Alan Webb and Matthew Centrowitz. Details appear in the show notes below.
The podcast is sponsored by TheFeed.com. They’ve got everything you need to perform at your best and try and stay healthy. LetsRun.com co-founder Weldon Johnson just got his goody back and is pumped. They have a new product – BLDG Active’s Anti-microbial Face and Hand Spray which is a medical-grade solution you can take with you to spray on your hands and face. Go to TheFeed.com/Letsrun for more info and use code LETSRUN to save 15% off your entire order.
Also, why don’t you check out Jim Ryun’s running camp? Normally it’s for high schoolers but this year it’s going online and will be virtual so there is no age limit. Check it out at RyunRunning.com.
So subscribe to the podcast or listen below. Jim also answered a few question about his career on our forum this week: MB: Deena Kastor and Jim Ryun answer your questions about their career right here on LRC. You can find them his responses on page 5.
Need more Ryun info? LRC Jim Ryun Named LetsRun’s Greatest American Distance Runner of All Time
*MB: The Final Is Here: Deena Kastor or Jim Ryun – Who is the American GOAT?
*MB: Frank Shorter vs. Jim Ryun. Who ya got?
2004: Read this lengthy messageboard thread from 2004 in which some of Jim’s family chimed in about his career.
Show notes appear below the player:
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Show notes:
Start: Intro and then Jim reacts to being named the Greatest American Distance Runner of All-Time by LetsRun.com and talks about making the Olympics at age 17.
[spp-timestamp time=”4:58″] Jim talks about how he found running after being cut from the church baseball team and how he ran 100-mile weeks in HS.
[spp-timestamp time=”9:15″] We talk about Jim’s 3:51.1 mile WR and wonder what it would have been on a modern synthetic track. Jim says it felt like one of the “easiest races of his life.”
[spp-timestamp time=”11:57″] The talk turns to Ryun’s training under Bob Timmons which included 4 workouts per week
[spp-timestamp time=” 15:20″] The talk turns to running sub-4 miles in HS and Ryun talks about how after just his 4th HS race coach Timmons told him he thought he could be first US HS to break 4:00.
[spp-timestamp time=”23:40″] Jim talks about the one time he lost a high school track race
[spp-timestamp time=”26:23″] Jim talks about how he almost went to Oregon State.
[spp-timestamp time=”31:25″] Jim talks about how when he was in college freshman weren’t allowed to compete in the NCAA but he still managed to be named Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year that year and how on the same day he set the WR in the mile, he met his future wife, only he didn’t know it at the time.
[spp-timestamp time=”34:43″] Jim talks about the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. He calls the decision to hold it at altitude was a mistake but says his silver medal run was one of his best runs ever. We point out that according to the NCAA he ran the equivalent of a 3:29 1500.
[spp-timestamp time=” 5:13″] More 1968 talk as we ask Jim about how much his training was limited by Mono that year.
[spp-timestamp time=”50:08″] Jim talks about how he wanted to redshirt in 1969 but coach Timmons didn’t let him.
[spp-timestamp time=”56:17″] Jim talks about the 1972 Olympics – a race Seb Coe thinks he would have won had he not been tripped
[spp-timestamp time=”64:35″] Does Jim still watch track and field these days? Who is his favorite athlete? Jim talks about his interactions with both Alan Webb and Matthew Centrowitz.
Got an audio question / opinion for the podcast? Call 844-LETSRUN (538-7786) and hit option 7.