I met Ryan and his wife a few years ago. A friend of mine went to his camp and they would text back and forth. He was always encouraging my friend in races and life. We caught up to them after a race his wife ran in our area, and he was one of the most gracious people I have ever met. We spent about a half hour together, and he talked to everyone, signing autographs, encouraging, and being an advocate for running. It wasnt fake, you could just tell he loved running and people. What really surprised me was that he took the time to care about everyone he met. I work as a Lutheran pastor, and although I don't care much for his training methods, after meeting him, I respect the heck out of the guy.

I bumped into Ryan at the Au Bon Pain in Copley Sq. the day before the 2011 race. It was funny that in a packed restaurant - no one really knew who he was - he just blended in with the crowd (Boston the day before the marathon is full of runners). I wished him luck and he was very gracious - reminded me of Bill Rodgers in a way.

Maybe Ryan can uncork one this year. Only Ryan and a few close advisors really know what type of form he is sitting on currently. I hope he runs his race and mows the field down in the final 10K.

+1

I'll take a "kooky" nice guy over a "kooky" a-hole any day.

He seems like a genuinely nice guy who wants to help as many people as possible.

Emma Moffat did that in Australia, donated $2,000 to the bishfire relief effort after winning the Nepean Tri.

From a purely selfish economic perspective it was a very wise move as it got her a lot more media coverage than she would have got otherwise.

I think Chris Lieto has been a model for charity work and triathlon, but yeah I think accross the board, some of the cashed up male athletes could be doing a little more

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Had a similar experience last year on Marathon weekend where he was in the lobby of the Copley Plaza hotel and very gracious with anyone who recognized him, posing for pictures, signing autographs and asking people about their races for that Monday.

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"You can never win or lose if you don't run the race." - Richard Butler

You must have this place confused with Let's Run.

This is what I came to post. I think most people here don't know who he is let alone give him "a lot of crap." Where is this coming from?

Who is Ryan Hall?

he doesnt get "crap" for being a bad person, i think a lot of people who pay attention to running know hall is overrated, so many other better american runners, that actually, win big races, win olympic metals, etc, dont get all the fame he gets, not his fault, but its the truth, he just is not that good

Who are all these legions of better runners? Meb obviously has an Olympic medal and won in NY, but his personal best is also slower than Hall's.

Overrated? Isn't he the only American to run a sub-hour half marathon and sub 2:05 marathon? He's has some injuries but he's only 30 and his best races could still be ahead of him. What is your standard for being "that good"?

I think most people here don't know who he is let alone give him "a lot of crap." Where is this coming from?

Do a "subject" search on Ryan Hall and you'll find a lot of ridiculous comments. Any time he drops out of a race people will say he sucks. And if you talk about his American record and fast marathon times they say, yeah, what has he done lately. Basically small-penis syndrome comments.

i'm talking about distance runners, in last olympics american won silver in 10k and i think bronze in 1500, hall doesnt even beat americans in the marathon anymore, in china he was second american, last U.S. olympics trials he didnt win, then in olympics didnt finish

He's an amazing talent, but I think he needs to finish the race to donate any prize $$ - he hasn't finished a marathon since the Olympic trials, where Meb beat him. I hope he has an awesome race and can get his injury streak behind him.

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goregrind wrote:

in last olympics american won silver in 10k

Yeah, you're right! Why doesn't Rupp get any attention???

Tough room. The guy has had some nagging injuries and still has plenty of time to put in some great performances. Not sure how you can compare a 1,500 runner to a marathoner, the latter has been dominated by African runners for a long time. Hall is still one of the best American distance runners. There aren't many, if any, who are better.

I met him after I ran the 10th Anniversary ING Miami Half Marathon. Nice guy. Even signed my medal.

>hall doesnt even beat americans in the marathon anymore, in china he was second american, last U.S. olympics trials he didnt win, then in olympics didnt finish

By "doesn't even beat Americans anymore" you mean he occasionally loses to one other American?


I never understand this attitude whenever Hall, Rupp, and others come up. There's a class of older runners who hand-wring over the "decline" of American distance running since the Shorter/Rodgers days, yet work to tear down any American distance runner who achieves any sort of mainstream publicity. It's kind of sad.

no, people just make the point that he is not even the best american marathoner for years, and compared to world marathoners, he's in the minor leagues, thats not an attempt to tear him down or insult him, its just a fact

I love Meb, but in a head-to-head time trial that really count - I'm not sure Hall cared about winning the '12 trials versus just making the team - who do you think wins? He has the best American marathon time in "years." Finishing fourth in the fastest race in history wouldn't seem to be "minor leagues."

are you talking about boston a couple years ago? the best runners go to london during that time, you even said yourself its not about a time trial, the better runners will let him stay with them for most of the race then crush him near the end, just like any track race

Please tell Geoffrey Mutai that he isn't one of the fastest marathoners in the world.

Dude. Less than 30 guys have ever gone sub-2:05. Everyone on that list is Kenyan or Ethiopian except one guy. That's a pretty small major league.

Back in the day we used to say, "Scoreboard". In this case, "Timeclock" is more appropriate.

And of those 30, how many only ran a sub 2:05 with a hurricane at their back on an ineligible course?

Hall's best marathon is London. He's had one legitimate 2:06. His others are slower.

He's not a legit sub 2:05 guy. He's not even a legit sub 2:06 guy. Fact.