http://espn.go.com/blog/endurance/post/_/id/1950/elite-field-for-boston-marathon-shuffled
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I hope the BAA has an alternate in mind
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Heard that one before. Many times.
depends if god decides to let him be healthy this year
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I hope this time he actually does.
Nice. Now’s my chance to beat him. 
What will the Vegas odds be on him actually being on the start line?
I actually hope he does race, and can replicate his performance from 2011 - that was fun to watch.
That race, in a lot of ways, was really painful to watch. I remember when Mutai, and Mosop made something of a decisive push, and Ryan was looking absolutely incredible the entire race. What does Ryan do when there is the decisive surge from Mutia/Mosop? He looks at his watch, looks up, looks at his watch again, then looks up, then one more time he looks at his watch, and stays put.
Now, I am well aware the the absolute best races are the ones when everything feels easy. When you look back at the effort, and think to yourself that perhaps you should have pushed a little harder. So, in a sense, I can empathize with Ryan at that moment. He was likely feeling like this was effortless, and yet he was going for a near 2-minute PR. That’s a weird spot to be in, but it was nothing new for him either. When he set the American Record for the Half Marathon, It was the exact oppose. He was gunning down the American Record in his debut at the distance, and in that race he kept driving, kept hitting negative splits.
Perhaps on the day, he just didn’t have it to go with that surge, but for a guy who proclaims that he draws so much inspiration from God and from a crowd, I thought it was pretty out-of-place to be starring at a watch. Neither Mosop or Mutia even wore a watch that day.
That race, in a lot of ways, was really painful to watch. I remember when Mutai, and Mosop made something of a decisive push, and Ryan was looking absolutely incredible the entire race. What does Ryan do when there is the decisive surge from Mutia/Mosop? He looks at his watch, looks up, looks at his watch again, then looks up, then one more time he looks at his watch, and stays put.
Now, I am well aware the the absolute best races are the ones when everything feels easy. When you look back at the effort, and think to yourself that perhaps you should have pushed a little harder. So, in a sense, I can empathize with Ryan at that moment. He was likely feeling like this was effortless, and yet he was going for a near 2-minute PR. That’s a weird spot to be in, but it was nothing new for him either. When he set the American Record for the Half Marathon, It was the exact oppose. He was gunning down the American Record in his debut at the distance, and in that race he kept driving, kept hitting negative splits.
Perhaps on the day, he just didn’t have it to go with that surge, but for a guy who proclaims that he draws so much inspiration from God and from a crowd, I thought it was pretty out-of-place to be starring at a watch. Neither Mosop or Mutia even wore a watch that day.
Everything is relative. I was there that day. Phenomenal conditions. Mostly 40 degrees and a huge wind (20ish mph) at the back the entire distance.
I really hope he runs. You have to admit, it is pretty cool watching him run past the Wellesley Wall of Sound and coaxing the ladies to yell louder.
http://espn.go.com/blog/endurance/post/_/id/1950/elite-field-for-boston-marathon-shuffled
“Call me Ishmael.”
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I think he will and this approach makes a lot more sense.
As opposed to announcing your intention months out and then withdrawing due to injury, quietly do a solid build and if a month and a half out you are feeling good, go for it.
He looked at his watch and said, “If they are capable of breaking the world record, good on them. If not, I’ll be patient.” It was the smart move.
David Wottle comes to mind… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LHid-nC45k
The Tim Tebow of marathon. God does not seem to have a really good record in sports. I guess He has better things to do.
That is stupid. He ran a 2:04 which is the fastest time ever by an American. You would think by reading the comments here that he is a flop which he is not. He has also run a sub 1 hour half.
That is stupid. He ran a 2:04 which is the fastest time ever by an American. You would think by reading the comments here that he is a flop which he is not. He has also run a sub 1 hour half.
x2. Not sure what the hate is (but this is slowtwitch) other than his outwardly Christian views (which do annoy me a bit as well, but I can at least get past that).
It is probably because he hasn’t essentially raced since the Olympic qualifier over 2 years ago. He pulls out and ends up doing promos for Asics at the expo.
agreed. Ryan Hall is an incredible athlete, seems to be a nice guy too.
Worst you can say about him is he is a little kooky. I’m kooky too, and slower.
If another elite runner expressed his outwardly Muslim views that would be perfectly fine and would not annoy me a bit.
Because if it did that would make me a bigot.
X2
People get annoyed because he pulls out with an injury and does promo work for Asics? Well marathoners get injured, that’s not really a newsflash. And if he can’t run then I’m sure Asics at least appreciates him showing face at the expo.
As I said above, maybe he’s learned to manage the criticism better and instead of announcing his plans 4 months out which for any elite marathoner probably puts their chances of racing somewhere around 75% or less, he instead does a quiet build-up and if it’s going well, then 6 weeks out from race day he announces his intention to race. Still enough time for the BAA to promote his presence, but close enough that hopefully with just another month or so of big work left he can get to the starting line healthy.