Sara Hall - Coming Back After Disappointment : Speakers & Interviews

Uninspired and Max Group, why don’t you guys tell us about the work you’ve been doing in Darfur and Alleluia, why don’t you enlighten us on the great, selfless works you are doing for the world. We’re all dieing to hear some more intelligent comments out of you guys. Not! Each of you needs to get a life and stop showing your obvious jealousy of the Sara Hall’s ability, character, and intelligence.

I'm getting old I think. Not sure if I'm correct here but to my knowledge Sara Hall and Jordan Hasay may be the only two California HS runners who have swept the state XC championship, all four years. Anyone know for sure? I definately remember Sara at her final state T & F Championship, but not XC.

"If stamping 'Jesus' on everything they do soothes their conscience from indulging in the intrinsically selfish pursuit of high performance athletics, then let that be their illusion."

It's not intrinsically selfish. She could be running to be the best, to be famous, and to be rich, or she could be running to glorify god, inspire others, and share her beliefs(in addition to her enjoying doing all of this).

the thing i love about you Sara is that you keep Ryan happy! life is that simple! i enjoy you when you run, i go on to flotrack just to see you in a race.In my short life of running, you have made me a better runner and i thank you for that. may or your dreams come true!

Faith doesn't require proof, or evidence, so you can ignore inconvenient things like facts and reason. Ignore. Ignorant.

Who's more admirable? Who serves Jesus's vision? Someone who gives their life to the needy, like Mother Theresa, or someone who gives some of their spare billions ($) to the needy, like Bill Gates? Or... someone who dedicates the primary focus of their life to personal achievement in the field of athletics, and some spare time to the needy in between workouts, jet-setting, races, and PR appearances?
I'm not trying to drag down the Hall's philanthropy, which is obviously a great thing to do for the needy. If stamping 'Jesus' on everything they do soothes their conscience from indulging in the intrinsically selfish pursuit of high performance athletics, then let that be their illusion. Don't make it yours.
Furthermore, don't assume that I'm not embraced by the love of Jesus Christ. Jesus once overturned tables in the temple courtyard because he was irate at the hypocrisy of selling what should be freely given to God. I have reacted several times to the hypocrisy of Christians of convenience, this thread being one.

'Jesus,' your verses from the Gospel of Matthew are great ones, but be careful to quote Bible scripture if you don't know what they really mean...remember, Satin did this to Jesus (Luke 4:10-11) to trip him up, and he is still doing it to believers and non-believers today.

Matthew 4:19-20 does indeed exult us to leave our WAYS (our sinful lives-meaning living for self in place of God) and following Jesus' WAYS (which does include becoming 'fishers of men.'). With that said, it certainly doesn't mean that you are supposed to walk away from your profession. God asks His believers to follow Him, but He can lead us anywhere. Everyone isn't called to the mission-field because then there would be no one to witness (i.e. be a 'fisher of men') to those who don't know Jesus in our spheres of influence, i.e. at work, with friends or family. Sara Hall's job is running and she feels called to witness for Jesus in this setting. Please don't assume that you can know what Sara feels between herself and the Holy Sprit. Even if you don't believe in the Holy Sprit, most people feel called (by God, ourselves, or others) to do what is right for them in this life.
In context of Matthew 6:1-2, Jesus was giving instructions at the beginning of this chapter in how to give, pray and fast; all important parts of a Christ centered life. In all three of these acts, Jesus focused on our motivation/heart for doing them. He did say 'do not be like the hypocrites' in all of these instances, doing these 'acts of righteousness' for the wrong reasons, for gaining the honor and glory for yourself and not for God. If we went by your reasoning 'Jesus', Christians shouldn't give, pray or fast, least they do it for themselves like the 'hypocrites.'
I would say that 'yes', unfortunately there are "christians" who do 'acts of righteousness' for the wrong reasons today, but Sara, nor Ryan, Hall seem to be those people. Furthermore, Jesus encourages us to let our deeds be seen so that onlookers will Glorify God, not so they will be impressed with us. So indeed Sara and Ryan are doing a wonderful job, because I for one am very impressed with how God is using them in the running world.

"blind faith isn't faith. its ignorance."

Wow. You might want to check the definition of "faith" again. Faith doesn't require proof, so you can call it "blind" or whatever you want. And you can say anything you want about me and my love for Christ, cuz nothing can separate me from that, but only make it stronger. And if you are so secure in your beliefs, why exactly do you care so much about mine or Sara's? You shouldn't be offended at all. But you just keep posting and bringing this thread attention. It just gives us more opportunity to spead the love of Jesus Christ. So thank you!

HEY CHRIS COWDEN.
KEEP SPREADING THE WORD BROTHER. I AGREE WITH YOU. WE NEED TO SHARE JESUS WITHOUT FEAR.. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK HALL FAMILY. WHAT AN INSPERATION TO TAKE YOUR GIFT TO ANOTHER LEVEL AND BUILD FOR THE REAL RETIREMENT.

lol @ "insecurities of their lack of faith". its insecurities that make us come up with imaginary friends, and deny all reasonable evidence to the contrary of their existence,

i'm not threatened by the hall's cult. i'm offended by the abomination of the bible's radically progressive views that modern christians adopt. i'm indignant at the pick-and-choose approach to biblical morality that allows someone to convince themselves that inspiring rich people is on equal footing with saving dying ones, not in the afterlife, but TODAY. the hypocrisy doesn't threaten me, it threatens the memory of a man they claim gave his very life combating a status quo that hasn't changed in over two millenia.
blind faith isn't faith. its ignorance.

I love the Halls (Sara and Ryan)

It's actually awesome to see how threatened some people are when someone like Sara speaks so openly about her faith in God. The insecurities of their lack of faith are immense and just shows how powerful the witness of people like the Hall's can be.

Instead of treating Ryan with respect, the poster is derisively referring to the pre-Boston video on RW where Ryan describes the origin of the Ole chant (crowds shouted Allah at performances).

Has Ryan ever said "I run so people see God in me"? I doubt it.

Stop being so cynical about such well meaning people.

Sara,
this is the devil talking"get a new coach or you will get burned"

Matthew 4:19-20 "'Come, follow me,' Jesus said, 'and I will make you fishers of men'. At once they left their nets and followed him.

Leave your nets (running) and follow Jesus.
Matthew 6:1-2 "Be careful not to do your acts of righteousness before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets to be honored by men."
Does she run so that people may see God in her, like Ryan? Vanity is inspirational?

She seems like a really good person and she could become a great pro runner. For those commenting on religion. I am not a religious person but I am not going to judge someone who is anymore than I would want them to judge me. I suggest that, if people describe their faith in the manner that she and Ryan do, accept that for who they are and find common ground.

Uh yeah, children in Dafur care about not dying. Not the latest running results.

To Uninspired- Jesus taught total sacrafice to God and His will. Which is not the same as self-sacrafice in the way you describe. God uses us to reach others when we trust in His will, and Sara is using the avenues that running provides to reach others and make positive change. Because of Sara's running, she is able to promote Team World Vision and other programs on a much larger scale then without running and her achievements. Without running and what she has accomplished, albeit not a 4 minute mile like your ignorant comment, we would not even be having this conversation. So yes, I think children in Dafur probably DO care about it.

"Stop the illusion. Jesus preached total self-sacrifice. Running is a wonderfully selfish pursuit, but using the guise of inspiration to convince yourself that your time or money couldn't be better spent serving Jesus by reaching out to the tired, hungry, and weak is nothing but ignorant. Nobody in Darfur gives a damn about a 4 minute mile."
argh.

Stop the illusion. Jesus preached total self-sacrifice. Running is a wonderfully selfish pursuit, but using the guise of inspiration to convince yourself that your time or money couldn't be better spent serving Jesus by reaching out to the tired, hungry, and weak is nothing but ignorant. Nobody in Darfur gives a damn about a 4 minute mile.

Doesn't exactly sound like she is focused on running.

Sara, Are you doing any weight training and resisted speed training? I know you must be doing hills living in Mammoth. It seems like you always get outkicked. Put on some muscle/power and watch what happens. Championship races are always tactical and you need to be able to close in a 26second 200. Even if you decide to move up in distance, you'll still need to have solid/winning mile times. The game has changed: Africans close in 56 seconds during a 1500, 3K, 5K and 10K. You have to up your game, or you'll always be a pretender, not a contender. You're a great person though. Wish you the best. God Bless.

Can't wait till she figures out like her husband, the longer it gets the better she is. When she runs a 10000m that will really open her eyes, then when she runs a half marathon her eyes will open even more! Then finally she'll run a...

That's right, California born and raised, Stanford educated. When you live in California you speak California. Get used to it. If she was from Jersey, she'd sound like a truck driver from Bayonne! lol

Sara, Good Luck and Best Wishes on a breakthrough with your running ! God has the plan, and may He provide you visible clues/hints to help you with your breakthrough in running. So, there will be a 2K race at Prefontaine ? Ok, I like it. To promote distance running why doesn't the Olympic committee add more distances in track for the Olympics such as the 2K, 3K, 8K, 12K, 15K, and 1 hour run. Also, add a 1/2 marathon road race to the marathon in addition to the marathon. Maybe not all of these distances, but some of these distances added to the Olympics and World Games would be wonderful.

Down to earth. Touches on some worthwhile topics too, like the need for balance in running/life.

i think the comparison is in looks

Why is someone comparing Sarah to Kara. They don't even run the same events. Anyway, Sarah you are an amazing runner and everyone is going to be happy when you reach the goals you are going for and you will reach them.

wow...

sara hall > kara goucher

Sara, you're time is going to come. It just always seems that you sit in the pack and kick too late. Try to go with the pack and see where that takes you. Keep doing what you're doing, you looked great during the last 1500.

You're awesome, Sara! And you make much more of an impact than you know. You are one of my biggest inspirations and such a strong witness, that it helps me keep my eyes fixed on the true race we are running. Thank you so much for all you do!

It's difficult to imagine Sara Hall thinking she had a bad year last year. It seems like she's been up in the front pack for every race she runs. If it had to come down to one race that meant more than the others, I feel the Olympic Trials 1500 was it. With little more than a half lap to go she was in 4th. That's when the "killer instinct" has to kick in, and it just didn't on that day. Believe me Sara, your fans were there for you! Just stay hungry. You're still on the young side of the peak. You'll get there.