- See Less -.S. Half-Marathon champion; 2006 USA Cross Country champion; 2005 NCAA 5,000m champion; 2003 NCAA Cross Country runner-up; three-time NCAA Cross Country All-American; USA 20 km and half-marathon record holder
At the 2007 Olympic Trials – Men’s Marathon, Hall tamed what had been thought of as a slow and very difficult course, breaking the Olympic Trials record with his winning time of 2:09:02. He posted the second-fastest marathon time ever by an American of 2:06.17 from his fifth place finish at the 2008 London Marathon. Hall showed signs of becoming a future Olympic marathoner when he made his marathon debut in style, finishing seventh in April at the 2007 Flora London Marathon in 2:08:24. Hall's time was the fastest ever debut marathon for an American man by 1:16.Hall has gone from high school prodigy to national record holder in the span of just a few years. Hall set a U.S. record and earned a national title on January 14, 2007, when he won the men’s U.S. Half Marathon National Championship in 59 minutes 43 seconds becoming the first American to break the one-hour barrier at that distance. His performance bettered the previous American record by Mark Curp that had stood for 21 years by 1:12, and makes him the 13th fastest performer in the world at the half marathon distance. Hall won his first major cross country title when he captured the men’s long course national crown at the 2006 USA Cross Country Championships at historic Van Cortlandt Park in The Bronx, N.Y. Hall won going away with a 27-second margin over the rest of the field. "It was probably the most fun race of my life," said Hall. "It's my first 12k. I thought that I would make a move and see who would go, and maybe if I get a gap, then keep going.” Hall was the fastest American in the long course race at the 2006 World Cross Country Championships in Japan, placing 43rd. Also in 2006 Hall set an American record in the 20 km of 57:54 on October 8 at the IAAF World Road Running Championships in Debrecen, Hungary. Hall enjoyed a strong season in 2005 that included winning the NCAA Outdoor 5,000m title, placing third at the USA Outdoor Championships, where he set a new personal best of 13:16.03, and competing at his first World Outdoor Championships. As a prep standout, Hall competed at the Peregrine Systems U.S. Open at Stanford in the 1500 meters where he ran 3:42.70, the third fastest high school performance ever for the metric mile ... California state champion in the 1600 meters during his senior season with a state record time of 4:02 ... had the #2 high school time in the U.S. in the 1600 meters at 4:00.52 ... The National Scholastic mile champion in his junior season at 4:06 ... Also won the state title during his junior season in the two-mile at 8:55.03 ...the California state cross country champion during his junior and senior seasons at Big Bear High School ... Finished third at the Footlocker Nationals in Orlando during his senior season. Wife Sara Bei-Hall is also a competitive runner, who placed 26th in the 4 km race at the 2006 World Cross Country Championships. The Halls are active with charitable groups such as Team World Vision. They worked on a campaign in 2008 entitled, “More Precious than Gold,” that raised nearly a million dollars to help bring clean water wells and irrigation systems to poor communities in Zambia.
And my response was/is: I don't care if he's never the first one to cross the line. To my mind, he is a champion; an amazingly talented and inspiring runner who's brought U.S. running so, so far. I know that's prolly not enough for him; I know he wants to win. But I'm just saying that to me, his place in running history is secure.
“I'd love to see Ryan run up to his potential. He could have, and should have, been with the leaders in both Boston and NY, and he's said it.
He's been doing more training at even higher altitudes the past year and a half, and that doesn't seem to be agreeing with him, at least in his racing. He has come down from altitude to run cross country, some 10k and 15k races, and his last three marathons, and each time he was saying he was in fantastic shape, according to his training. Each time he ran a disappointing time (even according to him). He was getting all sorts of hype because he was talking American records and PB's, yet he was struggling and not winning.
Ryan does a lot of training at SLOWER than his real race pace at 7000+ feat. His BIG tempo run a few weeks a go was at 5 min/mile pace, which is only 2:11 pace. That was the FASTEST he's gone for anything long. Maybe you can't always run 15-20 seconds/mile SLOWER than race pace and expect everything to click when you go down to sea level. Last month, when he visited NY, he went for a hard 10 mile tempo on part of the course, and once again he ran significantly SLOWER than he was expecting. He couldn't even break 5 mins/mile!
Dathan had the same problem when he ran at Altitude in Boulder. Now that he's doing faster stuff and sea level, he's become a new runner. I fear that Ryan might continue to underachieve, unless he makes some major changes in his training and race prep, beyond just running closer to the lead, like he mentioned. If he thinks that's the only problem, I don't see him winning any time soon.
Maybe Alberto will be getting another thoroughbred in his stable soon....”
Flotrack: Thanks for more awesome coverage. Please follow up with some of these top 10 guys when they start up training for their next races.
Thanks to Ryan and Flotrack for doing this interview.
Flotrack, if you get another interview can you ask what was happening behind the lead pack from mile 19 and on? We got Jorge's take, it would be nice to hear what Ryan saw & thought back there
You have nothing to be ashamed of. It wasn't your day. It was Meb's day. Even your greatest triumph will be overshadowed by the awesome eternal perspective that you possess in Christ. You inspire us, humble brother!
He's been doing more training at even higher altitudes the past year and a half, and that doesn't seem to be agreeing with him, at least in his racing. He has come down from altitude to run cross country, some 10k and 15k races, and his last three marathons, and each time he was saying he was in fantastic shape, according to his training. Each time he ran a disappointing time (even according to him). He was getting all sorts of hype because he was talking American records and PB's, yet he was struggling and not winning.
Ryan does a lot of training at SLOWER than his real race pace at 7000+ feat. His BIG tempo run a few weeks a go was at 5 min/mile pace, which is only 2:11 pace. That was the FASTEST he's gone for anything long. Maybe you can't always run 15-20 seconds/mile SLOWER than race pace and expect everything to click when you go down to sea level. Last month, when he visited NY, he went for a hard 10 mile tempo on part of the course, and once again he ran significantly SLOWER than he was expecting. He couldn't even break 5 mins/mile!
Dathan had the same problem when he ran at Altitude in Boulder. Now that he's doing faster stuff and sea level, he's become a new runner. I fear that Ryan might continue to underachieve, unless he makes some major changes in his training and race prep, beyond just running closer to the lead, like he mentioned. If he thinks that's the only problem, I don't see him winning any time soon.
Maybe Alberto will be getting another thoroughbred in his stable soon....
“ryan hall has to be oe of my least favorite runners...”
“total d bag. always prayin and all this bs. not workin out on prayin and stuff.”
God bless
ryan's a classy guy.