Sunday, April 13, 2008

The Real Deal

First, he runs an AR in the 1/2 marathon in Houston in January of 2007, then he pops a 2:08 in the 2007 Lonson Marathon, follows that up with a dominant win in the Men's Olympic Marathon Trials in NYC; and, now a 2:06:15, 5th overall finish at this morning's London Marathon. Ryan Hall has clearly stamped himself as a legitimate threat in any long distance race in the world.

The performance today probably stamps him as a medal favorite for the Bejing Olympic Marathon. He ran with the leaders until about 16; and, then, even when he began to fall off the back he didn't fall apart. He held it together and didn't just run to the finish, he raced all the way in, trying to pull himself up to 4th in the last couple of hundred meters.

I'm more and more impressed with Hall every time that he races. He seems to just find a way to get the most out of himself and is not afraid to run with the best in the world.

It's great to see the skinny little white kid from Big Bear, CA in the middle of a pack of Kenyans, Ethiopians, Eritreans, Morrocans, et al. He's showing the rest of the Americans that you don't have to fear the Africans - respect them yes - but don't fear them. And, the only way to do that is to run like them. Train like hell, get tough as nails, go out hard and hang for as long as possible. You may crash and burn a couple of times; but, eventually you are going to pull it off and race to an unprecendented level.

See you on the roads, tracks and trails.

TB

2 comments:

Jarred said...

You forgot about a key factor: having the genes of a gazelle's aerobic system.

Jarred said...

I might also add, the King just signed Ryan Hall to run for RMC. Well, maybe not the Ryan Hall, but nonetheless, a Ryan Hall.