Ryan Hall (runner)

On the way to placing 3rd in the 2009 Boston Marathon. At halfway point in Wellesley Square.

Hall has been sponsored by ASICS since 2005.[8] His coach at the time was Terrence Mahon, a former runner at Villanova University.[9] In 2006, he won his first national title in the 12K cross-country championships, winning by 27 seconds.

On September 16, 2006, Hall won the Great Cow Harbor 10K in Northport, New York, setting a new course record of 28:22.[10] Hall's road-running success continued when he broke the U.S. 20k record on October 8, 2006, running 57:54, 48 seconds faster than the previous record run by Abdi Abdirahman in 2005.[11]

On January 14, 2007, Hall won the Aramco Houston Half-Marathon in a time of 59:43.[12] The performance eclipsed the previous North American record of 1:00:55, set by Mark Curp on September 15, 1985, in Philadelphia.

On April 22, 2007, Hall placed 7th in the Flora London Marathon. His time of 2:08:24 was the fastest marathon debut by any American.[13]

On November 3, 2007, Hall won the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials Marathon in a Trials-record 2:09:02[14] in New York City, New York. With this win, he, Dathan Ritzenhein, and Brian Sell qualified to run the marathon at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.[15]

On April 13, 2008, Hall placed 5th in the Flora London Marathon. Hall, 25, competing in only his third marathon, finished in 2:06:17.[16]

Hall was featured on the cover of the September 2008 Runner's World magazine and talks about his "run for glory" in the marathon in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.[17] On August 24, 2008, Hall was the second American to cross the finish line the 2008 Men's Olympic Marathon, placing 10th with a time of 2:12:33. He ran at a much more conservative pace than the lead pack did, and gradually moved from 21st place at the 15k mark up to 10th at the 40 km mark. His teammates Dathan Ritzenhein and Brian Sell finished 9th and 22nd, respectively.

Hall was chosen as the 2008 Road Runner of the Year in the Open Male division by the Road Runners Club of America.[18]

On April 20, 2009, Hall participated in the 2009 Boston Marathon, finishing third overall in 2:09:40 behind Deriba Merga of Ethiopia and Daniel Rono of Kenya. Merga and Rono finished with times of 2:08:42 and 2:09:32, respectively.[19] He returned to the race in 2010, but only managed fourth place, although his time of 2:08:41 was the fastest ever by an American at Boston.[20]

In 2010, Hall finished fourth in the Boston Marathon, and fourteenth in the Philadelphia Distance Run half marathon. Due to fatigue, he withdrew from the Chicago Marathon. In October, Hall left his coach Terrence Mahon) and the Mammoth Track Club.[21] He won at the 2010 USA 7 Mile Championships.[22]

On December 16, 2010, Hall announced that he would be running the 2011 Boston Marathon, marking his third consecutive appearance in the race. On April 18, 2011, Hall ran the fastest marathon ever by an American, 2:04:58, to finish fourth. Kenya's Geoffrey Mutai ran 57 seconds under the recognized world record at the time, in winning in 2:03:02, and credited Hall with setting - and maintaining - a fast early pace.[23] However, this was not an American record, since the Boston course is not eligible for records owing to its point-to-point course and elevation drop of greater than 1 m/km; a strong net tailwind (15–20 miles/hr) contributed to the runners' remarkable 2011 times.[24]

Ryan Hall - 2012 Olympic Marathon

In January 2012, Hall ran a 2:09:30 at the Olympic marathon trials in Houston, Texas. Although leading at the halfway point, Hall eventually finished second behind Meb Keflezighi, still securing a spot on his second Olympic team.[25] At the Olympics in London, Hall dropped out of the marathon around the eleven mile mark while he ran this race[26] with a hamstring injury. After his disappointment at the Olympics, Hall signed up for the New York City Marathon for later that year, but was unable to run it and withdrew from the race[27] (before it was cancelled due to Hurricane Sandy) in September.

In 2013, Hall signed up for the Boston Marathon and the New York City Marathon, but withdrew from both due to injuries.[28][29]

In April 2014, Hall finished 20th in a time of 2:17:50 at the 2014 Boston Marathon, his first marathon finish since the 2012 Olympic trials.[30] In September 2014, Hall announced that he was being coached by Jack Daniels.[30] Hall announced that he will be running the Utah Valley Marathon in June 2015 but did not record a finish.[31]

In 2014, Hall signed up for the 2014 Utah Valley Marathon and the 2014 TCS New York City Marathon, but withdrew from both due to fatigue.

On March 15, 2015, at the Los Angeles Marathon, Hall took the lead at the start running the first mile in 4:42 at near world-record pace but dropped out at the halfway point after losing touch with the lead pack at the fifth mile. His wife Sara was competing in her first marathon in the same race.[32][33]

In January 2016, Hall announced his retirement from racing, citing the harmful effects it has had on his body.[34] He took up weightlifting, and increased his bodyweight from 58 kg to 75 kg.[35]

In January 2017, Hall somewhat came out of retirement to run the 3rd Annual World Marathon Challenge. Spurred on and inspired by his friend Matthew Barnett (who also completed the race), Hall left his shoes, literally, at the final finish line in Sydney – a symbolic act to signify the end of his running career.[36][37]

• Interview: Ryan Hall Takes on the London Marathon: Part Deux
• Ryan Hall teleconference interview after his record-setting victory at the 2007 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in NYC
• Interview with Ryan Hall after he crushed the American debut record at the 2007 London Marathon
• TheFinalSprint.com's interview with Ryan Hall; the new American half-marathon record-holder

• Ryan Hall Before the 2009 Boston Marathon
• Ryan Hall, His Coach Terrence Mahon, His Dad, His Grandfather, and Martin Lel Give Their Reaction After His Amazing 2:06:17 at the 2008 Flora London Marathon
• Ryan Hall Breaking the American Record for Half Marathon by Flotrack.org(59.43)
• Track and Field videos of Ryan Hall on Flotrack.org
• Ryan Hall on calls for an Olympic boycott on Fox Business Network's "Cavuto"
• "26.2 for Africa" A short film with Ryan Hall
• The Ryan Hall Story at GodTube
• Ryan Hall on The Forward Podcast with Lance Armstrong