Ryan Hall (runner)

Ryan Hall (October 14, 1982 in Big Bear Lake, California) is an American long distance runner. He is the fastest American-born marathoner in history, and he will represent the United States in the marathon at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

High school

Hall appeared on the running scene as a high school junior. He graduated from high school in the same year as Dathan Ritzenhein and Alan Webb, behind whom he finished in the 2000 Foot Locker Cross Country Championships.

High School: Hall was the California state cross country champion during his junior and senior seasons at Big Bear High School. He finished third at the Footlocker Nationals in Orlando during his senior season, also set the Mt. SAC course record in 2000.[1] In track, he won the National Scholastic mile champion in his junior season at 4:06.15,[2] and was the California state champion in the 1600 meters during his senior season with a state record time of 4:02.62,[3] and won the state title during his junior season in the two-mile at 8:55.12. [4] Hall competed at the Peregrine Systems U.S. Open at Stanford in the 1500 meters, running 3:42.70, and at the 2001 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

College

His college years at Stanford University were initially marred by injury and inconsistent performances, but Hall emerged in 2003 to lead the Cardinal to the NCAA Cross-Country championship by finishing a close second place (to Colorado's Dathan Ritzenhein) in the individual results. His final year saw him win the individual 5,000 m crown on the track over teammate Ian Dobson by less than a second with both runners clocking 13:22. His coach was Vin Lananna, currently Director of Track and Field at the University of Oregon. Hall graduated from Stanford with a BA in Sociology in 2006.

2004 Cross Country Season (Senior): Finished first in pre-nationals in Terra Haute, Indiana; Finished second in the Pac-10 Championships to Arizona's Robert Chesseret but came back in the West Regional to defeat him then. Finished a disapointing 26th at the National meet.

2003 Cross Country Season (Junior): The Pac-10 Cross Country Athlete of the Year ... Led Stanford to victory at the NCAA Championship with a runner-up finish ... Named All-American for a second consecutive year ... Placed second at the NCAA West Regional and the Pre-NCAA's ... The Stanford Invitational 4000 meter champion.

2002 Cross Country Season (Sophomore): Earned All-American honors by finishing 37th at the NCAA Championships ... Finished first at the Stanford Invitational 4000 meter race (11:49) and the Notre Dame Invitational Blue race (8000 meters, 24:10) ... Placed eighth at the Pac-10 Championships and ninth at the NCAA West Regional ... Named first team All Pac-10 and earned honorable mention Pac-10 All-Academic honors.

2001 Cross Country Season (Freshman): Finished first at the Murray Keatinge Invitational in his collegiate cross country debut, leading the Cardinal to the team title ... Was third in the Stanford Invitational short course while competing as an unattached runner ... Ran at the Pac-10 Championships to help lead the Cardinal to victory and participated at the NCAA Championships.

2004 Track & Field Season (Sophomore): Ran a personal best and NCAA West Regional qualifying time of 13:45.00 in the 5000 meters at the Mt. SAC Relays, the eighth-fastest time in Stanford history ... Hampered by injuries that ended his season abruptly.

2003 Track & Field Season (Freshman): Ran a season best of 3:43.37 in the 1500 meters at the Cardinal Invitational ... A Pac-10 Championship and NCAA West Regional finalist in the 1500 meters.

2002 Track & Field Season: Redshirted outdoors and indoors.

Professional

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 10 km Run in Northport, New York, setting a new course record of 28:22. Hall's road-running success continued when he broke the U.S. 20-kilometer record on October 8, 2006, running 57:54, 48 seconds faster than the previous record run by Abdi Abdirahman in 2005.

On January 14, 2007, Hall won the Aramco Houston Half-Marathon in a time of 59:43, both the 15th best performance of all time at the distance and the 9th best performance on a legal course. The performance also broke the previous 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, and the fastest marathon ever run by an American-born citizen.

On November 3, 2007, Hall won the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials Marathon in a Trials-record 2:09:02 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.

On April 132008, Hall placed 5th in the Flora London Marathon. Hall, 25, competing in only his third marathon, finished in 2 hours, 6 minutes, 17 seconds, the fastest time ever by an American-born marathoner. The only American to run faster is Morocco-born Khalid Khannouchi, who in 2002 ran 2:05:38 in London and 2:05:56 in Chicago.

Achievement Chronology

• 2000 - 3rd place at Footlocker National High School Cross Country Championships
• 2003 - 2nd-place at NCAA Cross-Country Championships
• 2005 - NCAA 5,000 m champion
• 2005 - 3rd-place at the USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in the 5,000 m
• 2006 - USATF 12 km cross-country champion
• 2006 - U.S. Half Marathon Champion
• 2006 - 1st place, Great Cow Harbor 10K (Northport, NY); course-record time of 28:22 shattered previous mark of 28:44 set by Jeff Jacobs in 1991
• 2006 - U.S. 20K Record Holder (57:54). Inaugural IAAF World Road Running Championships in Debrecen, Hungary.
• 2007 - U.S. Half Marathon Record Holder (59:43). Aramco Houston Half Marathon in Houston, Texas.
• 2007 - U.S. Debut Marathon Record Holder (2:08:24) at the London Marathon in London, United Kingdom.
• 2007 - 1st Place, 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials Marathon (2:09:02) in New York City, United States
• 2008 - 5th Place. 2008 Flora London Marathon (2:06:17) in London, United Kingdom

Personal Best Times

• 1,500 m - 3:42.70 (2001)
• 5,000 m - 13:16.03 (2005)
• 10,000 m - 28:07.93 (2007)
• Half Marathon - 59:43 (2007 - Houston; American Record)
• Marathon - 2:06:17 (2008 - London; fastest 5th place finish, all-time)

Personal Life

Hall married his college girlfriend Sara Bei, also a professional runner, in September 2005.

Hall's younger brother Chad won the 2006 Footlocker National Cross Country Championships, the de facto national championship for high school cross country runners. Chad was following in his sister-in-law's footsteps, as Sara Hall (née Bei) won the girl's championships in 2000. Chad now goes to the University of Oregon.

In 2008, Ryan and his wife Sara joined "Team World Vision", a program of humanitarian organization World Vision, to raise awareness and funding for children and communities in Africa.

External links

• Ryan Hall's Official Blog
• Ryan Hall's U.S.A. Track & Field Bio
• Ryan Hall and Team World Vision

Audio interview

• 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

Video - Race/Interviews

• 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"