If you’re a Ryan Hall fan like our staff at Runners Feed, the news of him pulling out of November’s ING New York City Marathon was almost as disappointing as watching him walk over to the rail in London (NYRR Press Release).

In a post Olympics interview with track and field web-guru FloTrack (watch video), Hall described the London crowd as “electric” and spoke frankly of his untimely injury. Hall appeared confident that his decision was best for his career and shared his thought process during the race.

“I really don’t want to DNF this race but for the longevity of my career, what is the wise decision?” (FloTrack Interview)

What some fans forget is that unlike recreational runners, professional runners rely on their legs to fuel their livelihood and this means making difficult choices that support their long term success. The effects of choosing to race another 37k after feeling significant pain at the 5K mark could result in a career ending injury. For someone who has the potential to bring America an Olympic Marathon Medal and future World Major Marathon medals, running through a severe injury would be like taking a risk at work, knowing that it could result in you sabotaging your career.

At Runners Feed we absolutely support Ryan’s decision to pull out of the Olympic Games and his recent choice of delaying his return to racing until his body is ready to go!

We look forward to watching Ryan bring joy and excitement to American marathoning, but in the meantime we will be sending healing vibes and prayers his way!

Get well soon Ryan!

 

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