Ryan Hall finishes seventh in marathon debut at Flora London Marathon

LONDON - Running in the most competitive men's marathon field ever, Ryan Hall (Big Bear Lake, Calif.), made his marathon debut in style, finishing seventh at the Flora London Marathon in a time of 2:08:24. Hall's time was the fastest debut marathon for an American man by 1:16.

In a field that included multiple Olympic medalists and the current World Record holder, Hall not only ran with the leaders for more than 23 miles but was brave enough to take a turn at the lead before World Marathon champion Jaouad Gharib (MAR) made a bid to break away. As the leaders sped along the Victoria Embankment next to the Thames River, Hall fell off the pace but would hold on to run the fifth fastest marathon ever for a U.S. man...

Seventh place, but a shot across the bow from a first-time marathoner. Overall, a very dramatic race featuring a pack of who's-whos, Olympians, and current and recent world record holders: Tergat, Geb, Limo, Lel, Ramaala, Khannouchi, Gharib, Baldini, dos Santos, Sato, Brown, Cherono. For runners, the 07 London was like the Stanley Cup, Final Four, Superbowl, and world cup combined into two furious hours.

And it featured one of the strongest American fields since the 80's: Meb Keflezighi (CA), Khalid Khannouchi (NY), Ryan Hall (CA), Faizal Bizuneh (TN), Joe Driscoll (NC), and Jason Hartmann (CO).

For those who don't follow athletics closely, the US distance running scene is gaining strength and respect on the world stage after a decade-long absence. Meb's silver at Athens is hoped to mark the begining of a resurgence. Hall's debut at London today hopefully marks another step. Some US disappointment today, as Meb and Khannouchi dropped and Driscoll and Bizuneh turned in non-Earth shattering performances.

But Hall's climb into the lead pack at mile 15 generated some suprised, nervous, and probably incredulous looks from his competitors. And his 2:08 finish is making similar waves. At 24, he's yet to come into his own at the marathon distance. US distance running is coming back. Sadly, it's doubtful that the US media is paying attention.

This is huge. You just couldn’t find U.S. men in the top ten of high quality distance fields in recent years. Hall is getting some great coaching and may indeed challenge for a medal in the next Olympics.

I’m a 14 time marathoner (middle of the pack) and really appreciate what an amazing feat it is to run that far at such a clip as these guys. For those of you have haven’t yet done the math, Hall averaged 4:54 per mile for 26.22 miles. Good stuff indeed - we have great cause to be excited for the future of men’s distance.

Yeah, I know. Until this morning, I wasn't too sure about Hall, but watching London really changed my mind about him. Incredible talent, heart, and good old American guts. If you didn't watch the webcast or don't see it on the TV anytime soon, Hall ran with the second pack ~ 10 sec behind the lead pack and he looked really comfortable. THen at 15, he charged up to the lead pack and shook them up. A couple miles after that, Geb dropped out, then Khannouchi... and you couldn't help but think that you were witnessing a passing of the torch. I got chills. Then Hall audaciously took the lead for ~ 1 mile.

It was really impressive. Look for Hall and Meb at Beijing. The past few years has seen US elites returning to some of the older training philosophies and it's paying dividends.

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