A Fond Farewell

Ryan Hall tells Euan Crumley why a text message rekindled his running fire and provided him with a marathon swansong

- Euan Crumley

RYAN HALL just didn’t really want to run any more. He was retired from being a professional athlete and far more interested in lifting weights than lacing up his running shoes. He was a reluctant training partner whenever his wife Sara – also a tremendous distance runner – would ask him to join her to put in some miles.

You could understand why. After devoting so much of his life to the pursuit of running quickly, and reaching the top echelons of his sport – he’s a two-time Olympian, remains the only American ever to run under 60 minutes for the half-marathon (his record is 59:43) and boasts a marathon personal best of 2:04:58, which is also a national record – his reward was to have his career cut short.

In January last year he announced his surprise retirement, citing chronically low testosterone levels – and the fatigue which that enduces – as the reason why he had to call it quits.

He began to work on a bodybuilding regime, changing his physique and trying to put his past behind him. Then, one day, his phone beeped. The text message it heralded was from a friend who is also a runner and a man who had news to share. He had signed up to something called the ‘World Marathon Challenge’, an event which involves running seven marathons on seven continents in seven days.

Hall’s friend is a pastor at a place called the Dream Center – a church in Los Angeles which offers the homeless people of the city a chance to start again – and he saw the challenge as a way to raise awareness as well as push his body.