Did Paul Ryan Fib About Running a Sub-3:00 Marathon? Updated!
In a recent interview with Hugh Hewitt, vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan indicated he’d run a sub-3:00 marathon.
Running wasn’t the focus of the interview, which was mostly a fawning “How can I help you get elected?” sort of affair.
But along with some questions about his history in athletics, Hewitt prodded him about his running.
HH: Are you still running?
PR: Yeah, I hurt a disc in my back, so I don’t run marathons anymore. I just run ten miles or yes.
HH: But you did run marathons at some point?
PR: Yeah, but I can’t do it anymore, because my back is just not that great.
HH: I’ve just gotta ask, what’s your personal best?
PR: Under three, high twos. I had a two hour and fifty-something.
HH: Holy smokes. All right, now you go down to Miami University…
PR: I was fast when I was younger, yeah.
I’m not going to weigh into the fray about whether or not Congressman Ryan took what AP referred to as “factual shortcuts” in his speech at the Republican National Convention. I’ll leave that to the real reporters.
But there is a bit of a conversation going on about whether Ryan really did run a sub-3:00 marathon.
Runners World’s Scott Douglas notes:
Runner’s World has been unable to find any marathon results by Ryan. Requests for more information from Ryan’s Washington and Wisconsin offices, and from the Romney-Paul campaign, have so far gone unanswered.
If Ryan has broken 3:00, he’d be the fastest marathoner to be on a national ticket. John Edwards has run 3:30; George W. Bush has run 3:44; Sarah Palin has run 3:59; and Al Gore has run 4:58.
Whether this is important to running the country, I don’t know. I do find it curious when such successful and highly accomplished people trot out dubious claims of physical prowess that can be readily researched. I will be happy if he or his campaign is able to substantiate the claim.
I am confident that this curious story will be resolved, if for no other reason than the geniuses at Letsrun.com are on the case.
More on this story at Slate.com, and Examiner.com.
UPDATE: A spokesman for the Romney/Ryan campaign contacted Runners World and reported the Ryan had run the Duluth Grandma’s Marathon in 1991, and said “His comments on the [radio] show were the best of his recollection.”
Runners World was unable to find Ryan in the 1991 results, but demonstrating a remarkable level of journalistic enthusiasm, searched through 11 years of race results and found a 20-year old Paul D. Ryan who had finished in 4:01 in 1990. They are awaiting confirmation that this is the correct Paul D. Ryan and whether he has any faster results.
Be sure the check out the full, updated report on Runners World.
If, in fact, Ryan’s PR is only 4:01, our fastest marathoner on a national ticket remains George W. Bush with a 3:44 at the 1993 Houston Marathon. This, of course, is pending verification of John Kerry’s as yet unverified claim of running in the Boston Marathon, sometime in the 1970s.
UPDATED UPDATE: Be sure to read This Will Absolutely be the Last Word on Paul Ryan’s Marathon.
It seems that Mr. Ryan has made false claims about a lot of issues, why should we trust him about a sub 3?
1doesn’t seem to far out there to me. he played soccer and did track, so he likely had some running talent.
there will probably be another interview soon that clears this up. if he did do a marathon, he would at elast remember which race it was. i think
2As has been well discussed in the media, he is a super-fit dude and seems completely capable of running this time. It’s just odd that the campaign hasn’t put this to bed yet.
3Also, in case anyone thinks I’m picking on him for political reasons: please. I only make note of this because he’s an extremely prominent person in the news right now and it is a running story. Anyone deciding how to vote based on this story is an idiot.
4Sorry, this is off-subject, but I just want to let local runners know that I am helping SARSAS–Save Auburn Ravine Salmon and Steelhead–put on a 5K-10K-half marathon on Saturday, September 29, in Lincoln. We are calling it the SALMON RUN. Cute, huh? Parking is in McBean Park on south side of Hwy 193. Start is at 8 AM for all races. All are out-and-back, going north from Hwy 193 on East Ave., turning right on East 12th St., which becomes Virginiatown Road at a stop sign, continue on Virginiatown Road to turnarounds for each distance. Registration is through active.com. Post entries are accepted but may not get a commemorative shirt.
5The SALMON RUN kicks off the Calling Back the Salmon Celebration that goes all weekend. Thanks to SARSAS, we now have salmon spawning in Auburn Ravine Creek through Lincoln and a few miles upstream toward Auburn. Our goal is to have Salmon spawning in Auburn Ravine all the way through Auburn, and then open up the Dry Creek and Coon Creek watersheds. Dams built for irrigating cropland are the main impediment, and need fish ladders installed for the spawning salmon to go upstream, and screens placed over the openings to irrigation ditches to prevent the downstream migration of fingerlings from ending up dying in croplands.