1) How many marathons have you run?
2) How fast did you run?
Seemingly straight-forward questions, right?
Last week Paul Ryan's answers, until a bunch of running geeks at Runner's World magazine sought to verify them, were 1) one and 2) in the 2:50 range. ("Under three, high twos. I had a two hour and fifty something," was his specific answer.) Wow, said RW, those are pretty fast times! Problem was, none of the runner-geeks could find a record of the candidate's marathons.
Later this week, Ryan offered the following explanation: it was a long time ago, and, not remembering the exact time, he made up what he thought would be an ordinary time.
There's alot to be learned here. Namely, lie about policy, tax returns, the economy, etc. But don't make up running times! Runners, as it turns out, are almost as geeky as baseball fans when it comes to stats.
Ryan, it was discovered, did run one marathon in a time of 4:01. Still an accomplishment, but definitely not a 2:50! And he's not the first candidate to run a marathon: George W. Bush (3:44), Sarah Palin (3:59), and Al Gore (4:58) all ran 26.2 too.
Click here to determine your running times using the Paul Ryan Marathon Calculator.
And, finally, since this is a learning process for all of us, here are some clues (courtesy of MarathonPW, a commenter on one of the Runner'sWorld blogs) for Mr. Ryan and anyone else who is confused and wondering if they are running sub 3-hour marathons.
"You might not be running a sub-3-hour marathon if..."
10) The awards ceremony is wrapping up when you get in.
9) You carry a waist-pack carrying extra food
8) If friends who come to watch you have time to go out for breakfast and lunch before you finish
7) You find yourself running next to a woman pushing her two grandchildren in a baby jogger
6) If the aid station volunteers ask you "how many behind you?"
5) The temperature rises 20 degrees while you're on the course
4) There are only two bagels and half a Gatorade left when you arrive at the finishers' food tent
3) You cross the finish line and head straight to the nearest bar for happy hour
2) You finish with anyone named "Oprah"
1) You're on a first-name basis with the cone truck driver.
1 comment:
this is such an old post. But there was on real sub 3 hour marathoner running for president in November. Gary Johnson! He has also done Ironmans, The Leadville 100 biking and running, and has climbed everest. He is an amazing skier as well.
Josh
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