Ryan Hall - My new Running Hero

You probably don't know who Ryan Hall is, but about this time last year he set a new American record for the half marathon. In November, he won the men's marathon Olympic Trials in New York City and will be representing the United States in the 2008 Beijing Olympics (see the photo at right...let's see...at 2:09 I was somewhere around 14 miles, so yeah...he's a little faster than I am).

At any rate, Ryan is also a strong Christian young man, and TheFinalSprint.com is hosting a blog for him over the next few months, leading up to the Olympics. In his post last Friday, he talks about some of his perseverance in hard times, such as losing his friend Ryan Shay, who collapsed and died while competing in the same Olympic trials that Ryan Hall won.

Here's a snippet...

The other day I was reflecting on how, when I was little, I always built up Olympians as these super-strong people who were just good all the time. Now that I am going to be one, it feels ironic that I thought of Olympians in this way. When I look at my strengths I realize that one of the most important characteristics I have is simply the ability to get back up. One of my favorite verses in the bible comes from Proverbs and says, “For a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again…” (24.16). This verse resonates with my soul because I had so many hard times in college.

And here's a video I found while researching for this post. Watch the whole thing. It's worth it...I promise.

Ryan Hall...my new running hero. I think I'm going to go running now...