Running the Race that Counts with Olympic Marathoner Ryan Hall [Episode 16]

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On this week’s episode of the Hope Sports Podcast, Laura chats with elite runner Ryan Hall. Ryan picked up running as a young teen and quickly became a top competitor in California. He attended Stanford University where he ran cross country, but struggled academically and athletically, leading him to take time off his sophomore year. He battled severe negativity and depression as he came to terms with how much of his identity was wrapped up in his success as a runner. After reclaiming his emotional health, he returned to Stanford with a new mindset about competition - that it should be fun and would not determine his worth.

After graduation, Ryan signed with ASICS to run professionally. He bumped up his distance after realizing that he was not posting competitive 5K times and the decision proved to be a wise one. In 2007, Hall was the first American to break the one hour mark in the half marathon, and followed that by logging the fastest debut marathon by an American at the race in London. His speed at that distance landed him a victory at the Olympic Trials and a spot on the team to Beijing.

Ryan went on to compete in two Olympics and ran professionally for ten years. He and his wife, Sarah (also a professional runner) traveled around the world to train and compete and were moved by the immense need that they saw. They began racing for World Vision and eventually started the Hall Steps Foundation which supports a variety of projects worldwide as runners raise funds across the country. The Hall family grew in number when Ryan and Sarah adopted a sibling group of four sisters from Ethiopia. Ryan retired after a series of injuries, but did so with the heart to give back through speaking, writing, and coaching. His book, Run the Mile You’re In: Finding God in Every Step launches this April.

More details at: http://www.hopesports.org/running-the-race-that-counts

Learn about trips with Hope Sports visit www.hopesports.org.

For more about our host visit www.laurawilkinson.com and follow her on Facebook and Instagram.

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Produced by Simpler Media