On I went, out of the wood, passing the man leading without knowing I was going to do so. Flip-flap, flip-flap, jog-trot, jog-trot, curnchslap-crunchslap, across the middle of a broad field again, rhythmically running in my greyhound effortless fashion, knowing I had won the race though it wasn't half over, won it if I wanted it, could go on for ten or fifteen or twenty miles if I had to and drop dead at the finish of it, which would be the same, in the end, as living an honest life like the governor wanted me to. -Alan Sillitoe, "Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner"
my thoughts exactly.
ReplyDeleteI suppose a competitive college runner could run a marathon on a lark, finish sub-3, and not think much of it. He certainly looks capable. My gut agrees with you, though.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you. I definitely think he's capable of it. But to go sub-3 I would argue would require training of most anyone, and you don't put that kind of training in and then leave no record of you haveing done it.
DeleteI would like the long-form race finisher's certificate, please.
Not sure if you've already seen the answer, but it was a 4:01:25. Not exactly a BQ time, eh?
DeletePR seems to have a tenuous relationship with the truth. (Even Fox News admits his RNC speech was littered with inaccuracies. Why should his marathon bragging be any different?)
So it turns out he really ran a 4:01 (two minutes slower than Sarah Palin), and was just rounding down.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2012/08/31/paul_ryan_s_marathon_history_runners_world_wonders_aloud_whether_the_vp_candidate_was_as_fast_as_he_claims_.html