Ryan Hall ran 2:06.17. Deena Kastor caught Magdelena Lewy Boulet at 24 miles in the Womens’ Olympic Trials. Great stories, huge stories in the US. This is the time for the US to get a bit selfish about who they spend money on in the big money races in the US.
Remember Bill Rodgers in the seventies? Ryan Hall could be bigger than that! And there are others on the way! If Deena Kastor wins another medal, or Lewy Boulet or Blake Russell pop a big race, again, the American press will rediscover road running.
Did you not see the crowd around Lewy Boulet at the Oly Trials?
Anyone who does not think that Ryan Hall is the second coming of road racing has another thought coming. ASICS dropped, through six of my titles, 450,000 posters the week after London and Ryans’ great run and the week before Deena did her thing in the Olympic Trials.
If American distance running really wants to get back to the heady days of Bill Rodgers, Herb Lindsay, Randy Thomas, et al, then they have got to move quickly. There should not a be a year at Boston where the top Americans are not highlighted such as Hall, Sell and Ritz and Deena, Lewy and Russell.
Hall winning Boston, New York, Chicago after a strong performance in Beijing, would blow the sport to another level. Sorry for putting so much pressure on you Ryan, but I don’t think it truly bothers you, anyway. The medal pressure is a little ridiculous as at 24, he needs to get some Olympic experience.
Deena has shown that she excels at championship type races, and she had her bad race last year, Boston, so she is ready for a another big one.
I do not believe that the American sports press will have anything serious to do with road running until an American male wins Boston, Chicago and or New York. The opportunity is here. We need to capitalize on it.
