Virtually everyone who’s finished a marathon knows his or her time all too well. Whatever the number — whether it’s the 4 hours, 1 minute, and 25 seconds in which Paul Ryan ran a 1990 marathon in Minnesota, or something much faster or slower — nothing about those 26.2 miles is easily forgettable. Which is why the GOP vice presidential candidate’s boast that he ran a sub-three-hour marathon caused such a stir in a running community that frowns on rounding even a couple of minutes off one’s time. While Ryan’s actual time was respectable for a recreational runner, the one he claimed placed him among the 4 percent of male marathoners worldwide. Three-hour marathons generally aren’t for newbies.
Neither are national political campaigns, as Ryan is discovering. Many lawmakers puff up their legislative achievements during campaign season, and until a few weeks ago Ryan was just a congressman from Wisconsin. But now that Ryan has the second-highest profile in the Republican Party, his claims about his past draw scrutiny not just from political journalists but even from Runner’s World — especially because his youth and athleticism are part of his public appeal. His marathon fib certainly isn’t fatal to his prospects, but there is an obvious moral: If you know how impressive a feat it is to run 26.2 miles in under three hours, you should also know when you haven’t done it.
Comments
This comment has been removed.
Why would anyone believe ANYTHING this man says? The lack of integrity from Ryan and Romney are disqualifiers from any office.
After listening to Mr. Ryan's convention speech, no one should expect anything from him approaching truth. And as for those who nonetheless support him - say, a stealth Republican operative/troll like TheSystemWorked - the acorn doesn't fall very far from the tree. Surprise! He's lying as well. When this pseudo-controversy arose, it was quickly established that Ms. Warren's maternal heritage and cultural history were indeed Cherokee and Delaware. It was also pointed out that she neither sought nor gained any advantage from it while at Harvard, and in this particular has the support of none other than Charles Fried. I've known Charles for over 30 years, and he's anything but a liberal, friends. FINAL SCORE: Truth 1, Ryan/TSW 0
There are a lot of runners in this country, and anyone who runs knows that you don't make mistakes about your personal bests, especially a marathon. The man lied about his marathon and got caught on it. It's a sad commentary on any person who lies about something like that, but coming from someone who wants to be Vice President, it's disgusting. If he'd lie about running, which is a very personal practice, then he'd lie about anything. Mr Ryan is a wannabe and I will do my best to see that he remains one.
On a scale of 1 to 10, Paul Ryan's inability to remember his best marathon time is a ZERO when compared to Ms. Warren's inability to remember her ethnicity!