Ryan Hall releases blog post about reasons for retiring
In his latest blog post, Ryan Hall, 33, announces his reasons for retiring from professional running and what he has planned for the future.
At just 33 years of age, Ryan Hall announced on Friday that he is stepping away from professional distance running citing low testosterone levels and extreme fatigue.
Late Friday, Hall listed the reasons that led to the decision to conclude his career as one of the greatest U.S. distance runners of his generation.
The 33-year-old Big Bear Lake, Calif. native is the current American record holder in the half-marathon (59:43) and the fastest ever American in the marathon (2:04:58).
Excerpts of his blog post can be found below:
Becoming the first American to break an hour in the half marathon, competing in two Olympic Games, finishing in the top five of many of the biggest marathons in the world, and even helping to create arguably the most historic marathon of all-time – leading much of the 2011 Boston Marathon, in which two athletes ran significantly faster than any other marathon had ever been run, and personally finishing in a time that I never thought would be possible to become the fastest American of all-time. I reflect on these achievements not with pride, but with humility, for I know that I was only faithful to the gift I had been given
Now it’s time to start a new chapter of my life. Running with the best guys in the world was never meant to last forever – it was an amazing season of my life but it always had to have an end. I have demanded a lot from my body and it gave me everything it could for 20 years, but at this time I am convinced there is nothing left for it to give. Which is why I have decided to stop running at a competitive level and begin the process of giving back to my body rather than demanding more from it. This decision was not made in haste, but rather has been a gradual process as I have felt my body change. Nagging injuries such as the hamstring tendentious I developed in the 2012 Olympic Marathon continue to bother me and throw off my mechanics to this day. It has been made very clear to me that while my heart and mind still want to perform at my best, my body is no longer able to. I am proud of my best days, but even prouder of the many, many very bad days that I had to pick myself up from. Perhaps one of the biggest gifts running has given me is the ability to be resilient.
RELATED: Ryan Hall: Did he live up to expectations as a U.S. distance great?
Honestly, didn't have any emotional moments about retiring until I saw this video…then I kind of lost it. https://t.co/aBybgM6UMa
— Ryan Hall (@ryanhall3) January 16, 2016
RELATED: American distance great Ryan Hall announces retirement.
The video Hall is referring to can be seen below in which he receives personal video messages from Olympic medallists Deena Kastor and Meb Keflezighi as well as from his wife Sara:
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