Press Release - ING Miami Marathon - 8/28/09

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

   OLYMPIAN HALL TO SERVE AS OFFICIAL STARTER OF ING MIAMI MARATHON 

Ryan Hall, the top distance runner in the United States, will serve as 
Official Starter for the 2010 Miami Marathon and Half-Marathon® when the 
race kicks off at 6:15 a.m. Sunday outside American Airlines Arena. 

Hall isn't running this year in Miami because he is between training cycles 
for marathons. But he will be active in support of the South Florida event. 

In addition to shooting the starting gun on Sunday, Hall will also sign 
autographs at the Nissan tent from 9-10 a.m. on race day. 

On Saturday, he will offer running tips at a 1:30 p.m. seminar at the 
Nissan Health and Fitness Expo presented by The Miami Herald and El Nuevo 
Herald. As part of Nissan's Master the Shift event series, Hall will offer 
running enthusiasts an inside look at how he trains for success and how 
runners can shift their performance to a new level of personal achievement. 
He will then sign autographs from 2-3 p.m. 

"Even though the Miami Marathon didn't fit into my training schedule this 
year, I'm excited to be in Miami this weekend as this is one of the fastest 
growing events in the country," Hall said. "I wanted to come down and offer 
my support to this tremendous event. I'm looking forward to being the 
starter for the Marathon, giving a training seminar and making some 
appearances in the Nissan booth at the Expo." 

Hall qualified for the Olympic marathon in Beijing with a record setting 
performance (2:09:02) at the U.S. Olympic Trials in New York . He went on 
to finish 10th in Beijing, his fourth-ever marathon, with a time of 
2:12:33.  Hall finished third in the 2009 Boston Marathon (2:09:40), 
becoming the first American-born athlete to reach the men's podium since 
1985. Most recently, he finished fourth in the 2009 New York City Marathon. 

Born in Big Bear Lake ( Calif. ), Hall's career started to take shape in 
high school as he captured the California State Cross Country Championship 
during his junior and senior seasons. He also finished third at the Foot 
Locker National High School Cross Country Championships in 2000. Hall 
finished second at the 2003 NCAA Cross-Country Championships during his 
junior year at Stanford University . That year he was named Pac-10 Cross 
Country Athlete of the Year and All-American for a second consecutive year. 
He graduated from Stanford in 2006 with a B.A. in Sociology. 

Hall's running success continued when he captured the 2006 USA Cross 
Country Championship in the Bronx, N.Y.  His career took off when he set 
the record for a U.S. debut performance with a 2:08:24 in London in 2007.  
He followed that by finishing fifth in the 2008 London Marathon with a time 
of 2:06:17. Hall also holds the American record in the half marathon with a 
time of 59:43, becoming the first and only American ever to break the 
one-hour barrier in the event. 


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