Catching up with the Halls

Elite distance runners return for Mammoth visit, training.

Ryan and Sara Hall are two of America’s elite distance runners. A Big Bear local, Ryan posted the fastest American time for the Half Marathon, second for the Marathon, and holds the record for the 12.4 mile Tioga Pass Run at 1:20:57. He has represented the U.S. in both the 2008 and 2012 Olympics.

Sara was the 2012 U.S. National Cross Country Champion and a Gold Medalist at the Panamerican Games in the steeplechase. She has represented the U.S. at three World Indoor Track and Field Championships and a World Cross Country Championship.

In 2009, Ryan and Sara started the Hall Steps Foundation in order to fight poverty through health.

Mammoth residents from 2005-2010, the couple now split their time between Flagstaff, Arizona and Redding, California, but were back in town this week, and sat down with The Sheet on Wednesday to talk about what they’ve been up to.

Sheet: What brings you back to visit?

Ryan: The main reason is there is a Christian running camp going on. The best man at my wedding started the camp back in 2004. And then just to be in Mammoth, it’s one of the most beautiful places you can be in the summertime, and to get a little higher elevation, too. We’re staying up at Lake Mary, which is 9,000 feet compared to Flagstaff, which is 7,000. That extra 2,000 feet is a nice little boost— it’s similar to Ethiopia, where we were training this spring.

Sheet: Ethiopia?

Sara: Basically we just wanted to go for the adventure. Our lives are just the same routine of training and so it’s fun to mix it up. Over there, its 9,000 feet and you can even run up to 10,500. Getting up a little higher can create more of a stimulus. And we really like the culture there.

Sheet: Ryan, how has your career evolved since you left Mammoth?

Ryan: Since leaving Mammoth, I’ve had my best marathon ever, running 2:04 at Boston. I qualified for another Olympic Team and then ran 2:08 in Chicago. So those three Marathons were stand out races for me. But since then, training for the Olympic trials, I got plantar fasciitis, and that’s set me on a roller coaster of battling various injuries. Since 2012 and having to pull out of the Olympic Marathon [due to a hamstring injury], it’s been a rocky road for me. I haven’t had a good marathon or a good consistent block of training to get as fit as I need to be competitive. But it’s coming around now. I’ve been healthy this entire year. I’m just having to be really patient. I’ve seen Meb [Keflezighi, US Marathoner and former Mammoth resident] come out of a couple years of injury and he’s better for it. He’s really inspired me in that way.

Sheet: What’s your next race?

Ryan: I’m getting ready for a Fall Marathon. I ran Boston this Spring and didn’t run very well but I’m stoked that Meb won. That’s exactly what the U.S. needed. This year is really about getting back my general fitness and continuing to build so that I can get back to where I need to be going into an Olympic year.

Sheet: What about you, Sara?

Sara: I had some injuries about a year ago. I broke my kneecap falling in Hawaii and hitting it on a lava rock. So that took a little time to get my strength back. I’ve had a really good year. It’s been really fun to do some longer road races and challenge myself. I’m going to do a marathon this fall. I have picked one but I’m not allowed to announce it yet. It won’t be the same one [as Ryan].

Sheet: It sounds like you both to have had a lot of injuries. Is that fairly common for professional runners?

Ryan: I’d say anyone who has run for any length of time has had some kind of injury. And then for us, we’re going to the max of our ability, so sometimes you cross over the line. And sometimes things pop up for no reason. To some extent it comes with the territory. Once you go through one injury, it’s hard for it not to turn into a cycle because you want to keep running, so maybe you run through it and then you develop compensation issues and then it can open a whole world of other injuries.

Sheet: What have you been doing with the Steps Foundation?

Sara: We started Steps to encourage runners in taking just a step towards these really big issues of extreme poverty. A lot of people feel apathetic towards it because it is such a large issue and kinda hopeless. But we’ve been really excited about the projects we’ve been able to do through our own races and other runners partnering with us. We’ve done clean water projects, built health clinics, and done micro-lending in East Africa. But, we’ve also done some stuff domestically with at-risk youth and mentoring running programs and homeless individuals. It keeps me busy running the day to day stuff so we can be 100 percent volunteer and have no overhead. It’s been a learning experience.

Sheet: What’s your favorite run in Mammoth?

Sara: Just running around Lake Mary and Horseshoe, staying as high as possible. I definitely want to get down to Convict Lake and run around that. And I’ll tackle Green Church Road tomorrow. I don’t know if that’s a favorite, but it’s a benchmark for all the tempo runs we did while we lived here. I did a long run with Deena Kastor on Sunday and that was great to see my progress because I was never really able to hang with her when I was on the team.

Ryan: We’ve been working out on the track the last several days. I wish it was here when we were. The track is so beautiful and one of the most scenic tracks I’ve ever been on in my life.

Sheet: It seems like there are even more runners in town this summer than ever before. Where do you see the sport of running going?

Ryan: When you look at the results of high school meets I used to run in, it’s gotten more competitive. When I see the times, its obvious they have taken our sport to even higher grounds. [I see] a very bright future for the sport.