Ryan Hall Maintains 'God Is Good' After Olympics Marathon Loss
Team USA Long Distance Runner Who Claimed God as His 'Coach' Suffers Injury
Ryan Hall, the American long distance runner who declared that God is his coach, failed to finish the Olympics marathon race due to an injury Sunday, the final day of the Summer Games in London – but said he still holds firm to his Christian faith.
"A huge bummer of a day today. Hamstring wouldn't let me go," Hall tweeted after dropping out of the marathon. He also offered a "huge congrats" to fellow Team USA long distance runner and devout Christian Mebrahtom "Meb" Keflezighi, who finished in fourth place.
"You continue to inspire me," Hall added, using the hashtag "#GodIsStillGood."
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"Honestly I'm a little bit in shock right now," Hall told The Republic over the weekend. "There's no positive. I just have to keep trying to move forward." He added that he had felt good while warming up in the first few miles, but then felt his hamstring get tighter. He was forced to drop out about 10 miles of the 26.2-mile race not far from Buckingham Palace.
Hall finished 10th at the Beijing Olympics four years earlier.
"As marathoners you're pushing the body so hard these things come up. Unfortunately it's part of our sport but something I never experienced to this extent before. I've always finished," said the 29-year old Christian from Arizona.
In 2011, Hall had written in "God" as his coach during a standard drug testing form after finishing as the runner-up at the United States Half Marathon Championships, insisting that God is "a real person" even after being told he needed to put in a real name.
Despite his disappointing finish at the Olympics Sunday, the Team USA runner made it clear on Twitter that he still fully trusts God and counts on Him to help get him through the current setback.
"God is so good. My circumstances have the possibility of shifting my perception of His goodness but His goodness never changes," Hall posted Monday morning on his official Twitter page.
"Blessed to have family and friends for encouragement. Getting fresh perspective today," he added.
Hall stressed in The Republic report that his first goal currently was to rehabilitate properly when he gets back to his home in Phoenix.
"It's really disappointing, but I'm trying to keep the overall big-picture perspective. I'm still young and have my best marathons in front of me. I'm just trying not to do anything stupid out there, trying not to damage my body. Sometimes that means making very difficult decisions on the fly when you're out there," the Olympian concluded.
