Thanks again to WordPress for “freshly pressing” my post on media distortion last week. I’d like to welcome both new and longtime followers alike, and to reassure you that I’m not a political blogger. Not really. In fact, I swore off the mere mention of “abortion,” “politicians” and “President Obama,” along with many other words in any way related to politics after last week’s exhausting barrage of mostly civil responses to my non-partisan examination of media bias. As one friend of mine said, I must have done something right because folks were swinging at me from both sides of the political spectrum. And yet I’m grateful, I really am, because from this heady experience, I learned to avoid writing about politics.
That’s right: I swore off politics like I swore off baseball after the strike in the summer of ’94. I stayed so mad at 
baseball, I ignored my beloved Baltimore Orioles for almost the entire 1995 season. I took baseball back just in time to watch Cal Ripken break Lou Gehrig’s Ironman streak on September 6, 1995.
I stayed mad at baseball for the better part of 1995. In the case of politics, I lasted exactly a week.
It’s Paul Ryan’s fault, really. You see, I think he lied, and I’m irked. I was liking not loving the guy, despite his social conservative leanings. You know what I liked most about him? His athleticism and his bounding energy.
This blog, and my upcoming book, I Run: Running from Hell with El is about how running has helped me heal from and cope with abuse. In it, I write about the eight marathons I’ve run. I also write at length about a lifetime of competitive athletics. Playing sports may well have saved my life, literally. It kept me alive when there was little else to give me hope.
Which is to say that for me, sports, and running, is pretty serious business. In a recent interview, Paul Ryan was asked about the marathon he ran. Here is the relevant quote, taken directly from the transcript of his interview with Hugh Hewitt:
HH: Are you still running?
PR: Yeah, I hurt a disc in my back, so I don’t run marathons anymore. I just run ten miles or yes.
HH: But you did run marathons at some point?
PR: Yeah, but I can’t do it anymore, because my back is just not that great.
HH: I’ve just gotta ask, what’s your personal best?
PR: Under three, high twos. I had a two hour and fifty-something.
After this interview on Thursday, August 23, 2012, a reporter from Runner’s World got curious and looked up Ryan’s actual finishing time. Ryan ran one marathon, the 1990 Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota. According to official results, Ryan finished in 4 hours, 1 minute, and 25 seconds.
When asked to explain this discrepancy, a spokesman for Ryan told Runner’s World the next day:
The race was more than 20 years ago, but my brother Tobin—who ran Boston last year—reminds me that he is the owner of the fastest marathon in the family and has never himself ran a sub-three. If I were to do any rounding, it would certainly be to four hours, not three. He gave me a good ribbing over this at dinner tonight.
I’ve thought about this for a few days. As I ran 14.7 miles on Sunday, struggling to breathe due to seasonal asthma, I looked back at the marathons I’ve run since I sustained serious injuries in a accident in 2009. In my first marathon, I crossed the line in 5:01:50, just missing breaking the five-hour mark. This race was a warmup for the Suntrust National Marathon a month later. I was aiming to break 4:30 but I turned my ankle at the 5-mile mark and limped across the finishing line, yet again, in 5:01 and change. I’m not going to bore you with my other finishing times.
But I will volunteer a few other times: in 1995, I ran the Charlottesville 10-miler in 75 minutes. In 1989, I ran a 10K in Baltimore in 50:53 (approximately). My fastest mile time, ran in 1988, was 6:20.
I apologize to the non-runners reading this, and trust me, I’m not bragging about my PRs or even my extremely pedestrian finishing times. I could go on and on here, listing my highest scoring total in a basketball game (17 points); how many no-hitters I tossed in fast-pitch softball (one); my maximum bench press (150) and you know what? This is normal for a competitive athlete. We’re almost universally aware, especially we runners, of our splits, PRs for every distance, average minutes per mile, max heart rate, farthest distance run . . . athletes simply are (must be) aware of how much, how far, and how long in their ever-ending quest to be faster, higher and stronger.
I don’t know if Ryan lied on purpose. It’s unlikely that a workout junkie forgot his PR. It’s highly unlikely but it is
possible he forgot his finishing time. Even more likely, it’s possible that he exaggerated it once, and the response he received from other athletes made him feel good. Maybe he exaggerated a little more the next time. Maybe he exaggerated so much, and for so long, that he believed it when he said he ran a 2:50-something.
And maybe President Clinton believed it when he said he did not have sexual relations with that woman, Monica Lewinsky.
I’d love to hear you views on the issues raised above. Please keep your responses polite and avoid ad-hominem attacks and personal insults, and if you do, I’d love to discuss and debate the mysterious marathon memory of Paul Ryan.
The fact checkers who looked at Paul Ryan’s GOP convention speech called him out on numerous lies. If the only one was in his marathon I would think he was a braggart. But that lie won’t affect my mother-in-law’s medicare. Some of his others might. And yes, Bill Clinton knew what he was saying too. When I fib, I know I am doing it. So do they.
Ah yes, I did hear about those lies but man, this one was so much more interesting (grinning). I really think they know when they’re lying or fibbing too . . . or they’ve lied so much to themselves, they believe it. Or they’re insane. Or . . . they’re politicians. :Sigh:
I read your comment, smiled and then clicked on something that gave me a link to this: http://www.paulryantimecalculator.com/ Enjoy!
So well written, El. As always!
As for Ryan, my thoughts are this: A 3 year old knows when he/she is telling a “tall tale”, also known as a lie. Even if they don’t know it’s morally wrong, they likely know by the way their gut twists over the idea of getting caught when they claim they only took 1 cookie while the empty plate shows they ate 5. As that child ages, their lies may become more complex or even justified in their own minds. Aside from being impulsive, they’ve learned to weigh the (anticipated) costs versus the (perceived) benefits. A 16 year old that breaks curfew and stays late at the party claiming she only did so because a friend really needed her is still telling a lie if she stayed solely because she wanted to stay; if her gut fears getting busted, she knows she’s being dishonest. I know my gut’s never failed me when I was getting ready to tell a “tall tale” or an outright lie. (It didn’t help that my father was an attorney before he became a shrink. He was a living lie detector!)
As a grown man, did Ryan know he was being dishonest? I have to assume he did to claim a time so far removed from his actual time and chose to do so consciously. Either that, or he is gutless. Either way, I’m left wondering: if he’s willing to “bend the truth” over a (relatively) small life detail, what’s he willing to do with the big details?
Hello and thank you so much, Transitioning Mom!
You summarize the psycho-emotional development we undergo very well. I like your concept of the gut-twisting as conscience. I’ve found that to be very accurate as well. Haha re your Dad as living lie-detector!
Seriously, I keep trying to find a way he made a mistake, because I hate to think he was dumb enough or insecure or vain-glorious enough to lie. But really–2:52 is so, so, so different than 4:01. I would never mistake my 5:01 for a 3:52!!! I just am not buying it, and once I get to not buying into the belief he made an honest mistake, it becomes painfully hard to pull that lever. I can deal with so many things, but lying, especially reckless lying (Gary Hart, Clinton and now Paul, I think) I start to question both the character and the grounded-ness (I call new word) of the man, you know?
xoxo
Ever hear of the little boy who cried wolf? well, Ryan has told so many tall tales that I will no longer believe ANYTHING he says. Not until I check it out. he has lost all credibility for me.
I don’t know about the other lies (I haven’t researched them so I cannot comment on them) but this one really bugs me, Eclectic Lady.
Dear El,
Robert Heinlein’s character Lazarus Long coined a few aphorisms in the Intermissions in his Novel, Time Enough for Love. One of them said, “This sad little lizard told me that he was a brontosaurus on his mother’s side. I did not laugh; people who boast of ancestry often have little else to sustain them. Humoring them costs nothing and adds to happiness in a world in which happiness is always in short supply.”
Paul Ryan is just one of many sad little lizards running for office. Sadder still is that we keep voting for them. We truly do get the government we deserve.
Nice post. Maybe Mr. Ryan will respond.
Aloha,
Doug
Dear Doug,
I rather love the story of the sad little lizard. I do regret, however, that the sad little lizard is now running for office. And I regret even more than I’m seeing no true brontosauruses running for office now.
Aw thank you!
Aloha,
El
Well written post.
You are right. Politics makes strange bedfellows. I am even willing to let this marathon fib go by, but what about his baseless attacks on the GM bailout? Unlike Mitt Romney I thought this guy would at least have solid principles.
Thank you! And man, I sure would like to see more men with solid principles in politics. Men and women–sheesh!
El, did you just write another political post? or are we discussing human psychology behind lying
first, I shall treat it as latter…the human being that Paul Ryan is, is obsessed with looking and sounding good. It is a commonly found urge and in most cases compels the subject to resort to lying.
now treating this post as political, one can hardly blame Paul for lying. All politicians do, and not because they want to, but because they must. In a media dominated society, where a politician’s every word is analyzed by the gazillion self proclaimed gurus, every gesture is choreographed by marketing “experts”, and surrounded by millions of advisers, it is easy for the politician to forget who he really is. In such a delusional state, he starts imagining himself and his life according to what others around him would want it to be. Paul must have dreamed up his marathon “Facts” as part of this delusion and must be convinced of its veracity.
Good, good point Raunak–and no, I didn’t really write about politics, but I am thinking about another one (that is also not really about politics, or maybe it is–grin).
Good analysis above–I think you’re right on!
Thanks for stopping by!
Reblogged this on drndark.
Although I sympathize with injuries because anyone who runs gets them… I entirely agree with you. I remember every single time, good or bad, even for PRACTICE runs… I did not always time short runs, but I always timed long runs. I had an injury a few weeks before completion, but there is no possible way I would have forgotten a marathon time.
Oh, and congrats on the FP!
I sympathize with injuries too–my nickname is “phoenix” because I’ve crashed and burned so many times. But yeah. Exactly what you said re forgetting marathon times. Hey, thank you so much for stopping by–I’m glad you did, because it gave me the opportunity to check out your writing!
Someday someone will explain marathon running to me. Maybe you will. I remember loving to run but never ever loving it so much that I could see myself running a marathon.
I suspect this one is something he told once to often to friends and it became a truth. Just like Clinton’s no sex truth as you put it.
Haha re the no sex truth!! And marathon running. Sheesh. It’s insane! Only crazies do it!! LOL. xoxo