Paul Ryan admits disturbing marathon lie
Yael T. AbouhalkahWhen Paul Ryan said last week he had run a sub-3-hour marathon, America’s running community had to be impressed.
That’s sub-7-minute miles for 26.2 miles, a tough task for most runners - including young ones, which is what Ryan was when he said he ran his marathon.
But it turns out Ryan lied about his marathon performance.
As it turns out, Ryan’s lie has become of a disturbing trend for the GOP’s vice presidential candidate.
Give credit to Runners World, the magazine that tracked down the only marathon it could find with Ryan’s name in it: Grandma’s Marathon in Minnesota in the early 1990s.
That set off a chain reaction of people commenting on Ryan’s lie and what it means about his character and his potential as a vice presidential candidate. Read more from The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel here and from Fox News here.
In the Fox News report, it basically allows Ryan to say - heck - I should have rounded off my best time to around 4 hours, not 3 hours.
Sorry, but as a person who’s run only two marathons - 3:36:03 at age 55 in the 2011 Minneapolis Marathon and 4:28:08 at age 56 in this year’s sweltering Boston Marathon (that’s my excuse, and I’m sticking to it) - I can say what most other runners have said the last few days:
Runners do not forget their personal records for major races and distances, especially the marathon.
So when Ryan made his claim in a radio interview, it could have been taken as fact pretty easily. After all, Ryan is in pretty good shape, by most appearances, and claims to have worked much of his life to stay trim.
But in light of Ryan’s lie-a-thon at last week’s Republican National Convention, I’m glad Runners World checked out his claim.
Frankly, it’s sad that it’s not too surprising that Ryan lied about his marathon performance.
Kent Mueller
8 months, 3 weeks agoWill you be commenting on what Joe Biden has said over the years? Obama has stretched the truth also. Will we be reading about those instances?
Rick Wood
8 months, 3 weeks agoRemarkably, you’re showing more interest in Congressman Ryan’s running times than you did in all the racial epiphanies (and other autobiographical information) enumerated in the President’s memoirs and accepted uncritically in 2008. Remarkably, it’s taken the press four years even to inquire.
Luckily for all of us, you’re right on top of Paul Ryan’s marathon time. What a service to the Republic.
Suzanne Conaway
8 months, 3 weeks agoAs a whole nation, I think we tend to obsess over the trivial rather than the important things.
I remember when Bush ran against Kerry and there was a big hoohah over a poll that showed more people would rather have a beer with Bush than Kerry. HUH?? As if any of us would ever have a chance to throw one back with a president. How stupid.
However, I do wonder about people lying about trivialities. I was a Hillary supporter until her tale of dodging bullets in Kosovo (or wherever). I felt that lying about something so easily checked was rather odd.
I wonder why Ryan felt the need to lie about the marathon?
Brandon Lewis
8 months, 3 weeks agoCome on Kent, you know we need more specifics on the Biden and Obama lies.
Kent Mueller
8 months, 3 weeks agoWhoa, I just read in Yael’s link that John Kerry lied, LIED, about running in the Boston Marathon. He didn’t lie about his time, he didn’t even run, even though he said he did. But, be quiet, I’m concentrating. I’m searching the Star’s archives to read how indignant Yael was when it was reported that Kerry,running for president, said he ran the Boston, when he had never done so. I’ll get back with you on this with what Yael had to say at the time.
And Suzanne, I agree with you. That doesn’t happen often, but I am happy to say so when I do agree with you. But, I will say that with this current president, there is a way to drink a beer with him. Just impede a policeman, and then scream racism. Barack will then invite you to share a beer on the lawn of the White House. Simple as that.
George Hunsucker
Northland
8 months, 3 weeks agoROTFLMAO…..
YT, you really need to take some good meds….
When jimmy II loses, you are going to be a basket case!!!
George Hunsucker
Northland
8 months, 3 weeks agoStill waiting for those links Suzanne….
Brandon Lewis
8 months, 3 weeks agoKent: Why are you searching for information on John Kerry? You clearly mentioned Joe Biden and Barrack Obama. Waiting………..
Chris Hopson
8 months, 3 weeks agoWho cares!? What does THIS have to do with the issues? It’s just an attempt to divert attention away form the real issues. A pitiful attempt at that.
George Hunsucker
Northland
8 months, 3 weeks agoWhen their record is pathetic Chris, their watercarriers in the lame stream media are instructed to write these things.
As we all know, jimmy II’s record is, in fact, pathetic. We are just going to have to “let him go”. He did not perform and said so himself—if I don’t fix the economy I’m a one-term President. Well, the big 0 did not fix the economy, we’re here to collect the debt….
Gary Stewart
8 months, 3 weeks agoIf Paul Ryan is willing to lie with such abandon to build up his mythology about what a serious, disciplined, and accomplished athlete he is, imagine the whoppers he tells to get the chattering class to believe his Ayn Rand inspired budgetary gymnastics are solid. Maybe this will get journalists to stop their swooning long enough to take an objective look at his Objectivist fantasies he has been peddling as “bold” and “serious” efforts to dismantle Social Security and Medicare in the name of fiscal responsibility.
Ray Cyst
8 months, 3 weeks agoWhereas claiming you were born in Kenya then Hawaii or sitting in the church of a vehement racist and claiming you didn’t know he was a racist or denying that you know an anarchist or having a wife who hates America or claiming we all owe our success to the government gets you a bye. The story about his position on the Harvard Law Review or the books he claims to have written also gets you a bye. And of course politicians are liars. Do you want an honest, truthful man negotiating with Muslims, Mexicans, Japanese, Chinese, Russians, Germans, the president of Venezuela, the House of Saud???
Ruthie Pfueller
8 months, 3 weeks agoObama never claimed to be born in Kenya. I’m with Gary Stewart on this one. I am 55 years old and I remember try outs for track in high school where I was so proud of myself for running the 4 40 in 80 seconds flat. I was the best runner on the B string! The fact that he has lied and very badly TRIED ti mislead intelligent people in the RNC should be a wake up call. You guys have no idea what Pandora’s box you are opening if you get R&R elected.
Dan Hartshorn
8 months, 3 weeks ago“So comrads, we have the Amerikan vice president just where we want him. If he fails to give us the top secret formula for Coca Cola classic we will tell the world he lied about his marathon time. mwahaaaaaaa!”
Bob Pierce
8 months, 3 weeks agoYeah, I ran a sub 3 hour, 2:50 something, yeah I used to be fast….. later….. oh,sorry, misspoke shouldn’t have rounded to three but rather 4 hours… much later (never) oh, sorry lied about rounding to three… said 2:50 …. sub 3 …. uh, oh I guess it’s lying to round my time down to 4 too? Darn. These numbers are so hard! We want this maroon telling us to trust him with numbers?? Give or take 30% or 40% I suppose. All you supporters would at least make sense if you could admit he lied and ask him to clean it up before he loses every last bit of credibility. He no doubt has been telling that very runner lingo story of sub three for a long time and finally got caught. Macho athlete guy who ran 2 minutes slower than Sarah Palin…. ooops.
Dan Jackson
8 months, 3 weeks ago@RUTHIEPFUELLER In principle yes Obama did claim to be born in Kenya when he allowed his literary agents to state in his biography that he was a Kenyan born author. That is what it stated all the way up until two months after he decided to run for president. He knew it was in there and allowed it to stay there so that he could sell books. You can’t tell me that you wouldn’t notice such a mistake in your own book.
Dan Jackson
8 months, 3 weeks ago@BOBPIERCE So Sarah Palin ran it two hours quicker? That would mean she ran it in 2 hours and 1 minute. Damn and to think we were that close to having a superhero as the VP.See how easy it is to misspeak?
Dan Hartshorn
8 months, 3 weeks ago“Comrads, Will not the Amerikans lose hope when they find out the arrogant and ambitious Al Gore did not actually invent the internet? They will be so demoralized that we shall be able to march into their cities and conquer them without even firing a single shot. mwahahahahaha”
Dan Hartshorn
8 months, 3 weeks ago“Comrads. Amerikans so stupid. They still think Clinton did not have sex with ‘that woman’. We will use this information to bribe Clinton. And then we will conquer Amerika - because they will be so demoralized to think a politician lied to them. Mwahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaa!”
Bob Pierce
8 months, 3 weeks agoYo Dan, nice to meet you. Minutes not hours. No wonder his lies are accepted so easily. Sara was 2 MINUTES faster. Oh the details. Yikes… you guys scare me.
JR Beillenhouser
8 months, 3 weeks agoYou can’t fix stupid.
Yael should be equally concerned about lies from Obama and Biden. But he isn’t, so you won’t be reading about them.
Chris Hopson is 100% correct. This is the writing of someone who knows that the Dems are going down in flames and that their candidate is a failed president.
JR Beillenhouser
8 months, 3 weeks agoHey Bob,
how about these lies
“I will not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits — either now or in the future.” (Remarks by President Obama to a Joint Session of Congress, September 9, 2009)
“If you like your plan you can keep your Plan. If you like your doctor you can keep your doctor.”
or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLaH7IJWeTk&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVDs9mSG3AA&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kg9m1F8B2_c
Talk about being scared. Be concerned about lies that matter.
Bob Pierce
8 months, 3 weeks agoYeah, no problem with putting a pathological liar like Ryan in charge…. my bad.
JR Beillenhouser
8 months, 3 weeks agoHow about this doozy of a lie.
When allegations of racism and spitting on Democratic congressman were thrown at Tea Partiers, Breitbart offered a $100,000 reward for proof, which still no one has claimed to this day.
The video was released on youtube and there is no video proof that either racial epitaphs were used in the crowd or that spitting occurred.
JR Beillenhouser
8 months, 3 weeks agoYep Bob, especially when the one that is already in charge has shown to lie about everything.
Bob Pierce
8 months, 3 weeks agoGross generalization sir, and primarily false… good night.
Jim Eschrich
8 months, 3 weeks agoI bet you stayed up to the wee hours of the morning to come up with that penetrating insight. You know what I do find revealing and worthy of a note are politicians who lie about important stuff, like the bill for healthcare reform coming in under a trillion dollars and therefore being revenue neutral. And how did that happen? Oh, by taking billions of dollars from Medicare and applying it elsewhere. It’s called double counting! But it’s okay, right, because the ends justify the means. Hypocrites!
Kent Mueller
8 months, 3 weeks agoBrandon, you are pretty incredible. You try to stump me by challenging me with coming up with Biden and Obama lies? I am truly embarrassed to even be responding to this. But.
First of all, how about Obama saying, being caught, and then repeating that Ryan’s plan would reduce Romney’s tax rate to less than 1%. That is not true. Obama new it wasn’t true when he said it. That is a lie.
And just one of Biden’s. He has repeated, to his political benefit that his first wife and daughter were killed by a drunk driver. No police report has said the other driver had been drinking, much less was drunk. Even A Delaware Superior Court judge said Biden was “incorrect”. What galls me, is that he uses that tragedy to demean and destroy the reputation of the other driver and his family. Believe me, I know the the devastation of real drunk driving, having lost my brother and sister-in-law to a man who was truly, legally and proven drunk.
Bob Pierce
8 months, 3 weeks agoActually one of Ryan’s plans does reduce Romney’s taxes to less than 1%. Romney and Ryan have caused so much confusion about which plan THEY are talking about, Ryan’s original plan?, the one passed in the house?, the one from Romney that has no specifics? They’re vagueness is deafening. I appreciate Obama attacking one of them until they show what the heck their plan really is.
George Hunsucker
Northland
8 months, 3 weeks agoSo tell us Bob, what is obama’s “plan”…..
Brandon Lewis
8 months, 3 weeks agoI wasn’t trying to stump you Kent, just making sure you follow through on your claims.
Thank you.
Brandon Lewis
8 months, 3 weeks agoAs we approach the DNC, there will be ample time for us to go “Tit-4-Tat”
Phil Cardarella
8 months, 3 weeks agoActually, I am willing to give Ryan the benefit of the doubt.
After all, given the problems with math that his budgets seem to have? May he really does think that you round “up” for 3.7 to 3.
How did this guy get a reputation as an “intellectual?” Most college freshmen read Ayn Rand. By junior year, it has worn off. How does he not notice that she is an atheist until well into his 30’s — as well as a bad economic “philosopher”? Or that what passes for a Randian economic philosophy is absolutely anti-thetical to Judeo-Christian philosophy?
Is the GOP so hard up that a guy who has read a book — any book besides the Bible — becomes the Party intellectual?
Rachel Elaine Hines
8 months, 3 weeks agoThe only thing Ryan and his running-mate should be running for, as the old joke goes, is the city limits.
JR Beillenhouser
8 months, 3 weeks agoFunny Phil, how it is Bowles of Team Clinton who thinks Ryan is the genius.
Kent Mueller
8 months, 3 weeks agoAnd what would all of you think about someone who said they finished in top half of his/her law school class, when he/she was 76th out of 85?
And what about if someone said they went to law school on a full scholarship? And then it turned out that he/she attended with a 50% non-academic, need based grant. And only a small portion of an additional small amount was based on academics?
Or, what if someone said they earned three college degrees, when in fact, he/she earned one, with a double major.
So, what do you think about those situations? Yael? Suzanne? Brandon? Gary? Ruthie? Bob? Phil? Rachel? Anyone?
Henry Brow
8 months, 2 weeks agoEither you are telling the truth or you are lying, amazing what we will except in politicans regardless of political slant. If you would lie over a small thing then what will you do over something big, seems to be a trend here, and it is not a small thing telling the truth, one of the first things most parents teach their children..
Brandon Lewis
8 months, 2 weeks agoAll we’re looking for is the truth.
Not lying, fudging, cooking the books, wangle of the truth.
Simple, plain and honest truth that leads me to trust you with running the government. Ryan has been proven a liar time and time again, what more do you really need, Kent?
As Henry stated, Truth, one of the first things most parents teach their children.
Kent Mueller
8 months, 2 weeks agoBrandon, if he has lied, then he hasn’t lied as often, or as blatantly as Obama and Biden.
Obama is still saying the Ryan Plan would reduce Romney’s taxes to below 1%. That is not true. Which makes it a lie. He is still repeating that. Where is your outrage?
George Hunsucker
Northland
8 months, 2 weeks agoSo Brandon, how about the gov. saying Sunday you are not better off and then Monday saying oh yes you are….
Is that “lying” or just a lib nuance????
Brandon Lewis
8 months, 2 weeks agoRyan said: “I wasn’t blaming Obama for GM plant closure”
Seriously? What a joke this Ryan is.
George Hunsucker
Northland
8 months, 2 weeks agoOh, you mean like not blaming Romney for the steelworkers death Brandon??
Ohhhhhhhhhhh, I understand now what you mean by lying :-)……
George Hunsucker
Northland
8 months, 2 weeks agoMake that the steelworkers’ wife…..who of course died SIX YEARS after he lost his job after refusing a buyout.
But the ad WAS NOT A LIE, right Brandon?
George Hunsucker
Northland
8 months, 2 weeks agoBrandon,
Are the following comments from Cleaver a lie in your opinion?
Charlotte Will giving high-profile speaking roles at the Democratic National Convention to abortion activists, like the heads of NARAL and Planned Parenthood, make it difficult for Democrats to reach out to religious voters? Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus and a Methodist minister, told me Monday he doesn’t think it will be a problem. “They’re not telling people to get abortions,” he explained.
But NARAL and Planned Parenthood do lobby for extreme policies on abortion. Like President Obama, they oppose any restrictions whatsoever. I asked Cleaver if he also believes late-term abortions should be legal. He said he was “unaware” of the issue. I asked Cleaver the question a second time, but he repeated his non-answer and walked away. In July, Cleaver voted to uphold the District of Columbia’s abortion-until-birth policy.
On Monday, Cleaver addressed the Faith Caucus at the convention and acknowledged that Democrats have been on the defensive over cultural and moral issues.
“We cannot and will not allow anyone to de-faith us,” Cleaver said. “We have over the past few years in my estimation remained essentially silent and civil while people reached out and touched us as Satanic,” Cleaver said. “Just yesterday in my community a letter was being distributed at Catholic churches which essentially says that if you vote for a Democrat, you’re going to Hell.”
Mark Hastert
8 months, 2 weeks agoWell after looking at Ryan’s budget and Medicare proposals it’s evident that he can’t do math. Now we know he can’t tell time.
Kent Mueller
8 months, 2 weeks agoMark, he has proposed more realistic solutions than Obama, right? Where are Obama’s ideas? Other then staying on our current train wreck. None of this is going to be easy. Obama has chickened out on proposing anything meaningful. So, you think it is noble to shoot down someone who proposes a change. The answer to our problems is going to hurt, because we have gotten ourselves in a bad way. If you continue to shoot down anyone proposing a solution, then we are doomed. Think about that.
Kent Mueller
8 months, 2 weeks agoMark, I’m sorry that I left you out of my earlier comment, so I’ll repeat it here for you. Your response?
And what would all of you think about someone who said they finished in the top half of his/her law school class, when he/she was 76th out of 85?
And what about if someone said they went to law school on a full scholarship? And then it turned out that he/she attended with a 50% non-academic, need based grant. And only a small portion of an additional small amount was based on academics?
Or, what if someone said they earned three college degrees, when in fact, he/she earned one, with a double major.
So, what do you think about those situations? Yael? Suzanne? Brandon? Gary? Ruthie? Bob? Phil? Rachel? Anyone?
Brandon Lewis
8 months, 2 weeks ago“”And what would all of you think about someone who said they finished in the top half of his/her law school class, when he/she was 76th out of 85?
If he was 76th out of 85, and when I asked him he said he was 77th! I would have a problem with that. Why lie?
Kent Mueller
8 months, 2 weeks agoBrandon, all of my examples were of Joe Biden. And those lies are separate from his multiple problems with plagiarism.
But the lap dog media gives him a pass, as they do Obama. The fourth estate has failed the American people.
Mike Roberts
8 months agoAfter reading a BUNCH of the comments in this string, one thing is painfully obvious. We are a much divided country! I can’t remember an election where the candidates caused so much snarkyness (is that a word?). I’m happy for the passion in this thread, though.
Ryan’s fib was just that. Was he being intentionally inaccurate, probably. Does it matter? Not really. Like some of you, I’m much more concerned about being lied to on REAL issues, like Obamacare and it’s actually cost, how it divided our leaders, and was something no American even wanted or asked for.
Both Repubs and Dems are guilty of distortions and flat out fabrications. It’s sad but every statement can be countered with something damning it seems. Being a fiscal conservative, I’m just hoping someone, anyone, can get this spending under control. The enormous debt being created is simply unacceptable.