Citing a quadriceps injury that was sustained during a training run in early February, Ryan Hall officially dropped out of the Boston Marathon today. A similar injury caused Hall to cancel his plans to run the New York City Marathon late last year, as well.
The announcement was made today by John Hancock, the Boston Marathon's elite-field sponsor. On John Hancock's Boston Marathon Twitter account, Hall said, "I am gutted to have to bow out of this year's Boston Marathon. I had put in a great deal of very hard training before sustaining a quad strain that made me miss about a month of training. The quad is feeling better now & I am back up to running." Using his own account, Hall responded: "Heart breaking to have to pull out of Boston. Want to thank all my sponsors and supporters for sticking by me through it all."
It seems Ryan Hall has been suffering from injury a lot lately. Many remember his dropping out of the marathon in the Olympic Games last August as a result of a right hamstring muscle strain. Add to that his scratches at this year's Boston event and last year's New York City Marathon, and Hall has not competed at the marathon distance since the US Olympic Marathon Trials in Houston on January 14, 2012.
April's race would have been Hall's fourth Boston Marathon. In 2011, he placed fourth in that race, finishing in 2:04:58, the fastest-ever marathon time recorded by an American. This performance led some to believe that Hall might be the first American to challenge the East African dominance of the sport. Time will tell if he's able to repair himself and compete at that top level.
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