Q: I was reflecting on how far we've come since I lived with you and your family and trained with you in Big Bear all those years ago. You especially have had quite a journey that saw some rough early years at Stanford. What kept you going?
A: That is any easy answer: faith. Faith in a lot of different things. Faith in God and wanting to be faithful with the gift that He has entrusted to me. Faith that things can change. Faith in what other people saw in me and what could come to pass if I hung tough. Faith is something that everyone of us can identify with. It is what keeps us going, it is what gets us out of bed in the morning. Without faith the world would be a very unexciting place. I have faith that God has a purpose for my running and I won't stop training until that purpose is accomplished, no matter how hard things get.

Q: It's not too big a change from training jumping from the 1500 to the 5k, but a considerable difference from the 1500m to the 12k and 20k. How has the transition been? What has been the biggest hurdle, the mental or physical aspect?
A: The transition has been easier than expected. I have always been a higher mileage guy and I love to run the longer distances. The long runs and threshold runs have always come easier to me than interval training so the transition has been better for my body than forcing it to do training that it is not as suited to do. I think you know you are doing what you are meant to be doing when it comes naturally and the longer distances come naturally to me. As I think about the top five races that I have enjoyed the most I would say three of them have been at distances of 10k or over. The hardest thing has been trying to get everyone on the same page in terms of transitioning from short races to longer races. There are a lot of friends, family, and other runners who think that I am giving up on my dreams. I don't see it that way. People who really know me well, like my wife, my dad, coach and you all can see the same thing that I can see, simply that I am made for the longer distances. There is a stereotype in America that young runners should stay away from the Marathon. I think that if youth are excited about their prospects in the marathon, are willing to put in the training, and are geared towards longer races then why not give it a shot?

Q: Tell me a little about the dual Hall win in September, you at the Cow Harbor 10k, Sara at the CVS 5k. What is it like racing on the same weekend in different cities?
A: We were on the phone a lot. We both wanted to be there to support the other. If I had known earlier that Long Island and Providence weren't all that far from each other I would have figured out a way to get over there. I was really bummed that I couldn't be there to see Sara win her first USA title. I am so excited to see her doing well. We have trained very hard this past year. It is great when it all pays off.

Q: I still find it hard to believe that your younger brother, who was an 11 year old skateboarder when I lived with you all, is now a very good runner in his own right. Do you all get to train together when you're back in Big Bear? How fast can Chad go?
A: Unfortunately Chad and I are on different programs whenever I am home so I rarely get to train with him. Also, he is in a quite a rhythm right now and I wouldn't want to mess that up. Chad has a ton of God-given talent. With my Dad as his coach and the great training environment up here I am very excited to see how his senior year pans out. I don't want to be foolish and make any predictions but I think he could far surpass the marks I set in high school if everything clicks right. I hope that one day Chad and I will be training for the Olympic games together. How sweet would that be?!

Q: A lot was made, and still is, about the rivalry between you, Alan Webb and Dathan Ritzehein. Are you guys friends? What has it been like to see all of you suddenly "arrive" in the last two years with Alan running 3:48 and you and Ritz running 13:16 for the 5k?
A: It is crazy that it is our time now. For a while we were just the new young legs but now it is getting to be the time when we should be nearing our best. It is exciting to see what people are doing. I remember watching Alan make a gutsy move in the final of the 1500 at the last World Championships and thinking that it is nice to see Americans mixing it up with the big boys. As an up-and-comer it makes such a difference seeing Meb and Dena actually medal in a distance race in the Olympic games. After being in Europe for the summer it makes you think that it is impossible for Americans to run with the Africans but Meb and Dena proved to me, Dathan, Alan and everyone else that it is possible. Now we just need to train with that expectation and go for it. As far as the rivalry between us I don't really feel much of that. I really feel like it is us against the world. Any American that is running at a level such as Dathan and Alan have already accomplished is inspirational to me.

Q: How about Matt Tegenkamp's breakthrough year?
A: It was amazing to follow his accomplishments this summer. I always knew he had a lot of talent. It was good to see him stay healthy and have everything click right. It is amazing what the body can do when you get in a rhythm and things fall into place.

Q: Okay, I've run them and they are brutal. What is a Summit and how many have you run in one workout? And how long is that hill because I can tell you it seemed like an eternity every time I ran one.
A: Snow Summit is the local sky resort in Big Bear. It is only about a mile or so from our house so when we have runners, such as you, come to visit we always make a point to give them a proper introduction to running in the mountains. It is a mile and a half of running straight up a sky run. My favorite part is watching peoples faces as they turn the corner arriving at the last 300 meter hill, which is a double black diamond sky run. From bottom to top it takes 15 minutes if you are flying. The most that I have done in one workout is five, which took about 3 hours or so. The reward of making it to the top is that Snow Summit generously allows us to ride the chair down so we don't have to beat up our legs by running down. If my memory serves me right I think you were the first non-local runner to run all the way to the top without stopping-a pretty impressive accomplishment.

Q: Do you still run them when you are back in Big Bear?
A: To be honest, not all that often. I did a ton of them in high school but haven't done a lot sense. I don't really know why, maybe because I have gotten soft in my old age. I think mainly it is because I like to move it alone on my runs rather than slugging out 10 minute miles up a mountain. Don't get me wrong though, I think it can be a great component to training when implemented properly.

Q: You have been splitting time between Woodside and Mammoth, but I understand that you and Sara recently established a more consistent home base.
A: Yeah, we recently purchased a home not to far from where I grew up in Big Bear. It has been such a blessing to finally unpack all of our stuff that we have had in storage or our car for the last year or so since we got married. It looks like this year we will use it quite a bit since when our training group isn't in Mammoth they will probably be at the Olympic Training Center in San Diego. During our time in San Diego I may head up to Big Bear to stay at altitude and commute from time to time.

Q: I kept reading Ian Dobson's posts at the New York Road Runner's site that you are a fly fisherman. Tell me about that. What else do you and Sara like to do when you're not running? Favorite hobbies?
A: I really enjoy fishing up in Mammoth. In my opinion it is the best place in California for fly fishing. I try to not go too much since it isn't something that Sara and I both enjoy but I do get out from time to time. It is a really relaxing hobby. Other than that Sara and I enjoy doing some cooking, reading, and picnics, ect. Everything we do is really low key up here. I take a lot of naps and stay off my feet a lot in between runs.

Q: Reading any good books these days?
A: I just finished "90 Minutes in Heaven," by Don Piper. It was really good. He has an amazing true story of dying in a car accident for 90 minutes and then a pastor prayed for him and he came back to life. It has a couple sweet chapters describing heaven. Anyone who has wondered about death and heaven or knows someone who is being confronted with death should definitely check it out.

Q: Seen any good movies?
A: Actually nothing comes to mind as of late but I want to check out "St. Ralph,” the one about the kid trying to win the Boston Marathon for his mom. It looks a little corny but I am a sucker for sports movies.

Q: I know you're a big fan of dad's running camp. Tell me about what you remember from your first camp with us in 1999? I remember running with a 5 foot nothing sophomore from CA at Rim Rock Farm thinking, "I know I am going to drop this kid soon." But, no, we kept moving along, you kept chatting with me.
A: Being apart of Jim Ryun's running camp was seriously one of the turning points of my life. I had no idea that a seemingly small decision to attend a summer running camp would alter the coarse of my life forever. I can honestly say that if I hadn't gone to camp at the beginning of my sophomore year I probably wouldn't have gone to Stanford or met my amazing wife (formerly Sara Bei). I won't go into a long explanation of why this is the case for me and I will not promise that you will meet your future wife or get into a great school just by going to camp I will promise you that you will find the same amazing people at camp that make Jim Ryun's running camp the best camp out there. I have so many memories from my first running camp. From our first run in humid Kansas to a campfire at coach Timmon's farm to Ultimate Frisbee in the evenings to electrified pickles-it was packed with both insightful teaching and fun activities. Some of my fondest memories are of sharing meals with the Ryuns and getting to know the person behind the runner that so many of us admire. I remember being a little tentative as it was my first time going to a summer camp but from the minute I got there I felt like I was a part of the family. After camp I remember having a new fire that I had never had before. My passion for the sport and life changed at camp. After a disappointing sophomore year (I had run 4:22 that year) it was just what I needed to breakthrough my junior year improving to a 4:05 and 3:45 (1500M).

Q: Give us a breakdown of your race at the 20k WCs? What was the plan going in? How well do you think you executed that plan? Tell us about the last 5k. What was going through your mind?
A: Going into the World Road Running Championships I was uncertain of how I would do. I always get so nervous about how good or not so good my legs are feeling the week of a race. To often if I am not feeling phenomenal I start to panic and question my fitness. I think this race was a good growing experience for me because I didn't feel amazing leading up to the race but I was in good shape and raced as well as I was prepared to run. My biggest concern going into the race was going out too hard. After racing many African runners numerous times I have learned that they all usually go out very hard and usually only a couple are able to keep the early tempo. What I was nervous about was the possibility of getting lured into a fast early pace. Fortunately, the Lord gave me good sense of pace in the first 5k, which ended up actually being my slowest 5k of the race. Considering the nature of my competitors and the fairly new distance (this was only my second 20k) I knew that I had to run smart. My plan was to run somewhat conservatively the first 5k and try and pick up the tempo for the middle half and then crank the last 5k. It turned out that I ran really even splits. The hardest part of the race was not settling in with packs that I was catching. I started out in about 33rd place after the first 5k and started moving up after that. I was essentially running by myself with guys out in front of me to chase but no one to work with. It was an exciting way to run though. Feeling like you are hunting people down rather than being hunted makes the race fun and it goes by faster. Before I knew it I was on the last lap with 10th place in sight. I had been checking my splits and knew that if I ran a decent last 5k I would get the American record. I felt really good all the way through but with a couple Ks to go I felt my glutes starting to tighten up on me and I knew it was going to be tough to drop down a couple 2:50Ks that I would need to have a shot to get inside the top 10. I was very happy to finish and have such a great experience at a world championship and at a longer distance. It answered a lot of questions about what events I may be best suited for and made me very excited for the years to come. It was a big step in the right direction for me after some sub-par racing at both the World Track and Field Championships and World Cross Country Championships.

Q: What does the future hold for Ryan and Sara Hall?
A: Who knows, it is in God's hands. Although I think we are realizing that God has given a special gift to run and we are determined to use it for Him. Running is a great profession not only because of the training, racing, and travel but mainly because of the people you are surrounded by. It has been great getting to know some people in the professional running community and we want to invest as much in them as possible. One day I am sure that we will be doing something else, like being missionaries to a third world country, but for now our mission is running.

Q: What is the best piece of advice you can give the young runners reading this interview?
A: Be patient and enjoy the journey. From my experience, I can say that whenever I try and force anything it never works for me. When I am patient and go with both the ups and downs of running, life is a lot easier.