my faves

My favorite professional runners that is. I don't know if you know this, but I LOVE the sport of running. I like to follow professional runners. I like watching running more than football, basketball, and any other sport. Thanks to websites like letsrun.com and flotrack.org it's easy to follow the sport, both professional and collegiate (since the sport of running isn't shown on TV that often).

I have 3 favorite runners:  Shalane Flanagan, Ryan Hall, and Lisa Koll.

Shalane Flanagan

Shalane Flanagan ran for UNC-Chapel Hill and went professional in 2004. At the 2008 summer Olympics, she received a bronze medal in the 10,000m and set a new American record in the distance with a time of 30:22.22. She is only the 2nd American woman to receive an Olympic medal in the 10,000m. 2010 was a hot year for her. She won the US half marathon championships in Houstin, TX and set a course record in 1:09:45; she won the US XC Championships; and she finished 2nd in the ING NYC Marathon (her debut marathon) in 2:28:40. She is one fast lady!
 

Ryan Hall

Next, is Ryan Hall. Ryan Hall ran for Stanford University and went professional in 2005. Ryan Hall has many, many professional running achievements. The coolest thing though is that he is currently the fastest American marathoner! His PR for the marathon is 2:06:17. He doesn't hold the American record for the marathon, but he does hold the American record for the half marathon in 59:43. In 2010, he left his coach and he's currently coaching himself! Talk about ballsy for a professional!! That's pretty much unheard of! Also, he is completely open about his Christian faith, and him and his wife (who is also a professional runner) started the Hall Steps Foundation. The Hall Steps Foundation goal is to take small steps to end poverty by raising money toward clean water, fighting human trafficking, and funding a home in a Rescue Center in Kenya! He's fast, he's Christian, and he's fighting poverty one step at a time!!

Lisa Koll

And finally, LISA KOLL!!! Lisa is my favorite favorite. She ran for Iowa State and went professional in 2010. She deferred entry into Veterinary School to go professional. She believes in doing everything 100% and she couldn't do both running and vet school at 100%, something was going to lack effort, so she chose to go professional (Good choice if you ask me). (Also, she's training partners with Shalane now). In her debut professional race, the Bix 7 (a 7 mile race in Iowa), she won!! Her last year at Iowa, she dominated the 5,000m and 10,000m distances on the track. She was the NCAA champion in both events (there's only 4 people who have done that)! I should also mention that she holds the collegiate record for the 10,000m in 31:18.07 (her nearest competition was 30 seconds back when she broke the record)! I've watched her race, I've watched videos of interviews, and she is my favorite professional runner. She is smart, fast, down to earth,and just happy to have the experiences despite her performance in the races (although that makes it better sometimes).

Watching them race and watching interviews with them help keep me motivated in my own training. Call me a running nerd, I don't care, I know I am! I absolutely love the sport and I wish I could do it full-time.