Olympian Hall Driven By Faith

These days, no one could blame you for thinking scandal or disgrace will eventually ensnare professional athletes with even the most solid of moral foundations. These are, after all, cynical times.

But if there was one guy you would believe would never fall from grace or self-destruct, it would have to be 26-year-old Ryan Hall.

Unless you're really into distance running or tuned into last summer's Olympics when something besides beach volleyball or that guy who won eight gold medals was on television, you probably don't know Hall.

Hall, who finished 10th in the Beijing Games marathon and is the American record-holder in the half marathon, could actually make us believe there are still a few athletes worth holding up as role models.

He is competing in Saturday's Publix Super Markets Gasparilla Distance Classic 15-kilometer road race. Hall will use the 9.3-mile, out-and-back course along Bayshore Boulevard as a tune-up for the Boston Marathon on April 20. And if the weather is right and he's feeling good, Hall might even take a stab at the nearly 14-year-old American record in the event.

"I am going to praise God with every step by doing the very best I can," Hall said when asked if he will try to break Todd Williams' 15k mark of 42 minutes, 22 seconds, set in 1995.

Some people wear their faith as an ornament. Hall lives it. It's woven into his running and just about everything else he does. He and his wife, Sara, who is a professional middle-distance runner, have used their success in the sport and their strong faith to help others. It's why they are part of Team World Vision, an international Christian relief and development organization.

Shortly after the Olympics, Hall and his wife took a break from their training in Mammoth Lakes, Calif., and traveled to Zambia with World Vision. He said he expected to see the images you see too often on TV - starving kids and people mobbing relief trucks. Instead, they saw people of joy and spirituality using the means World Vision had provided them to move ahead with their lives.

Hall returned from the mission inspired, motivated and certain he was following the right path.

"I think the big thing with Ryan is that when he's out there running, he's not doing it just for himself," said his coach, Terrence Mahon, himself an elite marathoner. "There's a spiritual element to his running and worldliness to him as an individual you don't always see in someone that young. That's one of the main things that's bringing him success quicker."