I was on vacation, essentially offline, when the Paul Ryan marathon lie broke. From my phone, I followed the news of Runner's World trying to track down his marathon results, only to discover that he didn't run "two fifty-something" but actually 4:01.
As a competitive runner and a Wisconsinite, I feel the need to explain from my perspective why this matters.
As soon as I heard of Ryan's claim and how he stated it (two fifty-something), I was skeptical. Why? Most runners who have run a marathon, regardless of finish time, know their marathon PRs at least to the minute. When you get to sub-3 territory, that accomplishment takes quite a bit of effort and those who accomplish it are rightly very proud of their times. They are even more likely to know their times, usually to the second. As a competitive runner, my PR is part of my identity. I realize there are sub-3 marathoners who don't look at their running this way but I don't know of any who can't remember at least to the minute what they have run.
So I could see through this lie right away. So what? That's nothing special. I'm sure many other runners and probably even some non-runners also did. Well, it tells us about his personality. This is something those of us who have been watching him from Wisconsin have seem for some time. Paul Ryan is a pathological liar. Even on this topic that doesn't tell us a darn thing about his ability to serve this country, he can't help but lie to make himself look better. This is the problem. If you can't trust him to tell you his marathon time or at least admit he doesn't remember, what can you trust him to tell you the truth about?
In the running world, your PRs are part of your identity. Lying about your PR is a mortal sin. It's comparable to a Republican voting to raise taxes on the rich. Ryan is taking a beating in the running community right now. I know this isn't a demographic that's often considered critical to elections but I don't see any runners standing up and saying it's not a big deal. Lots of unfriendly comments and lots of links to the Paul Ryan Marathon Calculator (If you're a runner, check it out - my Paul Ryan marathon time makes me a world record holder at 1:56:00!).
By the way, for anyone who cares, my PR is 2:40:05. Not that this means a darn thing in the political world but there it is. I could offer documentation but I appreciate the anonymity I've been allowed on here so far.
