I am a runner and either he embellished his time or perhaps he has run a sub 3 hour marathon on his own time (unofficial). I did a half marathon in 1:48 while training in perfect conditions, but my best official time in a race is 1:57. I consider the 1:48 as my personal best. A sub 3 hour marathon is a tough feat but not impossible, especially for a gym rat like Ryan. Has Ryan himself provided an explaination? Again, I am a runner involved in some local groups and have yet to have anyone bring this up as if a big deal.
He issued a statement. He said he messed up, and then made fun of himself (as his brother did). At the time of the interview he said he hadn’t ran a marathon for 20 years because of back problems caused by a slipped disc.
The opposite for me. Prior to my first marathon my longest training run was 15 miles, untimed but comfortable. Timed in at 3:22:15 (or was it 3:15:22? I have to look it up now!) in the race. My best half timed in training was 1:32, but my best race was 1:20:02. Of course, I was just a kid of 39 then...
My fastest marathon (2:48:45) was also my easiest; just felt good the whole way but stuck to my planned pace to break 2:50 (Boston qualifying standard then) instead of picking it up the last 3 or 4 miles.