Paul Ryan admits he hasn’t run a sub-three-hour marathon

GOP vice presidential nominee Rep. Paul Ryan (Wis.) is correcting his recent claim that he ran a marathon in under three hours about two decades ago, noting he actually completed the race in just over four hours.

Ryan, who is now 42, told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt on Aug. 22 that he had run a “two hour and fifty-something” marathon.

But Runner’s World magazine began looking into the claim and couldn’t find evidence of a sub-three-hour clocking by Ryan, instead finding what appeared to be a much slower time in 1990.

{mosads}Ryan’s campaign confirmed to the magazine late Friday that Ryan had run one marathon: Grandma’s Marathon in Minnesota in 1990, where he finished in four hours, one minute, and 25 seconds.

“The race was more than 20 years ago, but my brother Tobin – who ran Boston last year – reminds me that he is the owner of the fastest marathon in the family and has never himself ran a sub-three,” Ryan said in a statement also provided to The New Yorker.

“If I were to do any rounding, it would certainly be to four hours, not three. He gave me a good ribbing over this at dinner tonight,” Ryan said.

Breaking the three-hour barrier in a 26.2-mile marathon is a sought-after time for many recreational runners, requiring a pace of 6 minutes, 52 seconds-per-mile to sneak under.

It’s substantially faster than even the recently toughened qualifying time for the Boston Marathon, which for men between 18 and 34 years old is now three hours and five minutes.

The men’s world record in the marathon is two hours, three minutes and 38 seconds, set by Patrick Makau of Kenya at the Berlin Marathon in 2011. Makau’s average pace over 26.2 miles was 4:43-per-mile.