Paul Ryan Lied About Marathon Time

Last week Paul Ryan was chastised by the media for telling several lies during his speech at the Republican National Convention. Well, it turns out that Ryan also stretched the truth about his marathon running abilities.

According to Runners World, Ryan claimed that he ran a marathon in less than three hours. Ryan said in a radio interview last week that his best time was “under three, high twos.”

Ryan said:

“Yeah, I hurt a disc in my back, so I don’t run marathons anymore. I just run ten miles or less. (My personal best is) under three, high twos. I had a two hour and fifty-something.”

Well, actually, he didn’t.

The Ryan campaign sent a statement to Runners World saying that Ryan answered the question to the “best of his recollection.”

Ryan said:

“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. 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.”

A spokesman for Ryan confirmed that Paul Ryan has only run one marathon. The race was the 1990 Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota. Ryan, who was 20 at the time, finished in 4 hours, 1 minute, and 25 seconds.