Paul Ryan is a little liar.

And a big liar too, but that’s almost to be expected from a politician, especially a Conservative Republican.

But now Ryan’s lying about things that don’t even matter, which, in its own way, is a lot scarier.

Paul Ryan Trips Over Marathon Question
Shushannah Walsh

Paul Ryan is an athlete, no question about it — we know he does the rigorous P90X exercise regime daily. But is he a marathoner?

On Hugh Hewitt’s radio show Aug. 22, it sure sounded like he was, at least in his youth.

Hewitt asked the vice presidential candidate whether he is “still running.”

Ryan answered that he “hurt a disc” in his back,” so he doesn’t “run marathons anymore.” Instead, he said. he just runs 10 miles or less.

The conservative radio host then asked him what his personal best time is. For a marathoner this is a badge of honor, but Ryan couldn’t recall exactly.

“Under three, high twos. I had a two hour and fifty-something,” Ryan said.

Hewitt was surprised, saying, “Holy smokes.”

Ryan replied: “I was fast when I was younger, yeah.”

But it turns out, he’s only run one and it wasn’t under three hours or even under four hours.

The Ryan campaign told Runner’s World magazine that the House Budget Chairman ran one marathon in 1990 when he was 20 years old. That was the Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota. The running magazine reports he finished in 4 hours, 1 minute, and 25 seconds.

Ryan spokesman Brendan Buck provided ABC News with this statement from the Republican vice presidential candidate:

“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.”

ABC News asked Buck why the Wisconsin congressman made it sound as if he had run more than one marathon, but Buck only responded to confirm it was just a single race.

Runner’s World has some great statistics on other national candidates that have faster times than Ryan, including the last GOP vice presidential candidate, Sarah Palin, who has a best time of 3:59

John Edwards has run 3:30 and George W. Bush has run 3:44, while Al Gore is slower than Ryan with a 4:58.

(source)

It could be just a case of forgetfulness…but it’s not.

(PS: I like how the media phrases things like “trips over a question.” You lied. You didn’t accidentally tell a falsehood. You lied. Period.)

If you’re a casual runner, you probably don’t know your times. If you just up and decided to run around the block a few times, you’re probably not going to remember how long it took you. But, if you’ve taken the time out of your life to train for a marathon and then you spend four—not two, four—hours running a footrace, you’re not going to forget how long it took you. To run a marathon, running has to be your thing, at least for awhile, and something you’ve committed to.

I used to bowl seriously when I was younger. I had my best score at 14 (298) and I still remember everything about that game and the stupid 7-10 split I got in the last frame. That was a whole decade ago, but if someone asks what’s the highest I ever bowled, I remember A) because I was a bowler and B) because it was a damn good score.

A marathon in under three hours is a damn good time. You’re not gonna blank out on exactly how long it took you to run it and you’re definitely not going to accidentally shave more than an hour off your time. That would be like if my highest score was actually a 175 and I just fudged the numbers a little to a 298. I just took myself from a perfectly average bowler to the top echelon of the sport. I just threw a better number out there to make myself look better.

And that’s the essence of who Paul Ryan is. He doesn’t need actual facts and he doesn’t rely on them. He takes a question, thinks about what answer will put him in the best light, and gives it. If he gets caught then it’s “oops I misspoke.” But if he doesn’t get caught, then we’re all sitting around thinking he’s an elite athlete running marathons in 2 hours and change.

So if this man who wants to be one step away from leading the country can let a simple, non-important lie roll off of his tongue for the sole reason of making himself look better, what do you think he’s doing up there in all of his speeches and interviews on the campaign trail?

He’s definitely not striving for accuracy, especially if the truth isn’t in his best interest.