When asked how fast he has run a marathon, vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan indicated his best time was under three hours, which is quite a feat, even for someone as fit as the Wisconsin congressman.
After Runner’s World magazine questioned the time, Ryan said he misspoke and his fastest time was closer to four hours, which is reflected in his documented mark of 4:01:25 at a Duluth, Minn. race in 1990. Still respectable.
But Slate.com wanted to find out “who’s the fastest politico in the land,” or at least who had run the fastest marathon. And the winner is none other than Montana Sen. Max Baucus, who in 1982 nearly broke the three-hour mark in Governor’s Cup race, recording a time of 3:01:18.
Here is the list of politicians who have broken four hours in a marathon and the year in which they raced:
1) Max Baucus, 1982: 3:01:18
2) Harry Reid, 1972: 3:16:00
3) John Edwards, 1983: 3:30:18
4) George W. Bush, 1993: 3:44:52
5) Eliot Spitzer, 1983: 3:58:44
6) Sarah Palin, 2005: 3:59:36
Check out Slate’s time-compressed race among politicos here.