You Simply Can’t Run Faster Than Ryan Hall

We dare you to race this ad. Hint: you’ll lose. For the 2011 New York City Marathon, Vitro and ASICS asked a surprising question: are you faster than our advertising? The answer for everyone who took us up on the challenge was, No.

To demonstrate exactly how fast champion marathoners have to run in order to win the 26.2 mile race, Vitro and ASICS installed a 60 foot long video wall underground in the Columbus Circle Subway Station. Along the video wall, US Olympic marathoner, and ASICS athlete, Ryan Hall, demonstrated his marathon race pace, a 4:46 mile. A countdown on the video let bystanders get into position to race against Ryan for 60 feet. No one could beat him, including Ryan Hall himself who stopped by our installation to race against his virtual self.  After the race, fans were presented with a humbling fact: Ryan Hall runs this fast for 26.2 miles.

Run With Ryan was an instant hit with both race fans and news media, earning the editors Pick of the Day at Creativity. Run with Ryan was also featured in Fast Company Design, Ad Week and Japan’s Nikkei Marketing Journal.

  • Four

    What is the music on this video?  Love the ad btw!  Thanks.

  • Hello
    • Sub-sinker

      Was that ever produced? All I see is a concept.

  • Police Police

    http://andyawards.adforum.com/…Nice work Sherlock Holmes! You’ve proved there are two similar concepts somewhere in the world! You should probably get back to work. I doubt your boss is paying you to create anonymous innuendo.

  • Ican Haznom

    Spectators are starting from a dead stop against a trained runner who is already at optimum stride. No kidding they can’t keep up.