Sara Hall Chases Down a Personal Best at 2020 London Marathon

From Runner’s World

Sara Hall kept picking off runners until the very end, chasing down Ruth Chepngetich in the final stretch of today’s race to finish second at the London Marathon in 2:22:01—a PR by 15 seconds. Brigid Kosgei won her second London in a row in 2:18:58.

Hall moved up steadily in the second half of the race. She went through halfway in 1:10:27 in ninth place. She moved into sixth place over the next 10 kilometers, then to fourth at 35K. At 40K, with only about a mile and a quarter to run, Hall was in third, 40 seconds behind Chepngetich. Hall, a former steeplechaser, kept pressing like she was in a track race, and sprinted past Chepngetich in the final 150 meters.

Hall, 37, is one of the country’s most prolific racers. Going into London, she told Runner’s World she had had a great buildup, and she was hoping for a PR and possibly a spot on the podium.

Stay up to the on the latest London Marathon news with RW+ 🏃♀️🇬🇧🏃♂️

Due to the pandemic, however, she hadn’t had any tuneup races to test her fitness. Her only race was a five-person half marathon on a bike path near Eugene, Oregon, where she ran 1:08:18, a PR.

“Not having races along the way to rest for meant I just have been grinding away with only one rest week since early April, and I’ve never done that before,” she wrote in an email. “You don’t have the endorphins of buildup races to help you build momentum.

“It’s taken a lot of long-term vision, but where I’m at in my career right now, I’m highly motivated to keep mining out my potential, so that kept me going. I keep responding better to the work than I ever have, despite my age, so it makes me excited to keep building and seeing how far I can take this.”

Hall thrives on competition. In September 2019, she ran 2:22:16 for fifth place at the Berlin Marathon, putting her sixth on the U.S. list of fastest marathoners. Five weeks later, she lined up at the New York City Marathon but dropped out at mile 18.

In 2020, Hall ran what was then a personal best in the half marathon in Houston, 1:08:58. She appeared to be in fine form heading into the Olympic Marathon Trials in Atlanta and had the second-fastest qualifying time heading into the race. There, however, she lost contact with the leaders on the final loop of the hilly, four-lap course, and she dropped out of the race at 22 miles. “My heart will be broken from this one for a while,” she posted on Instagram. “I really believed today would be the day.”

Hall has been a force on the national scene for nearly two decades. She ran her first Olympic Trials in 2004, in the 5,000 meters, and has appeared in every Trials since, on the track or in the marathon or both.

You Might Also Like