Sara Hall (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Bei; born April 15, 1983) is an American professional distance runner for ASICS. Hall's personal best time for the marathon is 2:20:32 set at the

Marathon Project The Marathon Project was an elite-only marathon held on the Gila River Indian Reservation in Chandler, Arizona. December 2020. It was created by Northern Arizona Elite coach Ben Rosario together with Josh Cox and Matt Helbig to provide a race after ...

in Chandler, Arizona on December 22, 2020, making her the third-fastest American woman in history. She is the second-fastest American woman ever to run the half marathon, running 1:07:15 on January 16, 2022–an American record at the time. Hall has won several mile road races including the

Drake Relays The Drake Relays is an outdoor track and field event held in Des Moines, Iowa, Des Moines, Iowa, in Drake Stadium (Drake University), Drake Stadium on the campus of Drake University. Billed as ''America's Athletic Classic'', it is regarded as one ...

Grand Blue Mile and the US National Road Mile Championships. She also has won 1500 meter titles including one at the

Millrose Games The Millrose Games are an annual indoor athletics (track & field) meet held each February in New York City. Among the world's most prestigious indoor track meets, the games started taking place at the Armory in Washington Heights in 2012, after ...

. She is a two time world team member for the United States at the world indoor track and field championships. Her best finish came in 2006 when she finished 12th in the finals of the 3000 meters at the 11th

IAAF World Indoor championships The World Athletics Indoor Championships are a biennial indoor track and field competition served as the global championship for that version of the sport. Organised by the World Athletics, the competition was inaugurated as the ''World Indoor G ...

. She was also a member of the 2006 and 2015 United States world cross country championship team. Hall won the 2012 American title at the

USA Cross Country Championships The USA Cross Country Championships is the annual national championships for cross country running in the United States. The championships is generally held in mid-February and it serves as a way of designating the country's national champion, as ...

, edging

Molly Huddle Molly Huddle (born August 31, 1984) is an American long-distance runner who competes in track and cross country running events. She held the American record in the 5000 meters set in 2014 in Monaco (14:42.64), which has since been lowered by S ...

at the line.

Early life

Hall was born in

Santa Rosa, California Santa Rosa (Spanish language, Spanish for "Rose of Lima, Saint Rose") is a city in and the county seat of Sonoma County, California, Sonoma County, in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay A ...

and competed for Montgomery High School, and was the first California athlete ever to win four state cross country titles. At the

CIF California State Meet The CIF California State Meet is the annual championship track and field meet for the California Interscholastic Federation. The meet was started in 1915 for boys and 1974 for girls. Every athlete in every high school in California has a direc ...

, she also earned three state track titles in the 1600 and 3200 meters and won the Footlocker National High School Cross Country Championships in 2000.

College

Hall was a three-time NCAA track and field runner-up in the 5000 meters and

indoor Indoor(s) may refer to: *the interior of a building *Indoor environment, in building science, traditionally includes the study of indoor thermal environment, indoor acoustic environment, indoor light environment, and indoor air quality *Built envi ...

3000 meters, and a 7-time All-American, competing for

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

. In 2003, she finished 3rd at the

NCAA Women's Cross Country Championship The NCAA Division I women's cross country championships are contested at an annual meet hosted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association to determine the individual and team national champions of women's collegiate cross country running amo ...

, leading Stanford to a team title. As a college athlete, she competed in the finals of the United States Olympic trials in the 5000 meters.

Career

;2015 On March 15, 2015, Hall made her marathon debut at the

Los Angeles Marathon The Los Angeles Marathon (formerly known as the City of Los Angeles Marathon) is an annual running event typically held each spring in Los Angeles, California, since 1986. The marathon was inspired by the success of the 1984 Summer Olympic Ga ...

and battled through cramps, finishing 22nd with a time of 2:48:02 (6:25 minutes/mile). On March 28, 2015, Hall led the USA Team with 20th place

2015 IAAF World Cross Country Championships – Senior women's race Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number) *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music *Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak album), 2007 * ''15'' (Phatfish album), 2008 * ' ...

after placing 5th at the 2015

in Boulder. Hall finished 10th at 2015 Chicago marathon in 2:31:14, running an Olympic Standard time. ;2016 Hall improved her marathon best with 2:30:06 on April 24, 2016, finishing 12th at the

2016 London Marathon The 2016 London Marathon was the 36th running of the annual marathon race in London, England, which took place on Sunday, 24 April. The men's elite race was won by Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge and the women's race was won by Kenyan Jemima Sumgong. The ...

. ;2017 On February 26, 2017, Hall again improved her marathon best with a 2:28:26 sixth-place performance at the 2017 Tokyo Marathon. On October 1, 2017, Hall won the Women's US 10-mile road championship in the

Twin Cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in stat ...

, in 53:43, 2 seconds ahead of

Natosha Rogers Natosha Rogers (born May 7, 1991, in Littleton, Colorado) is a long-distance runner from the United States. Rogers won the gold medal in the 5000 meters at the 2022 NACAC Championships. She is the 2012 National runner up in the 10,000 meters. ...

. She narrowly lost the equalizer competition male winner Shadrack Kipchirchir. Still, later, it was discovered the women were supposed to be given a 6:18 lead while they were given 6:10, so both runners were given the $10,000. On October 29, 2017, Hall again improved her marathon best with a 2:27:21 fifth-place performance at the 2017 Mainova Frankfurt Marathon. On December 3, 2017, Hall won the Women's U.S. Marathon in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

at 2017 California International Marathon in 2:28:10. ;2018 On May 27, Hall was third in the 2018 Ottawa Marathon in 2:26:19. In July 2018, she placed 3rd at the Women's US 10 km road championship at the Peachtree 10K in 32:41. On September 3, 2018, she won the Women's US 20 km road championship at

Faxon Law New Haven Road Race The New Haven Road Race is a 20 kilometer road race held in New Haven, Connecticut which was started in 1978. The race is held during the Labor Day weekend. History The first year the race was contested was in 1978, when nearly 1,200 runners s ...

20 km in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...

in 1:09:04. On October 7, 2018, Hall won the Women's US 10-mile road championship in the

in 52:47, repeating her 2017 victory and edging out

by 1 second. ;2019 On September 29, 2019, Hall finished fifth in the

Berlin Marathon The Berlin Marathon (, ) is a marathon event held annually on the streets of Berlin, Germany on the last weekend of September. Held annually since 1974, the event includes multiple races over the marathon distance of , including elite level road r ...

, finishing in a personal best time of 2:22:16. Just one week later, on October 6, 2019, she won the USATF 10-mile championships for the third time in a row in a time of 53:11. ;2020 On October 4, 2020, Hall finished 2nd in 2:22:01 at the

2020 London Marathon The 2020 London Marathon was the 40th running of the London Marathon, annual marathon race in London, United Kingdom, which took place on 4 October 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, COVID-19 pandemic, the race was postp ...

behind

Brigid Kosgei Brigid Jepchirchir Kosgei (born 20 February 1994) is a Kenyan long-distance runner who specialises in the marathon. She won the 2018 and 2019 Chicago Marathons, the 2019 and 2020 London Marathons and the 2021 Tokyo Marathon. Kosgei was the m ...

. On December 20, 2020, Hall finished first at the Marathon Project in a personal best 2:20:32 in

Chandler, Arizona Chandler is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, and a suburb in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area, Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is the List of municipalities in Arizona, fourth-most populous city in Arizona ...

, running with male pacers with the goal of breaking the US record, missing

Deena Kastor Deena Michelle Kastor (née Drossin; born February 14, 1973) is an American long-distance runner. She is the former American record holder in the marathon (2003-2022) and numerous road distances. Kastor held 15 American records simultaneously in ...

's 2:19:36 record by just under one minute. ;2021 On October 10, 2021, Hall finished third at the

Chicago Marathon The Chicago Marathon is a road marathon held in October in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the seven World Marathon Majors. Thus, it is also a World Athletics Label Road Race. The Chicago Marathon is one of the largest races by number of fini ...

with a time of 2:27:19. ;2022 On January 16, 2022, Hall broke the American record in the

half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish, or shortcu ...

at the Houston Half Marathon, finishing in 1:07:15 to lower the previous American record set by

in 2018 by ten seconds. New record was set by

Emily Sisson Emily Sisson (born October 12, 1991) is an American Long-distance running, long-distance runner. She set the North American record in the marathon on October 9, 2022, when she ran 2:18:29 to finish second at the 2022 Chicago Marathon, Chicago Ma ...

finishing in 1:07:11 on 7 May 2022 on

USATF USA Track & Field (USATF) is a United States national governing body for the sports of track and field, cross country running, road running, and racewalking (known as the sport of athletics outside the US). The USATF was known between 1979 and 1 ...

. On March 6, 2022, Hall finished eighth at the

2021 Tokyo Marathon The 2021 Tokyo Marathon () was the fifteenth edition of the annual marathon race in Tokyo. The competition was held on Sunday 6 March 2022, having been postponed twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The elite events were won by Kenyans Eliud Ki ...

with a time of 2:22:56. On July 18, 2022, Hall finished fifth at

2022 World Athletics Championships The 2022 World Athletics Championships was the eighteenth edition of the World Athletics Championships. It was held at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, United States, from July 15–24, 2022, with the country hosting that competition for the ...

in the marathon with a time of 2:22:10. ;2023 On April 17, 2023, Hall finished seventeenth at the

2023 Boston Marathon The 2023 Boston Marathon was a marathon race held in Boston, Massachusetts, on April 17, 2023. It was the 127th official running of the race, and 125th time it was run on course (excluding the virtual event of 2020, and the ekiden of 1918). It a ...

with a record master's time of 2:25:48 (2 days after her 40th birthday.). ;2024 On February 3, 2024, Hall finished fifth at the

2024 United States Olympic trials (marathon) The 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Marathon was held on Saturday, February 3, 2024, in Orlando, Florida, to determine the American athletes who will compete in the marathon event at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France. The race was hosted ...

with an American master's record time of 2:26:06. On April 15, 2024, Hall ran the

2024 Boston Marathon The 2024 Boston Marathon was the 128th official edition of the Boston Marathon, annual marathon race in Boston, Massachusetts, run on Monday, . A World Athletics Label Road Races, Platinum Label marathon, it was the second of six World Maratho ...

, finishing in 2:27:58 the second American woman finisher, and 15th overall. On December 1, 2024, Hall ran the 2024

Valencia Marathon The Valencia Marathon (; also known as Marathon Valencia Trinidad Alfonso EDP for sponsorship reasons) is an annual marathon road running event hosted by Valencia, Spain, since 1981. It is categorized as a Platinum Label Road Race by World Athle ...

, finishing in 2:23:45, with a 10th overall finish, breaking her own American master’s record set earlier in the year.

Personal life

Hall has been married to U.S. Olympic marathoner Ryan Hall since 2005. The two met at Stanford, where they both competed collegiately. In 2009, they formed the Hall Steps Foundation to empower the running community to use the energy and resources that fuel runners' athletic achievements for social justice efforts. Both are committed

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

. The couple adopted four sisters in 2015.Ryan and Sara Hall Adopt 4 Ethiopian Sisters
Competitor.com

References

External links

Official website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Sara 1983 births Living people Sportspeople from Santa Rosa, California Track and field athletes from California American female middle-distance runners American female long-distance runners American female marathon runners American female steeplechase runners American female cross country runners Pan American Games track and field athletes for the United States Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2011 Pan American Games Christians from California Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games 21st-century American sportswomen Stanford Cardinal women's track and field athletes