Sara Hall Runs the Second-Fastest Marathon in American History at The Marathon Project
At The Marathon Project in Chandler, Arizona, Sara Hall set a personal best, running 2:20:32 to win the race. She was on pace to top Deena Kastor’s American record—2:19:36—but fell off in the final miles.
Keira D’Amato and Kellyn Taylor finished second and third respectively, running 2:22:56 and 2:25:22.
On the men’s side, Martin Hehir won the race in 2:08:59, good enough for seventh on the all-time list of American marathoners. Noah Droddy finished second in 2:09:09, putting him ninth all-time.
Sara Hall won The Marathon Project in Chandler, Arizona, on Sunday, December 20, running 2:20:32—making her the second-fastest American marathoner of all time. She took almost 90 seconds off her previous PR of 2:22:01, which she ran only 11 weeks ago at the London Marathon.
For about the first 18 miles of the race Hall, 37, flirted with the pace of Deena Kastor’s American record— 2:19:36—which has stood since 2006. But Hall, who ran behind two male pacesetters, couldn’t quite maintain the pace through the later miles.
Keira D’Amato, the Virginia realtor who earlier this year ran an American record for the women’s-only 10 mile, finished second in 2:22:56, taking nearly 12 minutes off her previous marathon best.
Kellyn Taylor, 34, who went with Hall for the first half of the race, fell back in the second half and finished in 2:25:22.
On the men’s side, Martin Hehir was the winner in 2:08:59. Hehir, 28, is his fourth year of medical school in Philadelphia and applying to residency programs in anesthesiology.
He pushed the pace between miles 22 and 23, opening up a lead of several meters over Noah Droddy. Hehir grimaced through the final stretch, but dipped under the 2:09 mark, for a two-and-a-half-minute personal best. His time puts him seventh on the list of U.S. all-time marathoners.
Droddy finished second in 2:09:09, also an enormous personal record. Colin Bennie—who, like Hehir, is part of the Reebok Boston Track Club in Charlottesville, Virginia—was third in 2:09:38.
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