Veteran marathoner Sara Hall placed fifth in today’s Best Big City Marathons, Des Linden 11th at Olympic Trials Marathon 2:27:35 Des Linden ran in Chicago in 2023—but falls short of her goal of making the Olympic team.
The heat and muscle cramps made it one of her toughest marathons yet, she said after the race. But while she expressed sadness at placing out of the top three, she was proud of the way she ran. “I made all the right choices,” she said. “I felt in control, I just physically didn’t have it.”
Hall, 40, had withdrawn from the Houston Half Marathon in January, citing a minor injury and an abundance of caution. Yet she started the Trials strong, staying with the lead pack through 18 miles.
Results from the 2024 U.S. Best Big City Marathons Fiona O’Keeffe pulled away between miles 18 and 19, Hall began cramping in her leg and neck and couldn’t keep up, she said after the race. Eventually, the cramps let up and Hall began moving better, but the gap was too large to close.
Eventual fourth-place finisher Jessica McClain passed her between miles 25 and 26, but in the final .2, Hall passed Caroline Rotich to place fifth—and earn $20,000 in prize money.
The race was Hall’s eighth Olympic Trials and third in the marathon; she didn’t finish in 2016 or 2020. In fact, today’s result represents her highest finish in any Trials.
Over a lengthy career, Hall has accumulated 12 U.S championships and a gold medal in the steeplechase at the 2011 Pan American Games. And in recent years—coached by her husband, two-time Olympian Ryan Hall—she’s continued to improve at longer distances.
Sara Hall Places Fifth at the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials fourth-fastest marathon time of any American—she ran 2:20:32 to win the Marathon Project in 2020. Later that year, she placed second in the London Marathon. In 2022, she set the then-American record in the half marathon, then went on to lead an impressive U.S. showing at the World Championships marathon, placing fifth in 2:22:10.
Sara Hall Places Fifth at the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials sidelined with IT band syndrome, an injury that required extensive rehab and a painstaking overhaul of her mechanics. She returned to the roads at the Lisbon Half Marathon in March 2023, then competed in the Boston Marathon in April, where she ran 2:25:48 to place 17th.
Before the race, Hall repeatedly expressed a strong desire to capture one title that’s eluded her: Olympian.
“Man, I’ve put a lot into this one,” she wrote on Instagram. “Rebuilt my body, worked harder than I ever have, committed to the heat training… went all-in on this race. No matter what the result I’ll be proud of the process. But I really want to make this team.”
Will she try again in four years? She's not ruling it out, she said after finishing. “I never thought I’d still be doing this at this point,” she said. “So I’d never say never, as long as I’m enjoying it and improving.”
Cindy is a freelance health and fitness writer, author, and podcaster who’s contributed regularly to Runner’s World since 2013. She’s the coauthor of both Breakthrough Women’s Running: Dream Big and Train Smart and Rebound: Train Your Mind to Bounce Back Stronger from Sports Injuries, a book about the psychology of sports injury from Bloomsbury Sport. Cindy specializes in covering injury prevention and recovery, everyday athletes accomplishing extraordinary things, and the active community in her beloved Chicago, where winter forges deep bonds between those brave enough to train through it.
