Running News Daily

At the age of 37 Sara Hall says that she is enjoying her sport more than ever

She says running has "broken my heart a hundred times," but each moment of heartbreak would have seemed worthwhile as Sara Hall moved into second place on the final straight of this year's London Marathon.

The dramatic finish saw a surging Hall overtake Ruth Chepngetich in a sprint finish having made up 40 seconds in little more than a mile by her husband's calculations.

Her time of two hours, 22 minutes and one second improved her previous personal best by 15 seconds, and her second-place finish made her the first American to mount the podium at London in 14 years.

The performance would have gone some way to atoning for the disappointment of pulling out of the Olympic Marathon Trials in Atlanta earlier this year -- likely one of the heartbreaks she had been referring to as she took to social media after the race.

"This is the highlight of my career so far," Hall tells CNN Sport as she reflects on her London Marathon performance.

Hall crosses the finish line in second place at the London Marathon.

"I feel so, so grateful to be enjoying the sport the most I ever have at age 37. It's been kind of a surprise to still be improving at this age, and I just feel so grateful that I got the opportunity to race.

"It was just a long year of training and faith that there would be an opportunity at the end of it. I put in a lot for this race and to have it all come together and have the race of my life that was just a dream come true."

Running 'completely alone'

The circumstances surrounding this year's London Marathon, which was moved from April to October and staged only elite races due to the coronavirus pandemic, were unique.

Competitors were tested multiple times before traveling and also upon arrival in the UK.

Wearing social distancing devices that would sound if they got too close to another person, athletes stayed in a bubble in a hotel the week leading up to the race with "a little, tiny grass loop" to train on, according to Hall.

For the race itself, each athlete had their own Porta Potti -- "every runner's dream," says Hall, rather than waiting in a long queue before rushing to the start line.

Rather than start in Greenwich in south London and finish in The Mall in the center of the British capital, the course was also altered to 19.6 laps of St James's Park and no crowds were in attendance -- something that posed a significant mental challenge.

"There were times I could just hear the echo of my footsteps out there because I was running completely alone," says Hall.

"I really just had to self-motivate a lot out there because it was a lonely, very quiet run without spectators.

"And I just tried to remember how grateful I was to be competing and (to) have an opportunity in Covid ... and it was really that gratitude that kept me moving forward and then eventually catching people."