Sara Hall’s quest to compete in the Olympics continues.
The Santa Rosa native and former Montgomery High School standout came up just short of a qualifying spot Saturday in the 2024 Olympic marathon trials in Orlando, Florida, finishing fifth with a time of 2 hours, 26 minutes and six seconds — two spots back of the third and final qualifying position.
It’s the best finish for Hall, 40, in her eighth Olympic trials, topping her previous sixth-place finish in the 10,000-meter race in 2020.
Hall entered this year’s trials with the fourth-fastest seed time and was among the lead pack for most of the run but couldn’t close the gap in the final few miles. She finished 35 seconds off the third-place finisher, Dakotah Lindwurm (2:25:31), who will join winner Fiona O’Keefe (2:22:10) and runner-up Emily Sisson (2:22:42) as the U.S. representatives in Paris this summer.
“The marathon is all about those last six miles,” Hall told media after the race. “I felt in control and stuff but just physically didn’t have it. But I think we’re sending an amazing team and I’m so grateful for all the support I’ve had even though this wasn’t going to be it.”