Fast Women: Sara Hall, Roberta Groner set records in Valencia
Weini Kelati gets her fourth consecutive win in Manchester.
Issue 326, sponsored by Runbuk
With Megertu Alemu leading the way, the Valencia Marathon goes on following devastating flooding
One month after flash flooding killed at least 220 people in eastern Spain, roughly 35,000 people lined up to race Sunday morning’s Valencia Marathon. There was some debate about whether the race should take place at all, with those in favor saying the region could use the tourism boost. Race organizers promised that for every person who finished the race, they would donate €3 to help rebuild sports facilities. And at the start of the event, they honored the flood victims.
Ethiopia’s Megertu Alemu and Uganda’s Stella Chesang hit halfway together, in 1:07:15, on pace to break Amane Beriso’s 2022 course record of 2:14:58. But soon after, Chesang fell off the pace and it was just Alemu, her pacers, and a pack of men the rest of the way. Alemu’s pace slowed in the second half of the race, but she won with plenty of room to spare, running 2:16:49. Chesang hung on to take second in a Ugandan record of 2:18:26, improving her own mark by 1:57. And Ethiopia’s Tiruye Mesfin, 22, finished third in a 12-second personal best of 2:18:35.
Beriso, the course record holder, was originally scheduled to run the race, but she was a late withdrawal due to a stress fracture. Race organizers offered a world record bonus of €1,000,000, but that wasn’t enough to attract a women’s field that wanted to go out on world record pace. But the lead trio still made out okay, earning €75,000, €45,000, and €30,000, respectively.
Majida Maayouf was the first Spaniard across the line, finishing fifth in 2:21:43 and looking frustrated to miss the national record she set last year in Valencia by 16 seconds. Australia’s Izzi Batt-Doyle finished eighth in a 28-second personal best of 2:22:59. Czechia’s Moira Stewartová finished ninth in a national record of 2:23:44. And after setting a Hungarian record of 2:27:31 at the Berlin Marathon in September, Nóra Szabó lowered her time further, placing 15th in 2:25:52.
Sara Hall, Roberta Groner set American age-group records
Before Valencia, Sara Hall, 41, had already run three marathons this year. She finished fifth at the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in February, running an American masters record of 2:26:06. She placed 15th at April’s Boston Marathon in 2:27:58, and she was 18th at October’s Chicago Marathon in 2:30:12.
Hall has always enjoyed racing frequently, but an injury cycle in 2022 and 2023 prevented her from doing so. She said at the pre-race press conference that she made some mistakes in Chicago that she wanted to correct, and that her goal was to run her fastest time of the year. She went through halfway in 1:11:40 and held on well, running the second half in 1:12:05 and finishing 10th in 2:23:45. Mission accomplished.
Hall took 2:21 off of her own American masters record and ran her fastest time since the 2022 world championships. She also had a dramatic battle with Ireland’s Fionnuala McCormack, 40, in the masters category, with Hall winning by one second. McCormack’s time, 2:23:46, was a lifetime best by 12 seconds. Hall was unfortunately 15 seconds off the 2025 world championships standard, but she ended the year on an excellent note.
And not only did Roberta Groner, 46, set an American record of 2:29:32 for the 45–49 age group, she also executed her race beautifully, running the first half in 1:15:19 and the second half in 1:14:13. When I spoke to Groner in April 2023 for this story, I remember her talking about losing some of her racing confidence once she started racing in elite fields. She said she always liked to negative split her races, but that strategy was harder to execute when she was racing other women; she felt like she needed to do whatever the rest of the field was doing.
On Sunday, Groner negative split the race like a champ, and she was only 23 seconds off the lifetime best that she ran in 2019. She took 1:19 off the age-group record that Olympian Colleen De Reuck set at the 2010 Copenhagen Marathon. Over the past two years, Groner has also set American age-group records in the 8K, 10K, 12K, 10 mile, and half marathon. And on Sunday, she surpassed the 25K and 30K records en route as well.
Molly Grabill (who was listed as Molly Gravill in the results) also had a strong performance, finishing 18th in 2:26:46 and taking 2:31 off the personal best she set at the 2021 California International Marathon.
And a month after winning the nonbinary division at the New York City Marathon with a 2:31:29, Sofia Camacho finished 22nd in Valencia in 2:29:15, another personal best. Camacho, a New Yorker who represents Mexico, had no choice but to compete in the women’s field in Valencia because the race does not have nonbinary division. (Results)
Thanks to Runbuk for sponsoring Fast Women this week
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Congrats to Becca Pizzi of Belmont, Massachusetts, for braving -20°C temperatures and icy terrain to win the recent Antarctic Ice Ultra (Marathon) in 4:16:01. The event also featured a continental 100 mile world record for Paul Johnson and Roberto Sembiante, who finished together in 23:22:57.
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A four-peat for Weini Kelati in Manchester
Dominating Connecticut’s Manchester Road Race has become Weini Kelati’s Thanksgiving Day tradition. On Thursday, she became the first woman to win the race four times in a row. As usual, Kelati led from the gun and pushed hard. In rainy conditions, she ran much of the race alone and completed the 4.737-mile course, which features one giant hill, in 23:14 (4:55/mile).
Kelati told reporters after the race that she ended up taking about six weeks off after the Olympic Games. She went back to Eritrea to see her family for the first time in more than 10 years, but her luggage got stuck in Turkey, and she had no running gear. The break seems to have served her well.
Kelati’s time was the second-fastest anyone has run on the course, behind only her 2021 course record of 22:55. On the women’s side, only Amy Rudolph, who won the race five times between 1995 and 2002, has more wins in Manchester. Kelati earned a total of $8,000—$7,000 for the win and an additional $1,000 for being the first woman to reach the top of the race’s big hill.
Race officials announced in August that in having the course re-measured, they learned that it is only 4.737 miles, not the 4.748 miles it was long believed to be. The difference is less than 60 feet, but they said the course records would not be affected. The route has not changed, but they believe re-paving and road alterations may have contributed.
After watching a lot of terrible local broadcasts of races over the years, I have to praise the camera operators and whoever was behind the production decisions on the broadcast. The broadcast showed Kelati before it showed the elite men, and they gave her a good amount of air time throughout the race.
Ian Brooks, who was one of the commentators on the broadcast, said that Kelati will be running the Houston Half Marathon on January 19 and one more half marathon after that, before focusing on the track. In her debut at the distance, Kelati set an American record of 1:06:25 at last year’s Houston Half.
For the second year in a row, Annie Rodenfels finished second to Kelati, this time in 24:05. Argentina’s Florencia Borelli took third in 24:16, Emily Durgin was fourth (24:18), and Bethany Hasz rounded out the top five (24:26). (Results | Broadcast replay)
The B.A.A. will pay athletes affected by doping
The Boston Athletic Association announced last week that they will be issuing voluntary payments to athletes whose earnings were affected by doping at B.A.A. events. They’re going all the way back to 1986, when they first started offering prize money. The most high-profile case is that of Ethiopia’s Buzunesh Deba, who crossed the finish line second at the 2014 Boston Marathon. Deba became the race’s champion in 2016, when Kenya’s Rita Jeptoo was stripped of her title due to doping.
In April, Deba told The Wall Street Journal that she was still awaiting the $100,000 in additional prize money she was owed. When the article came out, former Boston College quarterback Doug Guyer was moved to send Deba $75,000, which she planned to pay back if the B.A.A. ever came through with the money. Deba’s husband told The Boston Globe last week that she cried when she heard the B.A.A.’s news. And Guyer told The Globe that he would insist that Deba keep his money, saying that Nike never paid her a $50,000 bonus that she should have received for setting the course record.
Deba is due to receive the largest check, but The Globe reported that about 80 runners from eight Boston Marathons between 2003 and 2016 would be receiving checks, along with nine runners from this year’s Boston 5K. (Roughly a week before the B.A.A.’s announcement, the AIU announced that Kenya’s Emmaculate Anyango Achol would serve a six-year doping ban. She finished second at the Boston 5K in April.) In total, the B.A.A. expects to reallocate around $300,000 in prize money.
Diana Kipyokei, who crossed the finish line first at the 2021 Boston Marathon, was also stripped of her win. But because she tested positive on the day of the race, the B.A.A. never paid her any prize money. Jack Fleming, president and CEO of the B.A.A., said that the organization will continue to work to recoup prize money from the dopers, but it’s a challenging process.
It’s interesting that even though the B.A.A. payments theoretically go back to 1986, the earliest race that was affected is supposedly the 2003 Boston Marathon. It’s possible that none of the athletes who earned Boston Marathon prize money between 1986 and 2002 were doping, but it’s also possible that athletes were doping and just weren’t caught, especially because at the time, drug testing wasn’t what it is now.
According to CBS news, Shalane Flanagan will be receiving a $6,000 prize money upgrade and Des Linden will receive $3,200.
Other News and Links
Fiona O’Keeffe hasn’t done many interviews since she dropped out of the Olympic marathon due to injury, but she recently spoke to Runner’s World at The Running Event, in Austin. She told Taylor Dutch that she had an MRI leading up to her Olympic race and it didn’t show any sign of injury. But when she returned to the U.S. and had another MRI, it showed she had a femoral stress fracture. “It’s good we have a clear answer…but it’s also frustrating because this would’ve been good to know before the Olympics, before I got on that start line,” she said. O’Keeffe is making progress with her recovery and she’s been back to running on the ground for several weeks now. She’s also doing more strength training and working with a nutritionist, in an effort to stay healthy.
This was an interesting article about O’Keeffe’s team, Puma Elite. Apparently Dorcus Ewoi, who ran 1:58.19 in the 800m and 4:19.71 in the mile this year, wasn’t planning to run professionally, but Alistair Cragg saw her running and invited her to train with the team.
Former BYU runner Sadie Sargent Mitchell announced that she has signed with Nike and will continue to be coached by Diljeet Taylor. Mitchell helped BYU win the distance medley relay at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in March, and she finished eighth in the 5,000m at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in June, running a PR of 15:30.63.
This newsletter covers a wide range of inspiring stories, and it’s always interesting to see what goes (a little) viral and what doesn’t. Katie Florio’s Philadelphia Marathon win came a little over a year after she had her first child. Last week, Today and People were among the outlets that covered her accomplishment.
Eleven weeks after giving birth, Niamh Allen finished second at the Irish Cross country Championships and earned a spot at next weekend’s European Cross Country Championships in Antalya, Turkey. Allen told Cathal Dennehy that having a child has changed her perspective. “Before Lily, I’d have taken it more to heart if I had a bad race, it’d affect me more. Now…I realize it’s not that serious. Life is short. Enjoy these special moments.”
The entries are out for Saturday’s Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener at Boston University. In short, most of the NCAA’s fastest distance runners, plus a handful of pros, will be racing at BU this weekend.
Last week, Grand Slam Track founder Michael Johnson told the BBC, “Grand Slam Track is track, that is what we’re doing. I am going to save what I think I can save; I think I can save track, I don’t think I can save track and field.” Needless to say, some field event athletes were not happy about that. He also said that despite the reports, UK Athletics didn’t turn down the opportunity to host a Grand Slam. He said they talked to 10 interested cities around the world and decided to focus their energy on the U.S. in the first year.
More Thanksgiving-related results
Participation-wise, Thanksgiving Day is the biggest day of the year in road racing. Here’s a non-comprehensive list of some of this year’s faster turkey trotters:
Amanda Vestri won the Webster (NY) Turkey Trot, a 4.4-mile race, in 21:41. According to her team, ZAP Endurance, she used the race as a tune-up for Saturday’s OUC Orlando Half Marathon.
Susanna Sullivan won the Alexandria Turkey Trot 5 Miler in 25:29. Samantha Nadel, last year’s champ, finished second in 26:36.
Kayley DeLay won the Thanksgiving Day Apple Cup 5K in Seattle, running 15:33. Danielle Jordan finished second in 16:11, and Teagan Schein-Becker finished third in 16:20.
The day before her son’s first birthday, Paige Wood won the Run for the Diamonds, a 9-mile race in Berwick, Pennsylvania, and broke her own course record with a time of 48:38.
Katie Izzo won the Sedona (AZ) Turkey Trot 5K in 15:43.
Katie Camarena won the Dana Point (CA) Turkey Trot 10K in 32:57, and Samantha Huerta won the 5K in 16:09.
Gabbi Jennings won the NOAC Turkey Day 5-Mile, in New Orleans, running 26:31.
Allie Ostrander won the Boulder Thanksgiving Day race in 14:38. The race is listed as a 5K but the course was adjusted to about 4.5K due to icy conditions.
Danielle Lewis won the Turkey Day 5K Boise (ID) in 16:10.
Makayla Perez of the Hansons-Brooks Original Distance Project won the 5K at the S3 Turkey Trot Detroit, running 16:15. Her teammate Megan O’Neil finished second in 16:43.
Gillian Meeks won the Run to Feed the Hungry 5K, in Sacramento, California, running 16:15. Nicole Lane won the 10K in 34:34, and Anna McNatt finished a close second in 34:39.
Rayna Stanziano won the Silicon Valley (CA) Turkey Trot 5K in 16:15, finishing a fraction of a second ahead of Jessica Kain, who had the same gun time. Joanna Reyes won the 10K in 35:01 and Kate Grace, who has been dabbling in the longer distances, finished third in 36:18.
Allie Buchalski dominated the Thanksgiving Day 5K, put on by the Atlanta Track Club, running 16:18. She finished second overall.
Gabrielle Orie won New York’s YMCA Buffalo Niagara Turkey Trot 8K in 26:37, and her twin sister, Danielle Orie, finished second in 27:26.
Claire Green won the Milwaukee Turkey Trot 8K in 26:38.
Heather MacLean won the Wild Turkey 5 Mile, in Salem, Massachusetts, in 27:03.
Amy Davis-Green won the Birdie Derby 5K in Fitchburg, Wisconsin, running 16:30.
Dom Scott won the Cape Fear Habitat Turkey Trot 5K, in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, in 16:32. Ann Marie Pierce finished third, in 17:13, seven weeks after having a baby.
Ethiopia’s Mahlet Mulugeta won the Fort Collins (CO) Thanksgiving Day Run, a 4-mile race, in 21:51. Jessica Gockley-Day was second, finishing five seconds back.
Melissa Berry won the Eugene (OR) Turkey Trot 10K outright, in 34:27. Anika Thompson won the 5K in 17:08.
Hannah Stoffel won the Wheeler Mission Drumstick Dash, a 4.3-mile race in Indianapolis, in 23:49.
Rosa Moriello won Denver’s Mile High United Way Turkey Trot, a 4-mile race, in 22:33.
Mimi Smith won the Evanston (IL) Flying Turkey 5K in 16:37.
Jenn Randall won the HTC Turkey Trot 5K in Portland, Oregon, running 16:43.
Makena Morley won the Huffing For Stuffing 5K, in Bozeman, Montana, running 16:44.
Rena Elmer won the Dallas YMCA Turkey Trot 5K in 16:47, and Jennifer Pope won the 8 mile in 47:04.
Sara Lopez won the Gig Harbor Turkey Trot 5K in 16:47.
Addy Wiley won the Pathfinder Early Learning Center Turkey Trot, in Huntington, Indiana, in 16:52.
Lou Trois won the Dave’s Turkey Chase 5K in Toledo, Ohio, running 16:54.
Annmarie Kirkpatrick won the Mesa (AZ) Turkey Trot in 16:57.
Bethany Sachtleben won the Miami Turkey Trot 5K, also in 16:57.
Anna Perry won the Chocolate Turkey 3 Mile in Peoria, Illinois, running 16:22.
Alyssa Bloomquist won the TreesUpstate Turkey Day Run 8K, in Greenville, South Carolina, running 27:51.
Michelle Krezonoski won the Austin Turkey Trot 5 Miler in 27:55.
Jennifer Lichter won the Missoula (MT) Turkey Day 8K, in 27:59.
Kate MacCary won the Ashenfelter 8K Classic, in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, running 28:07.
Victoria Sivco won the Thanksgiving Sandwich (MA) 5K in 17:14.
Ciara Thornley won the Naperville (IL) Noon Lions Turkey Trot 5K in 17:15.
IU teammates Lily Myers and Mariah Wehrle crossed the finish line together at the B-Town Turkey Trot 5K in Bloomington, Indiana, running 17:22.
Gracie Carr won the Gilbert (AZ) Turkey Trot, a 5K, in 17:24.
Serena Burla (haven’t seen that name in a while—she’s a 2:26 marathoner) won the YMCA Turkey Trot, in Fredericksburg, Virginia, running 17:24 for 5K.
Aneta Konieczek won the Albuquerque Turkey Trot 5K in 17:27.
Ava Schafer, 15, won the Lansing (MI) Turkey Trot 5K in 17:30.
Heidi See won the Father Joe’s Thanksgiving Day Run 5K, in San Diego, California, running 17:30.
Judi Spinks won the YMCA of the Chesapeake (MD) Turkey Trot Charity 5K, also running 17:30. She did the race as part of a workout. “I was trying to exert the least amount of energy possible to beat my brother,” she said afterwards. “But he did a great job. He beat me fair and square today.” Her brother was the race’s overall winner.
Mary van Laarhoven won the Turkey Day 5K in Minneapolis, running 17:33.
Veronica Graziano won the Portland (ME) Thanksgiving Day 4 Miler in 22:51.
Caitlin Hughes won the Bexley (OH) Turkey Trot 5K in 17:36.
Jenny Grimshaw won the Marin (CA) Turkey Trot 5K in 17:37.
Kate Mitchell won the Feaster Five 5K in Andover, Massachusetts, running 17:38.
Hayleigh Haid won Jacksonville, Florida’s Thanksgiving Distance Classic Half Marathon in 1:18:20, and 14-year-old Sydney Johnson won the 5K in 17:38.
Helen Mino Faulkner won the Redding (CA) Turkey Trot, which is 6 miles, in 36:02.
Shannon Rowbury won the San Francisco Turkey Trot 5 Miler in 29:42.
And at the Watertown (NY) Turkey Day Run, a quartet of deer tried to cross the course at high speed, and one of them accidentally took out one of the race participants. According to local news reports, one runner was taken to the hospital via ambulance and their injuries were minor.
Additional Results
Camille Herron set a 24-hour American record of 263.004K (163.42 miles) at the Soochow Track Invitational in Taipei over the weekend. She averaged 8:49/mile for an entire day. Her time also broke the IAU masters world record.
Abby Hall won Australia’s Kosci 100K in 13:05:01, and Sabrina Stanley won the 100 miler in 19:51:08. According to Hall’s Instagram recap, race organizers paused the event for about two hours partway through due to a big storm, which affected all participants. Her experience was that around 50K in, race officials picked her up in a van and drove her back to the previous aid station. She waited there until the race resumed, and she had to re-run the section of the course she had already done before she was transported back. She said she totaled about 70 miles for the day. The official finish times subtracted the amount of time each athlete was held, but everyone’s mileage must have varied.
Kenya’s Agnes Ngetich won Japan’s Kosa 5K in 14:48.
Podcast Highlights
It was the week of Jenny Simpson as she was on C Tolle Run and the Ali on the Run Show, where she talked about running seven marathons on seven continents in seven days. If you want the shorter version, listen to the former. If you want all the details, listen to the latter. (Or, if you want super running nerd status, listen to both.) She said that while most of the courses in The Great World Race were repetitive and not all that scenic, seeing the other participants many times throughout the races helped. “You learn along the way that that morale is more valuable than having good scenery,” she told Carrie Tollefson. Simpson also explained her struggles on the final day of the event, when she ran a 5:19:38 marathon. Between marathons six and seven, she spent six hours violently vomiting due to norovirus.
It was good to get a Lindsay Flanagan update on the Inside Running Podcast. She discussed running 2:23:31 at the Chicago Marathon and much more.
On Keeping Track, Molly Huddle had an interesting conversation about female sports fans with Wasserman VP Danielle Smith.
Marielle Hall talked to 400m standout Alexis Holmes on Unexpected Curves. And I also enjoyed the episode before that, where Hall talked to her sister, Simone Wood, about the ways non-legacy media is changing the game in both sports and politics.
It’s always good to hear from Elise Cranny, who was on the Lactic Acid Podcast last week. Among other things, she talked about taking Mo Ahmed’s advice and getting her fall training in, but not expending so much mental energy doing so.
I enjoyed hearing from ZAP Endurance coach Pete Rea on the Run Culture Podcast. He discussed some of the ways training has changed, and he said he’s prescribing roughly 40–60 percent more moderate-paced work on a weekly basis than he did 20 years ago. And yes, he said that’s thanks in part to changes in shoe technology.
Rachel Drake talked about her record-setting run at the JFK 50 Mile on The Trail Network Podcast.
Tiara Williams, many track & field athletes’ favorite mixed-zone reporter, was on the Ali on the Run Show.
Additional Episodes: Shannon Rowbury on The Running Effect | Olivia Markezich on the Coffee Club podcast
This wound up being a long one, thanks to all of those turkey trot results, so I’ll just wrap up quickly by saying thank you to Runbuk and to all of you who support Fast Women. I hope you all have the best Monday possible.
Alison