Benefield: After setting a half marathon record, Sara Hall says there is no magic to her winning ways

There is something about Sara Hall that is completely relatable.

And that’s weird.

Why? Because Hall won state and national titles as a prep cross country and track star at Montgomery High. She was a seven-time All-American at Stanford.

And on Sunday she ran the half-marathon faster than any American woman ever.

Those things don’t make Sara Hall relatable to the average Joe.

What makes Hall, a 38-year-old mom of four girls, relatable is the winding road she took to get here, running as well as she’s ever run.

What makes Sara Hall relatable is a 16-year professional career that has had at least as many lows as highs. A career that she pondered walking away from at what should have been the peak of her physical powers.

What makes Sara Hall relatable is that she talks about shelving workouts that make her grumpy, about trying to find a balance between being the best mother she can be, while also pursuing a running career that can, at times, feel “selfish.”

And the other thing that makes Sara Hall relatable and deeply human? Her face. And the pain that is written all over it every time she races.

When Hall races, which she does a lot for a distance runner, her face tells you it isn’t easy. Her face tells you she is working as hard as she possibly can. Her face shows how badly she wants it.

Some runners race with a placid, unflappable stare. Not Sara Hall. She brings you into the hurt.

Which makes you want to cheer for her, because she’s not super human and what she does is hard.

‘Storybook moment’

There were so many themes at play Sunday at the Houston half marathon where Hall ripped off a record-breaking 1:07:15.

Is the theme that Hall raced to an American record 15 years after her husband and coach, Ryan Hall, did the same thing on the same course (a record that, remarkably, still stands)?

Is it that Hall, a mother to four daughters who, at 38, is putting in arguably the best running of her life set the record approximately an hour before Keira D’Amato, a 37-year-old mother of two set the new American record for the marathon?

Is it that on Sunday Hall and D’Amato seemed to shake up the picture of what a running career can and should look like?

Or is it a little bit of all of that?

Hall told me that breaking the record on that day, in that place and on that course felt like “a storybook moment.”

“I haven’t raced a half marathon in two years,” she said from her home in Flagstaff, Ariz. “Houston two years ago was my last half marathon.”

And Houston is where her husband set the record.

“It felt like a really meaningful time to do it,” she said.

But any time she shows up, Hall threatens to make it meaningful. Or at least hurt.

When Hall finishes one race she immediately starts eyeing the next.

When we talked this week Hall discussed the American record set in Houston of course, but also talked about the upcoming Boston Marathon in April and the marathon World Championships in Oregon in July.

I’m not exactly sure what laurels are but Hall doesn’t seem to rest on any.

And while she doesn’t get carried away with the highs, she doesn’t seem to let the lows drag her down either.

That character trait has likely served her well in a career in which things didn’t always go according to plan.

After college Hall struggled at times in her professional career. She talks about periods when she questioned her future in a sport that repeatedly broke her heart.

Fifteen years ago when her husband rocketed into the record books with his half-marathon time of 59:43, she was in the back of a pace truck watching, not running.

But these days, every time Hall shows up to a race, she’s an absolute contender to make something awesome happen. She’s done it time and again in recent years.

Her resilience is incredible.

Feeling low or need a shot of natural pick-me-up? Google the video of Hall’s epic finishing sprint at the 2020 London marathon. You won’t be sorry.

But it’s the struggles, the races that don’t go as planned, the days when balancing motherhood and a professional running career seem at odds, those are the things that make Sara Hall relatable.

And Hall is buoyed by hearing from people who see that in her, see themselves in some piece of her life and career.

On social media, scores of people say she inspires them, but Hall says it’s often the other way around.

“I think that has made it more meaningful to me,” she said. “How others can relate to this and how they can apply this to their journey.”

She hears from the people who see a fighter, a grinder who has suffered disappointment — and enjoyed glory — and keeps battling either way.

“I have always tried to have my running be about more than myself and promoting myself,” she said.

I asked her what the magic is, how she balances real life with her running life.

“It’s not magic,” she said.

“It’s compromise and that is hard at times,” she said.

She casually mentioned that she had put in 23 miles before our call.

But something has to give sometimes, and that can be difficult, she said.

“We are intense personalities. We want to be all-in parenting and all-in in our sport and you can’t really do that. You kind of have to accept that.”

Where once, a lifetime ago, she could focus solely on herself, her career and her running she now has more responsibility, more demands on her time that have nothing to do with world records and races.

But don’t take as a complaint.

“I know what that is like. I lived that life for like 10 years,” she said. “But I’m thankful. My kids are super supportive and my husband is super supportive.”

And you know what? She is running better, faster, stronger than ever. So maybe there is magic. Magic in chaos, busy schedules, tired mornings, full plates.

And the magic of that is so many of us can relate to it.

“Sometimes when you are just isolated in the mountains, you feel like what you are doing is kind of selfish because a lot of your day revolves around yourself, but to have these moments where you can tangibly hear from someone how your running is impacting them?”

It’s magic.

You can reach Staff Columnist Kerry Benefield at 707-526-8671 or kerry.benefield@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @benefield.