Santa Rosa native Hall defends her 20K title

Santa Rosa native Sara (Bei) Hall is ramping up her training for Olympic marathon trials next year.

Hall, a 2001 Montgomery High School grad and seven-time running All-American at Stanford, won her second straight USATF 20K Championships Monday in near-perfect race conditions in New Haven, Connecticut.

She finished in 1:06:47, more than two minutes faster than her 2018 win, according to the USATF. In 2017, she placed third with a then-personal best of 1:07:53.

Hall, 36, is building up her competitive strength with an eye toward the 2020 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials. She plans to run the Berlin Marathon on Sept. 29 and, just 35 days later, run in the New York City Marathon on Nov. 3. The Olympics trials in Atlanta are just 118 days later.

On Monday, Hall and Katy Jermann jumped to an early lead and never looked back, establishing themselves up front and putting a large gap on the rest of the field by the first quarter of the race, the USATF said.

The two passed four miles in 21:29, then hit the halfway mark at 33:27.

Hall began to pull away as the second half of the race started, surging a bit and ultimately putting a gap between her and her closest competitor. Behind Hall, Jermann came in second in 1:08:39.

The USATF 20K Championships are the eighth stop on the professional USATF Running Circuit.

Going into the race, Hall had a small lead in the circuit standings over Emma Bates, who did not race Monday.

Her win added another 22.5 points, giving her 79.5 points overall, and gave her a second consecutive victory after she won the USATF 10K Championships. Bates and Stephanie Bruce maintained second and third place overall with 52 points and 37.5 points, while Jermann’s runner-up effort Monday moved her up into fourth with 33.5 points.

You can reach Staff Writer Lori A. Carter at 707-521-5470 or lori.carter@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @loriacarter.