
An Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier took first place by over a 4-minute margin at Walt Disney World’s Disney Princess Half Marathon today.
Jackie Pirtle-Hall of St. Charles Mo. finished the runDisney 13.1-mile stretch in 1 hour, 18 minutes, and 30 seconds, with Bianca Toledo coming in at second place with 1 hour, 22 minutes, and 52 seconds. The first man crossed the finish line at 1 hour, 20 minutes, and 28 seconds — over two minutes after Pirtle-Hall.
Pirtle-Hall began her running career in the fifth grade, and managed to place 70th in the 2012 Olympic Marathon Trials in Houston — She’ll be returning to the Olympic trials in 2020.
The temperature during her six minute per mile stride was a bit hotter than the Missouri resident is used to. She told the Orlando Sentinel, “It was weird for me that I was sweating. I was like, ‘Why am I sweating?’ I haven’t done that in about five months, because it has been a really harsh, cold winter.”
As for the experienced runner’s winning strategy, she told the paper, “I was just going to line up, get out and see where I was. My husband always says, ‘Just let your intuition kick in.’ And it does.”
This was Pirtle-Hall’s first competition since recovering from a hip injury that happened in September.
Source: Orlando Sentinel
Image: runDisney