Rachel Hannah breaks course record at Indianapolis Marathon
Hannah recorded her fastest time in seven years to break the course record
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Beyond Monumental/Facebook
It was a weekend to remember for Rachel Hannah of Port Elgin, Ont., at the 16th annual Indianapolis Monumental Marathon on Saturday south of the border. Hannah won the women’s marathon in a new course record time of 2:35:17.
The 37-year-old marathoner led the race for most of the second half, but was caught by Elizabeth Bigelow of Twin Falls, Idaho, with two kilometres to go. Hannah pulled away from Bigelow in the final kilometre to etch her name and time in the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon record books.
Hannah broke the previous record of 2:35:36 by 19 seconds, which had stood since 2019. Bigelow also crossed the finish line, surpassing the former record, finishing second in 2:35:33. Lucy Dobbs of Indianapolis took third place in 2:36:39.
Hannah mentioned that she had intended to run the Twin Cities Marathon last month, but had to alter her fall marathon plans after the race was cancelled at the last minute due to warm weather. She chose the nearby Indianapolis Monumental Marathon because of its flat course and favourable late-October weather.
“I am proud of this one,” Hannah wrote in her Strava post. “Don’t give up on your goals, my friends.”
Hannah holds a marathon personal best of 2:32:09 from the 2016 Houston Marathon, but her time in Indianapolis marked her fastest time over the distance since 2016.
The men’s course record was also broken, by Lyle O’Brien of Boulder, Colo., who broke the tape in 2:15:41, beating the previous record set in 2021 by almost a minute.
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The 2023 event marked the 11th consecutive sellout of the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon, attracting nearly 15,000 participants from all 50 states and more than 25 countries, including Costa Rica, Canada, the U.K., France and Australia.
Full results can be found here.
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