Sarah Sellers, full-time nurse, finishes second in Boston marathon
BOSTON -- A full-time nurse shocked the nation Monday when finishing second in the Boston Marathon. Sarah Sellers, a 26-year-old, finished with a final time of 2:44:04, trailing only Desiree Linden, a two-time Olympian.
Sellers, a Utah-native and former athlete at Weber State University, ran in her second marathon Monday. She didn't enter the race with any sponsors, The Wall Street Journal reports -- and walked away with $75,000 in prize money. She qualified for the U.S. Olympic trials.
The marathon's field of 30,000 runners faced chilly 40 degree weather with heavy rains and winds, but that didn't stop Sellers who was forced to switch up her gameplan.
"I had a strategy going in, and it all kind of went away with the weather forecast. I just decided to race as smart as I can and tried to conserve as much as I could and have as much as I could at the end," she told CBS Boston shortly after the race.
Sellers was a standout on Weber State's women's track and field team from 2009 to 2013, according to the university's athletic website. She earned Big Sky All-Conference honors 15 times and was twice named Weber State Female Athlete of the Year.
She now lives with her husband Blake in Tucson, Arizona. She's still being coached by Paul Pilkington, Weber State's women's track and field head coach.
"This was one of the best fields they have ever had and was really tough conditions. I knew she was in good shape because her workouts were going so well," Pilkington said in a statement. "She has persevered through injuries, graduate school and has a full-time job, and still able to train in world class conditions."
Sellers posted the highest finish ever by a Utah native running in the Boston Marathon. She told CBS Boston the race's other athletes were extremely supportive of her following the win. "Kudos to them because everyone worked extremely hard to get here, and I feel like an outsider because its my second race, and I have no credentials," she said, "but they've all been so supportive and that was really cool."
