FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Health

Boston Marathon Runner-up Will Use Prize Money to Pay Off Her Student Loans

Sarah Sellers is a registered nurse anesthetist who just won $75,000.
Scott Eisen/Getty Images

Yesterday, Desiree Linden became the first American woman to win the Boston Marathon since 1985. Another American, Sarah Sellers, finished right behind her, marking the first one-two finish for US women since 1979. Linden is a two-time Olympian and fan favorite who is sponsored by Brooks, while Sellers, 26, is a virtual unknown who paid her own entry fee and is not sponsored. She finished in 2:44:04 and earned $75,000.

Advertisement

Sellers, who works full-time as a registered nurse anesthetist in Tucson, Arizona, hoped to make the top 15 in Boston. She told the Boston Globe that the best-case scenario would be to win enough money to cover the cost of the trip for her and her husband Blake, who's a resident orthopedic surgeon. But $75K? "I had no idea that was even a possibility,” she said.

When asked what she might do with the pile of cash, she said something that lots of people in their 20 and 30s would relate to: “My husband and I both just finished graduate school, so hopefully we’ll be able to put a dent in our student loans.”

While she wasn't listed in the race's elite field, Sellers was a talented collegiate runner at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah, where she was a nine-time conference champion and earned a 4.0 GPA in nursing. Sellers won the 2017 Huntsville Marathon in Utah in 2:44:27, her first attempt at the distance, and runs about 100 miles a week, logging workouts either at 4am or 8pm.

She'll train for another marathon this fall and hopes to get the "A" standard of 2:37 for the 2020 Olympic marathon trials. She has no plans to scale back her work as a nurse, telling the Washington Post: “It’s really rewarding and gives me perspective on life.” She'll be back at work on Wednesday.

Sign up for our newsletter to get the best of Tonic delivered to your inbox weekly.