MOLLY SEIDEL SPEEDS ON ATLANTA SPEEDWAY

By mitchpa on February 28, 2021 • ( 0 )

by Clay Shaw
All photos courtesy of Jane and David Monti, Race Results Weekly

Hampton, GA, February 28, 2021—Molly Seidel of Cambridge, MA, exactly a year after gaining an Olympic Marathon team spot in the 2020 Olympic Trials, returned to Atlanta for more glory. She set a new personal half-marathon best of 1:08:29, which ranks her 8^th on the USA all-time best list. She also recorded the fastest half-marathon ever run in Georgia by a woman.

Seidel’s finish time was more than two minutes faster than that of 2nd place Natosha Rogers (1:10:49) of Rochester Hills, MI. Seidel and Rogers both noticed the fog and nearly 100% humidity and were soaked afterwards. Seidel noted that she had been training in Flagstaff, AZ with very little humidity. The races were held on the grounds of the Atlanta Motor Speedway, about 30 miles south of Atlanta, in Hampton, Georgia. Samantha Palmer of Tuscaloosa, AL was a solid third in 1:11:16.

Molly Seidel returns to Atlanta for half-marathon glory. Winning with a PB of 1:08:29, she ran the fastest female time ever in Georgia. (Photo courtesy of Jane Monti, Race Results Weekly)

Natosha Rogers of Rochester Hills, MI places a strong second in 1:10:49, just missing a PB by four seconds. (Photo courtesy of Jane Monti, Race Results Weekly)

Abdisamed Abdi of Rochester Hills, MI outkicked his Hansons-Brooks teammate Zach Panning for the win. Abdi was credited with a 1:03:59 clocking, and Panning at 1:04:00, just one second back. They joked that they race in workouts quite often. Matt Llano of Flagstaff, AZ was third in 1:04:19. Last fall, Llano had COVID-19 with self-described mild symptoms, but his return to training was conservative and hard, and he’s only felt better in recent weeks.

Abdisamed Abdi outkicks Zach Panning by one second. Hanson-Brooks teammates ran 1:03:59 and 1:04:00 in the Georgia fog and humidity. (Photo courtesy of Jane Monti, Race Results Weekly)

Matt Llano of Flagstaff, AZ takes third in 1:04:19. Paul Hogan of Burlington, MA is charging through the fog to take fourth in 1:04:23. (Photo courtesy of Jane Monti, Race Results Weekly)

The Half Marathon had 1326 finishers, the marathon had 506. A 5K was held on Saturday night. Carlos Trujillo of Colorado Springs, CO (2:33:36) and Kara Roper of Grand Junction, CO (2:52:45) were the marathon victors.

Elite runners were required to provide two negative COVID-19 tests prior to the event and undergo a health screening upon arrival. The non-elite runners were masked (except racing) and socially distanced with staggered start times.

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