Black ‘digs deep’ in Tokyo
ATHLETICS SARA Black had an extra reason to celebrate when she crossed the finish line at the Tokyo marathon in a new best time of 3:10.21.
On doing so, she also became a member of a select group of athletes to be awarded the coveted Six Star Finisher medal for completing all six of the World Marathon Majors: New York, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago, and now Tokyo where, appropriately, the medals were first presented three years ago. “The rain and the cold didn’t make it easy, but I dug deep,” said Black, 46, mother of 2018 Daniel Sacks Award joint-winner Jack Davis-Black. “I was determined to attain six-star status. And I’m ecstatic about my time. I placed well in the women’s category — 28th out of 1,479 in my age group, and that includes the elite runners. There were some very fast times being posted.” With a time almost three minutes faster than her previous personal best set in Berlin six months ago, Black is currently ranked no. 3 in the UK in the women’s V45 category and 12th overall.