On a trip to Mexico with her youth group, Sara Hall was inspired by the things she saw and the people she met. She thought of that trip when she and her husband (fellow elite runner Ryan Hall) were approached by Team World Vision and travelled to Africa. Their "More Precious Than Gold" campaign is aimed at bringing clean water to communities there.

Back in the U.S., the Halls have been heavily involved in the Lighthouse Project, which is devoted to creating “child honoring communities.” As part of the run-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, they launched the “Move a Million Miles” challenge with the Lighthouse Project. The initiative challenged residents of Big Bear Lake (where Ryan is from) to run a million miles in support of Ryan. The other goals were to encourage an active lifestyle and promote integrity, and what it means to be commited to a goal to kids in that community.  

Sara aims to play a role in eliminating world poverty and is guided both by her faith and belief that anything is possible. Ryan is looking beyond his running, too: making sure his time on earth has an impact and drawing his inspiration from his faith and belief in service.

About Sara & Ryan Hall

Ryan Hall placed 10th in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games on the heels of a record-setting marathon win at the Olympic Trials in New York (his trials time was 2:09:02). He holds the American record in the half marathon at 59:43 and 20km. Ryan met his wife, Sara, at Stanford University, where they both studied and competed. While there, he was the 2005 NCAA 5,000m champion, the 2003 NCAA Cross Country runner-up and three-time NCAA Cross Country All-American. Sara is also a professional runner: she was a multi-time NCAA All-American at Stanford, champion of the 2006 U.S. 5,000m road race, the 2006 winner of the Continental Fifth Avenue Mile, and 2009 Runner-Up at the USATF Indoor 3,000m.