![]() Sullivan at the 2023 World Championships | |
Personal information | |
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Nationality | ![]() |
Born | West Palm Beach, Florida | May 13, 1990
Occupation | Middle-school math teacher [1] |
Height | 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in) [2] |
Sport | |
Sport | Track and field · Road running · Cross country running |
Event | 5000 metres · 10,000 metres · Marathon |
College team | University of Notre Dame [3] |
Club | Brooks Sports (2023–present) [4] |
Susanna Sullivan (born May 13, 1990) is an American distance runner and teacher based in Northern Virginia. A multiple-time World Marathon Majors top-10 finisher, she placed sixth at the 2022 Chicago Marathon, 10th at the 2023 London Marathon, seventh at the 2024 Chicago Marathon, and 10th at the 2025 London Marathon. She has represented the United States at the World Athletics Championships twice, finishing 58th in 2023 and fourth in 2025. Her personal best of 2:21:56, set at the 2024 Chicago Marathon, ranks her as the 10th-fastest American woman of all time in the marathon. [5] [6]
Sullivan competed for George Mason High School (now Meridian High) in Falls Church, Virginia. In cross country she earned multiple All-State honors, placing 3rd at the Virginia state championships as a sophomore and junior, and 2nd as a senior. On the track, she won state titles in the 1600 meters and 3200 meters in 2007. [7]
At the University of Notre Dame, Sullivan competed in cross country and track, earning varsity letters but never an all-conference selection. She has described her collegiate career as “lackluster” and “completely unspectacular,” citing fatigue and recurring injuries. [8] [9]
Sullivan joined Capital Area Runners after graduating in 2012. She debuted in the marathon at Grandma's Marathon in 2015, finishing 9th in 2:35:37 to qualify for the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon, where she placed 20th in 2:41:18. [10]
In 2017 she sustained a hamstring injury in a car accident, which sidelined her for an extended period. She returned to the marathon at the Richmond Marathon in 2019, where she ran 2:42:35 — at that point the slowest marathon of her career — but the result nonetheless met the qualifying standard for the 2020 Olympic Trials. [11] At the Trials in Atlanta, she placed 145th in 2:45:57. [12]
Following the 2020 Olympic Trials, Sullivan began training under Andrew Gerard, head coach at George Mason University. [13] Later that year she competed at the The Marathon Project in Arizona, finishing 20th in 2:33:27. [14]
In 2021 she placed 15th at the 2021 Boston Marathon in 2:33:22, finishing as the fourth American woman. [15]
In 2022 she won the Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run (52:32), becoming the first local runner to win the women’s title since 1983, [16] [17] placed third at Grandma’s Marathon (2:26:56), and finished sixth at the 2022 Chicago Marathon (2:25:14), her first top-10 at a World Marathon Major.
At the January 2023 USA Cross Country Championships, Sullivan finished eighth in the senior women’s 10 km, which placed her as an alternate for the World Cross Country Championships in Bathurst, Australia. [18]
In April 2023 she placed 10th and was top American at the 2023 London Marathon in 2:24:27. [19] Shortly afterward, she announced her first professional contract with Brooks. [20]
At the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, she finished 58th after competing with a fractured kneecap that worsened during the race. [21] Owing to ongoing recovery from that injury—and a COVID-19 infection the week of the race—she withdrew from the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon in Orlando. [22]
In October 2024, Sullivan ran a lifetime best of 2:21:56 at the 2024 Chicago Marathon, finishing seventh overall and first American; the performance moved her to 10th on the U.S. all-time list. [23] In 2025 she was again the top American at the 2025 London Marathon (10th, 2:29:30) and later placed fourth at the 2025 World Athletics Championships marathon in Tokyo (2:28:17). [24]
Outside competition, Sullivan teaches sixth-grade math at The Langley School in McLean, Virginia. [25] She also serves as a volunteer assistant coach for the women’s track & field program at George Mason University. [26] She resides in Reston, Virginia. [27]
Event | Performance | Venue | Date |
---|---|---|---|
5000 m | 15:25.94 | Boston, USA | Feb 10, 2023 |
10,000 m | 31:55.80 | San Juan Capistrano, USA | Mar 4, 2023 |
Half marathon | 1:08:59 | Houston, USA | Jan 19, 2025 |
Marathon | 2:21:56 | Chicago, USA | Oct 13, 2024 |
Date | Race | Location | Time | Place | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jun 20, 2015 | Grandma's Marathon | Duluth, Minnesota | 2:35:37 | 9th | Debut |
Feb 13, 2016 | U.S. Olympic Trials | Los Angeles, California | 2:41:18 | 20th | |
Nov 16, 2019 | Richmond Marathon | Richmond, Virginia | 2:42:35 | 5th | |
Feb 29, 2020 | U.S. Olympic Trials | Atlanta, Georgia | 2:45:57 | 145th | |
Dec 20, 2020 | The Marathon Project | Chandler, Arizona | 2:33:27 | 20th | |
Oct 11, 2021 | 2021 Boston Marathon | Boston, Massachusetts | 2:33:22 | 15th | 4th American |
Jun 18, 2022 | Grandma's Marathon | Duluth, Minnesota | 2:26:56 | 3rd | |
Oct 9, 2022 | 2022 Chicago Marathon | Chicago, Illinois | 2:25:14 | 6th | First WMM top-10; 15th-fastest American all-time (as of Oct 2022) |
Apr 23, 2023 | 2023 London Marathon | London, England | 2:24:27 | 10th | Top American |
Aug 26, 2023 | 2023 World Athletics Championships | Budapest, Hungary | 2:44:24 | 58th | |
Oct 13, 2024 | 2024 Chicago Marathon | Chicago, Illinois | 2:21:56 | 7th | PB; Top American; 10th-fastest American woman all-time |
Apr 27, 2025 | 2025 London Marathon | London, England | 2:29:30 | 10th | Top American |
Sep 14, 2025 | 2025 World Athletics Championships | Tokyo, Japan | 2:28:17 | 4th |
Date | Race | Location | Time | Place | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Apr 3, 2022 | Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run | Washington, D.C. | 52:32 | 1st | First local winner since 1983 |
Jul 10, 2022 | Utica Boilermaker 15K | Utica, New York | 49:48 | 6th | |
Aug 3, 2024 | Beach to Beacon 10K | Cape Elizabeth, Maine | 32:22 | 3rd | |
Sep 15, 2024 | Philadelphia Distance Run (Half Marathon) | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | 1:09:42 | 1st |
Date | Meet | Event | Location | Time | Place | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
May 27, 2022 | USATF Championships | 10,000 m | Eugene, Oregon | 32:12.77 | 17th | |
Feb 10, 2023 | Boston University Valentine Invitational | 5000 m | Boston, Massachusetts | 15:25.94 | — | Personal best |
Mar 4, 2023 | Sound Running – The TEN | 10,000 m | San Juan Capistrano, California | 31:55.80 | 9th | Personal best |
Jun 29, 2024 | U.S. Olympic Trials | 10,000 m | Eugene, Oregon | 32:43.58 | 19th |
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