Sally Meyerhoff Dies In Tragic Cycling Accident

Meyerhoff had recently started competing in triathlons and said she would go after a spot in October’s Ironman World Championship.

(c) 2011 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Used with permission.

The winner of the women’s division of last January’s P.F. Chang’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona Marathon, Sally Meyerhoff, was killed yesterday in a cycling accident in Arizona, according to several published reports. Meyerhoff, who was 27 and lived in Maricopa, Ariz., failed to yield at a stop sign and was struck by a pickup truck. Reports say she was killed instantly.

With her long red hair, usually in pigtails, and her penchant for wearing running skirts, Meyerhoff stood out in elite fields. Bigger than most runners, Meyerhoff also dabbled in triathlons, and had qualified for last year’s ironman world championships as an amateur.

In college, Meyerhoff ran for Duke University where she won several ECAC titles, including the 5000-meters outdoors in 2004, and the 3000-meters indoors in 2005. She had career best times of 33:03.19 for 10,000m, 1:12:52 for the half-marathon, and 2:35:49 for the marathon.

In addition to her marathon win in Phoenix last January, meyerhoff also won the 2009 USA 25-K title, and was the 2010 More Magazine | Fitness Magazine Half-Marathon champion in New York, where in a cold downpour she set the event record of 1:14:40. She also won the XTERRA Trail Running world championship Half-Marathon in Hawaii last December.

Sally was scheduled to run the NYC Half on March 20, and defend her title at More | Fitness on April 3. Meyerhoff was also a coach. Incredibly positive and loving, Meyerhoff wrote this on her Facebook page: “I love my life, especially my dogs ♥ Barney♥ Wilbur ♥ Winston ♥ and now Maxx ♥. I would do absolutely anything for those that I love. A Duke Blue Devil forever 🙂 I still miss the unbelievably gorgeous campus…”