Serena Burla (born September 27, 1982) is an American

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

athlete from

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

, specializing in

long-distance running Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely aerobic in nature and requires stamina as well as mental strength. Within endurance running comes two d ...

events. In college, Burla was a two-time

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...

runner-up for the

Missouri Tigers The Missouri Tigers intercollegiate athletics programs represent the University of Missouri, located in Columbia. The name comes from a band of armed Union Home Guards called the Fighting Tigers of Columbia who, in 1864, protected Columbia fro ...

. Burla competed in the 2009 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships where she finished 16th (upgraded from 17th place after suspension of

Inga Abitova Inga Eduardovna Abitova (russian: Инга Эдуардовна Абитова, born 6 March 1982 in Novokuybyshevsk) is a Russian long-distance runner, who specializes in the 10,000 metres and the marathon. She was the 2006 European Champio ...

). Burla won the 2013 USA Half Marathon Championships (held as part of the

Houston Half Marathon The Houston Marathon is an annual marathon usually held every January in Houston, Texas, United States, since 1972. With thousands of runners and spectators, it is the largest single day sporting event in the city. It is run concurrently wit ...

). At the

2015 World Championships in Athletics The 2015 IAAF World Championships ( zh, 第十五届世界田径锦标赛), the fifteenth edition of the IAAF World Championships, were held from 22 to 30 August at the National Stadium in Beijing, China. Forty-three nations won medals, 144 of ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, Burla placed 10th in the

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

with a time of 2:31:06. Burla ran a Marathon PR of 2:26:53 to finish 4th in the 2017 Osaka Women's Marathon.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burla, Serena 1982 births Living people American female long-distance runners American female marathon runners World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States 21st-century American women