Born in Nottingham, Hall ran 53.08 secs for 400 metres as a 16-year-old at a Junior international in July 1984. She won an English Schools 200 m title in 1984, and a AAA Junior Indoor Championships 400 m title in 1985, before winning a bronze medal in the 4 × 400 metres relay at the 1985 European Junior Championships in Cottbus with teammates Georgina Honley, Lynne Robinson and Dawn Flockhart. In other junior internationals, she took a sprint sweep from 100 m to 400 m in Australia, won a 100 m in Cyprus and won a 200 m/400 m double at the Cosford Indoor Games.