American marathoner Keira D’Amato continues to break the mold of what’s possible after choosing to start a family and career in her early 20s, instead of pursuing competitive running right away.
After an eight-year hiatus from racing, D’Amato, 38, returned to training several years ago and has become the world-class, Nike-sponsored marathon runner she always dreamed she would be. She had been an All-American cross-country and track runner at American University, where she earned degrees in mathematics and computer science in 2006. After college, she joined the DC Elite training group coached by Scott Raczko, but was sidelined by a foot injury and retired from competitive running.
Fast forward to last year, and she not only set an American record at the Houston Marathon in 2022 (2:19.12, later broken by Emily Sisson), but she went on to place eighth at the world championships (2:23.34) in Eugene, Oregon, and then sixth at the Berlin Marathon (2:21.48) and 15th in the New York City Marathon (2:31.31). She’s continued her strong running this year, and is one of the top entrants in the marathon at 2023 World…
