TO BE A MARATHONER IS TO BE HUMBLED

BOSTON (18-Apr) — Before becoming an elite athlete who set American records in the marathon and half-marathon, Keira D’Amato was a recreational runner trying to qualify for the Boston Marathon, which will be held for the 128th time as an in-person race here on Monday.  She signed up for the Missoula Marathon in 2013 and hoped to make the then qualifying time for a 28 year-old of 3 hours and 35 minutes.

“The only reason I wanted to run a marathon was to try to qualify for Boston for 2014,” D’Amato told Race Results Weekly at a press conference here this morning.  “This was the year I had just seen the bombing and that inspired me to do my first-ever marathon.”

D’Amato, whose maiden name was Carlstrom, was not an ordinary beginner.  She had competed in the NCAA system at American University where she finished sixth at the 2005 NCAA Cross Country Championships and ninth in the 5000m at the 2006 NCAA Track & Field Championships.  Still, she had no idea how difficult a marathon would actually be.

“I didn’t really train as hard as I should, and I wasn’t really running at the level I was (in college),” said D’Amato, who ran 3:49:56 that day.  “I went in and I was just taught a huge lesson to respect the marathon.  Maybe like 16 to 18 miles (in), and I walked a lot.  I finished –I was really proud to finish– but it humbled me and really taught me to respect the marathon as a distance.”

D’Amato, 40, who re-booted her running career in 2018 after having two children and establishing a career in real estate, went on to run more than an hour and a half faster than she did in Missoula, setting a (since broken) American record of 2:19:12 in Houston in 2022.  She enjoyed even more success, placing eighth in the 2022 World Championships, and taking sixth at the BMW Berlin Marathon later that same year.  She’s broken 2:23 three times.

But the marathon would humble her again.  In 2024 she dropped out of both of her marathons, the Olympic Trials in February and Chicago in October.  Her Chicago experience was particularly painful.  She had moved with her family to Utah to train under Brigham Young University coach Ed Eyestone, and had prepared very well.  She thought she was in shape to challenge her personal best.

“Building up for Chicago, that was one of my best builds,” D’Amato explained.  “Mileage was there, the strength was there, I was seeing times I had never really seen in workouts.  Five-K into the race my foot started hurting, every K after that it started hurting more, and at 15-K I felt it just break. I had to step off. It was very humbling.  You work so hard for these goals and, and when you realize that this isn’t my day you just kind of have to accept it, learn from that and move on.”

Marathoners need to balance confidence and humility in order to be successful, especially in Boston where the fields are strong, the course is hilly, and the weather can be fickle.

“I try to tell every beginner that the event always wins,” said Kevin Hanson, who with his brother Keith, coaches athletes at the Hansons-Brooks Original Distance Project in Rochester Hills, Michigan.  “The marathon always wins.  Even people who have debuts that are outstanding and think they have it figured out… are always still learning.”

Conner Mantz, who won the 2024 USA Olympic Team Trials and finished eighth in the Paris Olympic Marathon, doesn’t see confidence and humility as being in conflict.  In essence, they are two sides of the same coin.

“I don’t think there’s any other distance that requires so much humility,” Mantz told Race Results Weekly.  “You can blow up in a marathon and run so bad no matter how well your training went.  I feel like humility and confidence aren’t the opposite at all.  I think being humble is knowing yourself and knowing what you can do, respecting others but also respecting what you’ve done to get where you are.  So, it’s a confidence thing, but not believing you can do more than anyone else.”

Monday will be Mantz’s second crack at Boston.  He finished 11th in the 2023 edition of the race in 2:10:25, a disappointing performance after he ran a celebrated 2:07:47 debut in Chicago six months earlier.

“The last Boston Marathon I ran, the last two miles I was like, I can’t believe I’m running this slow,” said Mantz, wincing as he spoke.  Like, I didn’t even know how slow I was running.  My last two miles were, like, six-flat pace.  My first marathon had gone so well that I couldn’t believe that my second was going so poorly.”

Two-time Olympian Kara Goucher had a similar experience.  In her marathon debut at the 2008 New York City Marathon, she ran what was the fastest-ever debut by an American woman, finishing third in 2:25:53.  But at the same race in 2014, she had a soul-crushing experience.  Running the second half more than nine minutes slower than the first, she finished 13th in 2:37:03.  She would run only one elite marathon after that.

“I had never hit the wall before,” Goucher said.  “I’ve heard people talk about it and I was like, you obviously didn’t train right.  Then in 2014 I don’t even remember the last eight miles of that race.  I remember I was looking for my coach, Coach Wetmore, because I wanted permission to drop out.  Afterwards I was like, ‘You said you were going to be in Central Park!’  And he goes, ‘I looked right at you and told you to hang on.’  I don’t remember any of that.”

For D’Amato, who is running her first Boston Marathon, she is headed into Monday’s race feeling little pressure.  She is grateful to be healthy again and, with a humble heart, just wants to feel good on the course and see what she can do.

“Lining up on Monday for Boston I feel really grateful, and really thankful,” D’Amato said.  “It’s a gift that I’m healthy and I can hopefully crush it on Monday.”  She continued: “I have never felt pressure in running, external pressure.  I have a lot of goals that I want to reach, but I don’t think anyone, including myself, thought I’d ever make it this far.  From that first marathon, bonking and hitting the wall, I never thought I’d do another marathon.  Every time I line up I just feel appreciative for it.”