By: Alice Su

Keira D’Amato is a regular mother of two living in Richmond, Virginia. She may not seem like America’s marathon record holder, But she is.

In high school, D’Amato attended a running camp and met her husband, Tony. In college, D’Amato joined DC Elite, a running team. It was led by Scott Raczko, coach of Alan Webb, who set the U.S men’s record in the mile in 2007. But not all good things last… Her career was put to a sudden stop as she needed foot surgery that she couldn’t pay for. Two bones in her left foot were connected where they shouldn’t have been. This predicament caused her to go into retirement.

During this time, she found passions outside of running. She became a realtor and saved enough money for the surgery. But she didn’t feel like coming back to running.

Nonetheless, D’Amato didn’t completely desert running. She ran a marathon in 2013, trying to qualify for Boston. However, it didn’t go so well. In the end, D’Amato decided that the 26.2 mile race simply wasn’t cut for her.

But as time passed, she began to run more and more marathons. In 2016, she ran at the Shamrock Marathon in Virginia Beach, running a 3:14:54. In 2017, at the Richmond Marathon, she ran a 2:47:00, 2 minutes off the 2020 Olympics qualifying time.

This was the spark that seemed to reignite D’Amato’s love for running again. She connected with her old coach, Raczko. D’Amato’s times began dropping very quickly. In February 2020, she clocked a 2:34:24 at the Olympic trials race. And then, crossing the finish line in Houston, she looked up to see her time of 2 hours 19 minutes 12 seconds and triumphed in the feeling of breaking the record. But even so, she knew that she could go faster.

At the moment, D’Amato lives snugly in her quaint house with white walls decorated with the drawings and school projects of her children. Her main priorities aren’t marathons, but the people she loves. On this particular June morning, her entire family is bundled in the basement. Tony, her husband, is a delivery manager at Microsoft and is taking a call. Their two children are playing computer games. Thomas, the older of the two, is at the rebellious age of 7. Quin is 5, and her name is spelled with only one “n,” allowing her to be 20% more efficient, according to Tony and Keira.

Appreciating the carefreeness of her children, D’Amato says, “When I come home from a race, whether I win or lose, they’re like: ‘Hey, Mom. What’s for dinner?’ They don’t care, you know?”

In the basement, the family is sitting in comfortable silence, each occupied with their own tasks but still connected with those around them. D’Amato loves this. Her goals are hefty, but she knows she would rather fail than overload her life to achieve them.