KeiraD'Amato

In January, she ran 2:19:12 to win the Houston Marathon, taking 24 seconds off Deena Kastor’s American record that had stood since 2006. She remained the fastest women’s marathoner in the country until October, when Emily Sisson bettered her mark at the Chicago Marathon.

Since winning Houston, she has gone on to win the B.A.A. 10K, break a 24-year-old course record to win the USATF 20K Championships, finish eighth in the World Athletics Championships Marathon, and take sixth place at the Berlin Marathon as the top American. Her top-10 performance at the World Championships came with less than three weeks preparation after she was called up as the alternate to replace an injured Molly Seidel on Team USA.

D'Amato was a four-time All-American at American University and took a hiatus from the sport shortly after graduating before returning in 2016. After returning as a “hobby jogger,” she worked her way up to the marathon, ultimately qualifying for the 2020 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials, at which she finished 15th in 2:34:24.

She has won three national titles in the last two years, finishing first at the 2021 USATF Half Marathon Championships, 2022 USATF 6K Championships and 2022 USATF 20K Championships.

Outside of running, D’Amato also holds a career in real estate and earlier this year opened her own running store in Richmond, Va., where she resides with her husband, Anthony, and two children, Thomas and Quin.

Race History