Keira D’Amato woke up on Monday morning still grappling with the reality of what she accomplished the day prior.
Fortunately, the after effects from a 26.2-mile siege into running history were a reminder that what she did was very real.
“I roll over to get my phone, just to check and get some sort of proof, and my entire body is just like, aching. And I went, ‘Oh, that was real,’” D’Amato said in a phone interview Monday.
“And I picked up my phone to just double-check and just make sure this wasn’t some best dream ever.”
D’Amato, a 37-year-old Nike runner, Realtor and mother based in Midlothian, finished Sunday’s Houston Marathon in 2:19.12, not only comfortably winning the race but also setting the American marathon record for a woman – a mark that had stood since 2006.
“It’s wild, and it’s confusing because in order for me, mentally, to wrap my head around achieving something of that magnitude, I had to minimize it in my head, to make it achievable and take off the pressure,” she said.
And to accomplish it … it’s confusing. And it’s beautiful, and it’s emotional … and it’s surreal.”
2021 was a “roller coaster” year for D’Amato, not quite the gradual rise to Sunday’s historic race. She was fast enough to make it into the U.S. qualifiers for the 10,000 meters and marathon for the delayed Tokyo Olympics, but a hamstring injury prevented her from racing for a spot on the U.S. team.
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