Two American records were broken at the Houston Marathon and Half Marathon in a historic day for women’s distance running. In the 50th edition of the race, Keira D’Amato shattered the American record over 26.2, and Sara Hall set a new American record in the 13.1 distance on Sunday.
The runners took advantage of good racing conditions, with a little wind and temperatures hovering in the high 30s in Texas. Hall kicked off a day of standout performances by finishing second in the women’s half marathon in 1:07:15, improving on the previous American record by 10 seconds.
A little over an hour later, D’Amato won the women’s marathon overall in 2:19:12. She broke the long-standing 2:19:36 American record set by Deena Kastor in 2006 and improved on the Houston course record.
“Part of me just can’t believe this is happening, and the other part is like, this is happening because you’ve worked your tail off, Keira,” D’Amato said on the ABC 13 broadcast. “You’ve worked so hard to get here, but like what?! I just feel like dreams come true, you know?”
After she crossed the finish line, D’Amato was embraced by her family members, including her kids Tommy, 7, and Quin, 5.
“I mean, they see me day in and day out. Leave for a run and come back like an hour or two later,” D’Amato, 37, said. “So, they’ve been part of this journey and part of the sacrifice. And when I crossed the line and they were there, oh man. It's just one of the happiest moments in my life.”
The record followed a comeback
With the help of pacers Calum Neff and Silas Frantz, D’Amato started the race with positive momentum by leading the women’s marathon field through 5K in 16:25, well under pace to break the American record. She picked it up through 10K by blazing through the split in 32:45, putting her on pace to finish in 2:18:11.
At the halfway point, D’Amato held a 21-second lead over Biruktayt Eshetu Degefa of Ethiopia. Her pace slowed slightly heading into the half marathon split (1:09:40), but D’Amato was still on track to run 2:19:26, under the American record with 13.1 remaining in the race.
After a blazing start, D’Amato maintained her growing lead in the later stages of the race and even picked up the pace with an average mile of 5:19 heading into her 1:55:42 split at 35K. With only 1.4 miles left in the race, she put herself in perfect position to improve on the record with a projected finish of 2:19:23.
With one last surge to close out a historic effort, D’Amato sprinted into the finish line for the win in 2:19:12, 24 seconds faster than the previous American record set by Kastor at the 2006 London Marathon.
In December, D’Amato told Women’s Running that if training went well in the following weeks and she found herself in 2:20 marathon shape, she’d target the American record in Houston. “I’ve never won a marathon before, so that’s a big goal of mine. Right now I think I’m in sub-2:22 shape, which is really exciting,” D’Amato told Women’s Running.
For D’Amato to find herself in a place to break the 16-year-old record is remarkable in itself.
After becoming a four-time All-American at American University, the Midlothian, Virginia, native graduated in 2006 and struggled with injuries in her post-collegiate years. The first chapter of her running career ended with ankle surgery in 2009.
After a seven-year hiatus from the sport—which included her getting married, having two children, and becoming a real estate agent—D’Amato returned to running in the summer of 2016 in pursuit of “unfinished business,” she told Runner’s World in 2021. Amid the pandemic In 2020, she emerged with an American record, a top-10 spot on the U.S. all-time list of fastest marathoners, and obliteration of previous personal bests. Her efforts led to another breakthrough in February 2021 when she signed her first endorsement contract with a pro sponsor.
D’Amato had her sights set on making the Olympic team in the summer of 2021, but a chronic hamstring injury sidelined her for the U.S. Olympic Trials. She recovered in time to finish fourth in 2:28:22 at the Chicago Marathon on October 10. On December 6, she claimed her first national title by winning the U.S. Half Marathon Championships in 1:07:55, just 30 seconds shy of the then-American record set by Molly Huddle.
Looking back on her journey, D’Amato credited her unwavering self-confidence and support system for pushing her to new heights.
“To think that this dream was gone a decade ago, and somehow I just believed that age is just a number and it just doesn’t even matter how old you are,” she said on the ABC broadcast. “You can chase your dreams. And I’m just so fortunate to have a family that supported that.”
Hall sets half marathon record
After breaking away from the main pack around 15K, Hall closed in 4:58 mile pace to finish in 1:07:15, 10 seconds faster than the previous record set by Huddle at the 2018 Houston Half Marathon. She averaged 5:08 mile pace to achieve the feat.
Hall wasn’t the only runner with a breakthrough performance in the Houston half. Race champion Vicoty Chepngeno of Kenya broke the course record and ran the fastest time ever on U.S. soil by winning in 1:05:03. In her 13.1 debut, Fiona O’Keeffe finished fourth in 1:07:42, No. 5 on the U.S. list of all-time fastest half marathoners.
Hall’s performance on Sunday improves on her previous personal best of 1:08:18 set in a solo effort at the 2020 Row River Half Marathon. The record is the latest in a series of breakthrough performances for the 38-year-old.
In December 2020, she came within a minute of breaking the American record in the marathon by recording a personal best of 2:20:32 at the Marathon Project. In October 2020, she finished runner-up in 2:22:01 at the London Marathon. Last year, she finished third in 2:27:19 at the Chicago Marathon.
Hall broke the women’s half marathon record on the same course where her husband, Ryan Hall, shattered the U.S. men’s half marathon record. Ryan ran 59:43 to win the 2007 Houston Half Marathon with Sara in attendance.
“It’s incredible. I’m emotional right now because it’s something I’ve dreamed about doing. I thought it would be really special to do it today with it being 15 years since Ryan set the American record here, and that day changed our lives forever,” Hall said during the postrace press conference, explaining that the performances show the journey of their respective careers. “He just knocked it out of the park from the beginning. And then for me it’s taken 15 years of just grinding and persevering and overcoming so many disappointments along the way and to get to this point, it’s really special.”
Taylor Dutch is a writer and editor living in Austin, Texas, and a former NCAA track athlete who specializes in fitness, wellness, and endurance sports coverage. Her work has appeared in Runner’s World, SELF, Bicycling, Outside, and Podium Runner.
