D’Amato breaks course record; Mantz leads men from start to finish
NEW HAVEN — Keira D’Amato sprinted across the finish line. She threw up her arms in celebration as her body ripped through the banner at the line.
The crowd cheered as the announcer declared her time of one hour, four minutes and 59 seconds a course record.
D’Amato looked left and found her mom, Liane, on the sideline holding a poster designed by D’Amato’s 6-year-old daughter, Quin. She ran over to her mom and embraced her in a hug.
The 37-year-old walked away from running once before, yet she returned to the sport for moments like these.
“I kinda felt like running broke my heart and it wasn’t healed yet. But it was something in getting married and marrying into the D’Amato family, they’re a whole bunch of runners, that I learned how to love running again,” D’Amato said. “It’s with that love that I’m able to do things like this and I feel just so grateful to come out here and be with all these runners today.”
D’Amato won the USATF 20k National Championship on Monday morning at the 45th annual Faxon Law New Haven Road Race by beating the course record from 1998 (Colleen De Reuck, 1:07:53). Emily Sisson, who finished behind D’Amato, also beat the former record, finishing Monday in 1:04:35. Monday was D’Amato’s debut in New Haven.
This year’s New Haven Road Race was limited to 4,500 runners across five different events, including the men’s and women’s 20k championship, a half marathon and a 5k.
Also having a standout debut in the 20k Championship was men’s winner Conner Mantz, who finished in 59:08. Mantz was followed by longtime Faxon Law competitor Leonard Korir in 59:13.
“It was a challenging race today,” said Korir, who’s raced in every Faxon Law New Haven Road Race since 2016. “Of course, I wanted to win, nobody wants to be second, but you know what, getting second is also good so I’m happy with that.”
D’Amato, from Midlothian, Va., and Sisson wasted no time separating themselves from the pack to start the women’s 20k. The
two stayed together and crossed the Mile 3 mark at 15:31. Three miles later, there was a 300-meter-plus difference between them and the next women’s runner.
Sisson said the two traded off leading each mile until D’Amato began to pull away at Mile 8.
“I was like I’d rather win it than lose so I put a move in, and I could feel her hesitate a little bit so that gave me a lot of energy thinking like if I could just put in a couple more moves, like a quick, hard move, maybe I can take this,” D’Amato said. “It’s exciting, but it’s also terrifying to be in the front, like especially with somebody like Emily right behind you.
“Because I was like if I slow down at all, she’s gonna overtake me so it really kept me honest and kept me fighting through and I found more today than I even knew I had because of her, so I’m appreciative for sure.”
D’Amato’s record finish in New Haven comes less than nine months after she set the national record in the women’s marathon in Houston, running a 2:19:12.
“I’m pumped,’ she said. “I’m so thankful for these opportunities, and I still can’t believe it’s happening to me. Like I work really hard, and I see myself pushing day in and day out.”
D’Amato graduated from American University in 2006 after being coached by one of the sport’s bests in Matthew Centrowitz. After a couple seasons running professionally and a serious ankle injury, D’Amato (then Kiera Carlstrom) stepped away from running to focus on raising her family and becoming a realtor. She returned to the sport in 2017.
“I want to cry every time I see Keira go across the finish line,” her mom, Liane said. “I just want to cheer as loud as I can because for some crazy reason, I feel like the louder I cheer, that will give her energy but I just I’m so proud and overwhelmed. It’s just an incredible feeling. For a mother to see their child be able to accomplish their dreams is just the ultimate.”
Mantz led the men’s race from start to finish. He was challenged repeatedly by Korir, Sam Chelanga, who finished third in 59:15, Shadrack Kipchichir (fourth, 59:18) and Geoffrey Kipchumba (10th, 1:01:15). But Mantz was able to keep himself in front of the pack throughout the 12.4mile race.
“It wasn’t the plan,’Mantz said. “... Today, the plan was to wait until 15k and take the lead, but I wanted to make sure it was my honest pace, and nobody was taking it from me so I was like, ‘Well, it’s not honest like we need it, might as well go for it.’”
Mantz led a pack of five runners (Leonard, Chelanga, Kipchirchir and Biya Simbassa (finished fifth, 59:19) through Mile 11 with a 4:51-mile split before planning out his kick. Despite miss-calculating his final sprint in the last 800 meters, he was still able to keep Korir at bay and run through the tape.
“I thought I had him, but he put on another gear,’ Korir said.
D’Amato, Sisson, Korir and Mantz are all training to compete in marathon competitions this fall. D’Amato will compete in Berlin, Sisson and Mantz in Chicago and Korir in New York.