Desiree Davila Gets Ready For The 2011 Boston Marathon

By LetsRun.com
April 12, 2011

LetsRun.com is pleased to present the following interview with Boston marathon contender Desiree Davila of the Hansons-Brooks distance project. The interview was conducted by Hansons-Brooks athlete Robert Scribner under the direction of fellow Hanson-Brooks runner Sage Canaday, himself a former runner for LetsRun.com co-founder Robert Johnson. The interview was held on April 1st, 2010 - 17 days from Boston - but it is not an April Fool's joke.

Many casual distance fans may not realize that Davila is the fourth-fastest US marathoner in history thanks to the 2:26:20 she clocked at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon in October, where she placed fourth. While Davila's personal best is just 37 seconds slower than that of fellow American and 2011 Boston contender Kara Goucher, Davila receives way less publicity than the Nike-sponsored Goucher (a google search for "Kara Goucher" generates 118,000 results, whereas one for "Desiree Davila" generates 35,600). In this interview that is meant to be a bit light-hearted, Davila says she is "fairly used to" not getting as much press as Goucher and that she's happy to do the interview as she "likes to talk a little trash."

When asked if she's ever gotten in a fight with Goucher, Davila quipped, "I have not - yet."

Top 5 US Marathoners In History 1. Deena Kastor - 2:19:36 2. Joan Samuelson - 2:21:21 3. Kara Goucher - 2:25:52 4. Desiree Davila - 2:26:20 5. Magdalena Lewy Boulet - 2:26:22

While Goucher's accomplishments at the shorter distances are significantly more impressive than Davila's, the one time Goucher and Davila have raced each other in the marathon, the two finished a mere 5 seconds apart, as Goucher was 10th at the 2009 World Championships in 2:27:48 and Davila 11th in 2:27:53. It will be interesting to see who comes out on top at the 2011 Boston marathon, particularly given the fact that Goucher is coming back from a maternity break.

As the interview progresses, the talk gets more serious and Davila states that she is likes "the buildup right now and where we stand (for Boston)." Davila also reveals that her mileage has gotten up to 123 miles in a week as she's trained for Boston. As for the specifics of her training, she had a great line: "Everything that is done here is done in bulk - it's like Costco."

The interview also includes footage from one of the key leadup workouts of the Hansons-Brooks team - Davila's 2 x 6 mile workout, which is done at faster than race pace with a 10-minute break between reps.

Meet	Kara Goucher	Desiree Davila
Oregon Invite 2005 USAs 2007 WChamps 2009	16:23.96 (5th) 31:37.72 (2nd) 2:27:48 (10th)	16:47.09 (8th)  33:18.56 (11th) 2:27:53 (11th)
Wins	3	0

After that workout, Hansons-Brooks coach Kevin Hanson was very pleased, saying, "It went very, very well. You try not to put too much stock into one workout but I'm pretty excited about the way things are going right now. We still got a couple weeks to make sure we don't screw it up but so far so good."

Check out the interview below. Davila also talks about Internet message board threads and her whiskey collection as well as her drink of choice - Orange Crush.

Below the interview, you can also find video from Davila's 26.2 km "Boston Simulator" workout, where she runs 26.2 km at race pace, as well as video from a long run in February.

Be sure to come back to LetsRun.com later in the week, as we hope to have our previews of the 2011 Virgin London Marathon out on Wednesday and the 2011 Boston marathon out on Thursday.

The 26.2 km Boston Simulator

A February Long Run

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