Keira D’Amato Runs 66:39 to Break American Record at Asics Half Marathon in Australia
By Jonathan GaultEight months after Emily Sisson ran 2:18:29 in Chicago to break Keira D’Amato‘s American record in the marathon, D’Amato returned the favor by running 66:39 at the Asics Half Marathon in Gold Coast, Australia, on Saturday morning to break Sisson’s American record in the half. Taking advantage of cool conditions in the Australian winter (it was 50 degrees Fahrenheit at the finish) and pacemaking from two-time Australian Olympian Ben St. Lawrence, D’Amato won the race and took 13 seconds off the American record.
D’Amato was forced to withdraw from April’s London Marathon after inflammation in her knee set back her training, but she has been in good form since returning to racing, taking 2nd at the US 25k championships in May before running 31:23 to finish 5th at the New York Mini 10K on June 10.
“It’s been a tough year for me and then coming out [to Australia] wasn’t easy, but being able to perform today on such a fast course, a flat course, with beautiful conditions, I’m just very thankful,” D’Amato said on the broadcast after the race.
This was the fourth time the American record has been broken in the last 18 months. Sara Hall got things started by running 67:15 in Houston in January 2022 before Sisson lowered it to 67:11 in Indianapolis in May 2022. Sisson further lowered it to 66:52 in Houston in January 2023 before D’Amato took it to 66:39 on Saturday.
D’Amato, 38, will run the World Championship marathon in Budapest on August 26 where she will look to improve on her 8th-place finish from 2022.
Talk about D’Amato’s amazing run on the world-famous LetsRun.com messageboard: Keira D’Amato 66:39 American record at Asics Half in Australia.
Editor’s note: Initially, the Asics Half timing site listed D’Amato’s time as 66:37, and that is what the original version of this article stated. The article has been updated to reflect the correct time.
