Unheralded mother of two and realtor, Keira D’Amato , runs 15:04 5K time trial and she's coached by Alan Webb's HS coach!!

Hot takes:

1. Centro Sr. is a terrible, toxic coach. We need to have that discussion.

2. I am jaded, incredible performances require incredible skepticism

This is pretty much in line with her 1:09 (:59) at Houston this year. Clearly fast on flat. Either conditions, hill preparation, or just not her strength for the course in Atlanta as I think she definitely had a sub 2:30 in her at the time of the trials.

Why all the Hate For Centro Sr? If she only went to American,she was not an elite. Why can't you look at her high placing at Nats and say he did a great job.

shootpost wrote:

Hot takes:

1. Centro Sr. is a terrible, toxic coach. We need to have that discussion.

2. I am jaded, incredible performances require incredible skepticism

Well, we know for certain if this story was about someone from Africa , Eastern Europe, or Russia, that doping allegations would be flying everywhere. I knew without reading the thread first how it would go ...

What doesn’t seem right?

That she was Top 10 in NCAA Nationals beating several other big names?

That she’s been cranking out the 100 mile weeks for the last 2-3 years?

That one of the best coaches giving her guidance?

That she was Top 15 in Houston Half with Huddle? Top 15 at Trials?

predictors wrote:

You think cutting more than 1 minute from your college PR when you are already national class is normal progression? 6th in 2018 was Ostrander. 6th in 2019 was Birk. Their 5k PRs are 15:16 and 15:38. If they make the same natural progression, they will run 14:10 and 14:30 when they are 35. Elite runners don't run PRs in the 5k at 35. They run them at 25. 39 women broke 16 in the 5k last year. Betting 39 women won't break 15 in about 13 years. I doubt if even 1 of rhise 39 breaks 15 when they are 35.

She hasn’t raced a 5k in a loooong time.

Been focusing on HM and Marathon. You say 1 min PR but if someone runs under 2:40 they’re probably in sub 16 shape.

Also taking some time off probably saved her legs so she’s now able to churn out 100 mile weeks regularly.

Considering she focused on the 1500 and not the 5k outdoors it’s not that surprising.

YMMV wrote:

YMMV wrote:

Most of the Bowerman Babes train on the track in them, and a few for track races. D'Amato is a marathoner and may not even own spikes.

From the article: “Should I wear spikes? I don’t have any anymore,” she said.

AlphaFly from the Trials

Yeahhh I would agree that it is disingenuous to say that she ran a 1 minute PR. She ran 70:01 at Houston in January. Daniels gives that 15:16. Clearly she was in sub-15:30 shape & then she put in a devoted 5k block.

After watching the Lance documentary & seeing people in our sport get popped all the time, I'm skeptical of all of it but it doesn't do any good to speculate without any evidence. I'm going to cheer for athletes & then if they get caught tune them out. She seemed to have a ton of talent in college, could probably have run faster then, and took a bunch of time off away from the sport. Her legs are fresh now, she's putting in 100 mile weeks, and talent doesn't go away.

I'm super impressed by this and wonder if it'll open up any opportunities heading into an Olympic year. She can't have the resources Bowerman has and is within striking distance of the best 5000 runners in the US. With her marathon strength, the 10k might be her best bet.

But 50 women ran faster than her PR in the NCAA last year. Imagine if even 25% of them improve by 1 minute when they are 35. We would have multiple women running 14:30 at 35 years of age. Some of you are not grasping that this has never happened before. Imagine if they even improve by 30 seconds by age 35. We would have a few running 14:50 at 35 years of age.

time trials like this one are why people stay in the sport for their 20s, right? Because it happens..it's real. THings just come together sometimes and it's hard to explain why or predict them.

NERunner053 wrote:

Yeahhh I would agree that it is disingenuous to say that she ran a 1 minute PR. She ran 70:01 at Houston in January. Daniels gives that 15:16. Clearly she was in sub-15:30 shape & then she put in a devoted 5k block.

Sure. But how many people go from being a 4:42 1 mile/16:10 5000m runner to running a 15 5000m/70:00 HM? I figure age wise it is sort of wash (i.e. not really peak years either way) but we are talking about a huge improvement for someone who has had been training.

Now maybe that prior training didn't agree with her (too much fast stuff, not enough distance) or she had injuries. But not many people take that big of step forward. Congrats to her for putting inn the work.

She certainly has a shot at the 5,000m team, but we will have to see how the next year goes. Don’t forget Elle Purrier ran 14:58 last year and Vanessa Fraser 14:48 indoors, plus Schweitzer’s 14:45 at words. Then there’s people like Infeld who ran 14:51 indoors who may try to make it in the 5k. Plus if the 1500m/5,000m double is doable there will be Shelby, and Simpson also ran 14:58 indoors to get the Olympic standard so it would seem she is considering the 5k as well. And Rowbury may be back in top form. It will be interesting to see who stays healthy and it is definitely an incredibly deep field for that event as it stands now. The 10k will also be stacked with huddle and sisson both vying for spots along with hall, infeld etc.

Does anyone know if a well-document time trial like this can count as a qualifying mark for the Olympic trials etc.., particularly considering that there aren't really any official races happening right now?

Window is closed.

Covid who wrote:

Wow, gotta be top 20-30 all time American woman

Everybody has a family member/in-law who's a "real estate agent."

they're like ants.

my brain thought this was Abbey D'Agostino

No athlinks results for her?

Huge. Webb's coach is back baby!!!!!

podfinder wrote:

predictors wrote:

You think cutting more than 1 minute from your college PR when you are already national class is normal progression? 6th in 2018 was Ostrander. 6th in 2019 was Birk. Their 5k PRs are 15:16 and 15:38. If they make the same natural progression, they will run 14:10 and 14:30 when they are 35.

Not to state the really, really obvious here... but the logical conclusion isn't that D'Amato's run is the equivalent of Ostrander running 14:10. The logical conclusion is that when D'Amato finished 6th at NCAA XC, she was in mid-15 shape for 5,000m, even though she didn't end up running that time in the subsequent track season. Now she has clearly improved, but perhaps by 20-30 seconds over her previous peak *fitness* (not PR).

Bingo