Don't Call It a Comeback: What Happened When I Stopped Chasing PRs, and Started Chasing Happiness

by Keira D'Amato, Evelyn Spence (Editor)

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

An inspiring personal tale of reinvention and rediscovery, Don't Call It a Comeback is as fascinating as it is full of hope. Whether you're a runner or just looking to grow as an individual, you'll find all the wisdom and insights you need here.

"Don't Call It a Comeback is fireworks in a crowded field of athlete memoirs. With a knack for hilariously vulnerable storytelling, Keira unspools a fascinating tale of her unconventional running career." —Shelby Van Pelt, New York Times bestselling author of Remarkably Bright Creatures

A victorious tale of coming back in middle age to topple marathon records, from the running world's most beloved underdog, mom of two, and woman voted "most fun follow" on Strava.

Keira D’Amato was an all-American runner who used to chase success. But after being injured in her early twenties, she assumed her running career was over, and settled into life as a military spouse and mother of two young children. In her early thirties, she found herself overweight, out of shape, and battling postpartum depression. She knew that improving her fitness would make her feel better, and told herself to just get out and run ninety seconds, down her street and back. To her dismay, she couldn’t do it. But two days later she tried again. And six years after that, she broke the American women’s record in the marathon at the age of thirty-seven.

Keira has created a buzz in the world of professional athletics by taking the road less traveled. The normal trajectory for an elite female athlete has been to focus on sport first, then get a "real" job, and finally, have a family. Keira upended that: she married her high school sweetheart, had two babies in quick succession, began her career in real estate—and only then returned to running. But it’s not just her relatable background that makes Keira so popular amongst fellow runners. We assume that to be successful, one must be serious and humorless, with an all-or-nothing approach to ambition. But what if the opposite were true—that cultivating more fun, and more variety in your life could actually help you reach your biggest goals?

At an age when most athletes consider retirement, Keira is just getting started. And she’s determined to share the secrets of her success to help readers to start chasing their own happiness, to dream a big, scary dream, and ultimately to find their way back to themselves.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250344946
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	09/09/2025
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Keira D'Amato is a four-time USATF National Champion: the 2021 women’s half-marathon (1:07:55), the 2022 women’s 6k (17:52), the 2022 20k (1:04:29), and the 2024 20k (1:06:25). In 2022, she broke a sixteen-year American record in the marathon by running 2:19:12. She holds the world best time in the women’s-only 10-mile, and finished 8th at the World Championship Marathon in 2022. She is the proud owner of Potomac River Run & Walk, a specialty running store in Richmond, Virginia. She now lives in Park City with her family.

Evelyn Spence is a veteran outdoors and fitness writer whose work has appeared in Runner’s World, Bicycling, Backpacker, Ski, Sunset, Outside, Bloomberg, Prevention, and Health. She has been an editor at several National Magazine Award–winning publications and has been honored by the Best American Sports Writing anthology. A longtime athlete, she has run the Boston marathon, finished a half-Ironman, skied with reindeer herders in Mongolia, ridden her bike up Pikes Peak, and carried a 40-pound backpack while participating in the Bataan Memorial Death March. She lives in Seattle with her husband and two children.

Editorial Reviews

"Keira writes in much the same way that she chases happiness—deliberately, from the heart, with relentless determination and always the desire to go the extra miles. Her boundless energy and genuine candor will motivate every reader regardless of the happiness and success they wish to chase. Her storytelling brings everyone into her life and out for a run of their choice. A read that will quicken your pace." —Joan Benoit Samuelson, 1984 Olympic marathon gold medalist

"I just loved this book. Keira's unwavering optimism will carry you for miles, but it's the challenges and low moments that she faced—and the story of how she overcame them—that are the most uplifting. Reading this buoyed my spirit, and brought me so much joy." —Ellie Kemper, actress and author of My Squirrel Days

"I’ve read hundreds of running books in the last fifty years, and Keira D’Amato’s Don’t Call It A Comeback stands apart from the pack. It’s not that she’s faster than everyone else—though she comes close. It’s that she’s zanier, more spontaneous, and ultimately more honest than the rest. D’Amato’s realistic look at elite running—the good, the bad, and the bonky—makes her book a reader’s delight." —Amby Burfoot, 1968 Boston Marathon Winner and author of First Ladies of Running

"Don't Call It a Comeback is fireworks in a crowded field of athlete memoirs. With a knack for hilariously vulnerable storytelling, Keira D’Amato unspools a fascinating tale of her unconventional running career. Even though I’m a much slower runner, I found Keira’s story incredibly relatable, and I would enthusiastically press this book into the hands of anyone who runs or jogs or walks." —Shelby Van Pelt, New York Times bestselling author of Remarkably Bright Creatures

"I freaking loved Don't Call It a Comeback. It made me laugh, made me cry, and made me want to challenge myself. I felt like I was hanging out with Keira, having a chat. I especially loved that she talked through the tough times—it's easy to assume that runners just have a body that is made to run, but Keira shows that it takes WILL to run. It's a reminder that's applicable to anyone's world, regardless of what their "sport" is: success takes work. This is an exceptional book that I will be recommending to every person I know." —Deb Cupp, President of Microsoft, America

"This book is exactly the push we all need to try something new and hard—one day, 90 seconds of running; the next, a marathon record. Keira's story—and her happiness—is inspiring." —Emily Oster, New York Times bestselling author of Expecting Better

"Keira D'Amato is currently at the top of women's distance running. She holds multiple American records...and has racked up win after win this year at everything from 10Ks to 7 milers. But just two years earlier, the real estate agent and mom of two was mostly unknown, a "hobby jogger" quietly putting in miles." —People​ (2022)

"D’Amato’s success has been riveting to watch, in part because it seemed to come out of nowhere. She had only resumed running competitively in 2017 following a seven-year hiatus. In the interim, she adopted the life of a typical suburbanite—career, marriage, kids. And then, around the time most people are starting to reminisce about their glory days, D’Amato started living them. Really living them. She found more success in five short years than most elite runners do in an uninterrupted lifetime of training." —Runner's World

From the Publisher