It’s likely that it will be long before fans of
this grueling sport forget who came out of
nowhere to become the world’s most celebrated
female athlete of the moment in distance racing.
For decades, the 26-plus mile race has been
dominated by athletes from Kenya and a
handful of other countries in East Africa and
Central Europe. But on an inhospitable day in
April, the diminutive runner who grew up in
sunny San Diego exceeded all expectations and
etched her name into the annals of sports history.
“The big issue that day was the weather; it
was out of the ordinary,” she remembers. “It
was cold and rainy with headwinds of over 20
miles an hour. In that kind of situation, you
want to lead as little as possible. And that was
my strategy; to stay back and let someone else
block the wind for me until I was ready to
charge to the finish line.”
She credits her experience and training
but also her tiny, wiry body as factors that
contributed to her surprising victory. “People
always say, ‘You look so much bigger in pictures,’
but I might break 5’1”. With less body mass
than most of her competitors, her compact torso
was perfectly suited to absorbing gusts of wind.
Desiree’s triumph was surprising because
she had a pronounced sense that she could
reach the finish line much earlier than she had
planned. “I was kind of shocked by that,” she
remembers, “because for the first 16 miles or
so, I was in a fairly large pack of runners.”
The 122nd edition of the marathon, after
all, boasted 12,063 female athletes – a daunting
number of competitors. But her optimism was
not dissuaded. “In a couple more miles, it
came down to three of us trading spots, but
for the last four miles or so, I was suddenly by
myself and pulling away,” she recollects. “I
didn’t want to glance back over my shoulder
to see where the competition was, because
the second you do that, the person who’s
there knows that you are worried. Even though
I was a little worried, I kept my eyes focused
on what was before me and was more concerned
about what was ahead of me and not what
was behind me.”
Desiree – Des to her friends and most ardent
followers and Desi to her mother – has used
that simple philosophy as a tool to guide her
throughout her life. Always thinking about
what is ahead has served the 35-year old well
in a quest for excellence that began in high
school and has continued through a collegiate
“I kept my eyes
focused
on what was
before me and
was more
concerned
about what
was ahead of
me and not
what was
behind me.
”
Desiree (front center with the soccer ball) and her
sister, Natalie Davila, (front far left) at Desiree’s first
soccer season in 1987.
and professional career that’s taken her to the
world’s elite marathons and Olympic competition.
Born of Mexican-American parents, she
grew up in a comfortable middle class Southern
California setting. Her father was a contractor
while her mother worked for a telephone
company. Her older sister, Natalie, played field
hockey at Cal-Berkley and ran her first
marathon before Desiree tried it. “I played
soccer and softball before beginning track and
field activities in middle school,” she adds, “but
2016 Olympic Marathon Trials in Los Angeles, CA. Photos courtesy Carrie Cox.
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