Desiree Battling For The Win in the Boston Marathon
As they turned for onto Hereford St with less than 800m to go, there was Desiree Davila of Hansons-Brooks, the most overlooked woman in American marathoning (hell, we even said this about her this week in our preview: “… the notion of her winning Boston at this stage in her career isn’t a realistic one …we think Davila has zero chance of winning.”) battling for the win.
Throughout the race, multiple times it seemed like Desiree was just hanging on. At 15k, she fell 13 seconds off of the chase pack that had probably 10 women in it. She fell off the pack again after the 1:40 mark (she was 4 seconds back at 30k), but then there she was during the final miles battling for the win with Caroline Kilel and Sharon Cherop.
Time after time, just when it seemed Desiree might be dropped for good, she’d surge back to the lead. Finally right at the 2:20:00 mark, right before the women turned for home on Boylston street, it seemed the real kicking was beginning and Desiree was finally being dropped for good.
She started sliding backwards into third, and no one would have blamed her for giving in to the pain and finishing third. We all know Americans don’t win the Boston Marathon - especially Americans who weren’t NCAA Champions and run for Brooks instead of Nike. Hell, Desiree never even scored a single point at NCAAs during her collegiate career when she produced a 5k best of only 16:17 - how could she possibly kick with the world’s best?
But then Desiree did what we all dream of doing in such a situation, she dug even deeper. It was like she said to herself, “F*** this, this is MY chance. Who cares if I can’t go any faster, what do I have to lose?” Throwing logic and everything else out the window, she somehow sprinted by Cherop and then by Kilel.
She was now leading the Boston Marathon with less than 800m to go. However, Kilel herself responded to Davila’s move and soon was back in front. Now surely the race was over and Davila would get a very respectable second in Boston. Just seconds before she had been in third place falling away, had given it one final surge, and now was completely exhausted but at least in second. To get second was quite an accomplishment. But once again, Davila seemed to say, “This is MY Chance” and she dug even deeper.
Next thing I knew, Davila was leading the Boston Marathon with less than 400 meters to go. At this point, I imagine if you were watching Boston all across America, you spontaneously did what I and Alberto Salazar did - you stood and screamed at the TV/computer screen.
In the end, the record will say that the storybook victory did not occur for Davila, as Kilel had her own dreams of greatness and managed a way to dig deeper herself to get the win before collapsing after crossing the finish line. While Kilel was the champion, Desiree was the embodiment of the very best that the sport has to offer. There was no doubting Davila earned all of our respect. Most of us will never have the chance to win the Boston Marathon, but if somehow we were put in the situation, we hope we’d respond like Desiree. Twice defeated the final 800m, Desi easily could have given in, but she never wanted to be left wondering “What if …?” She may not have won the race, but she won our hearts and souls. There is nothing more American than the underdog believing against all odds that anything is possible.
