Don't Stop: David Kilgore's Road To Top 50 Finish At Boston


Don't stop. It's a popular saying around run clubs in South Florida and throughout the U.S. For former Holy Trinity distance standout David Kilgore, it's a motto he lives by everyday.

While in high school Kilgore won three individual state championships. He captured the 1A 1,600m crown as a junior and senior and won the 1A Cross Country Finals as a senior. Kilgore began his career at the University of Colorado where he was an alternate on the Buffaloes which won the NCAA XC Championship in 2013. From there he came back home to run for the University of Florida before ending his career at Oklahoma State. After college, he picked up the mileage and transitioned to ultra marathons and marathons.

2018 started off with two marathon wins, including the Space Coast Marathon, where he first ran 26.2 miles at the 2015 edition. He called that race special and a homecoming of sorts. From there it was to another tropical destination,  where he won the Bahamas Marathon. He had high hopes for the Miami Marathon until an injury from back in December flared up, and derailed the plans.

"I was running up Mt. Monadnock in New Hampshire in December," he said. "I slid off a 6 foot icy ledge during a snow storm and banged up my leg by my ankle. The fall happened in December and my leg was swollen a little but no pain."

Kilgore felt no pain in the Bahamas (maybe it was the rum punch). However, in the middle of the Miami Marathon, the injury flared up to the point he couldn't function or run. That was the 18 mile mark. He continued to fight it, but eventually pulled out at 22 miles. 

"Before that I was having a blast and running well," he noted. "I love Miami, the course, and was amazing running along with my friends and community while I was living there."

After that he refused to be hurt, fighting the pain, and limping around for almost a week. He realized he wasn't able to get through it alone and thought it might be something more than muscular. Kilgore began doing physical therapy treatments and took the rest of February and beginning of March off.


"It was a big bummer for me because I was really excited to nail some miles and trail runs in Miami for a month before moving up to NYC," he said. "It all turned out well though and I got to hang and cruise around a bunch on my mountain bike sometimes in the trails."

Next up, would be the NYC Half, where he'd have the opportunity to run through a shutdown Time Square and run through one of America's most popular cities. With only a running under his belt, he treated the race as a progressive long run.  A tune up for a west coast trek that would have him logging even more miles.

"I ran the Speed Project two weeks later," he told us. "This was something I wanted to focus on and do for a while. I got invited to join the TrackSmith team. The relay race runs 341 miles from Los Angeles to Las Vegas."


The team is comprised of six runners, 2 women and 4 men, which was the formula needed to go for the record. The group runs through crazy trails, dirt roads, barbed wire fences, Death Valley, major cities, and more.

"It was an epic and wild ride," Kilgore explained. "We were racing the French team for over 300 miles.  They ended up getting us in the end they ran 35 hours and 49 minutes and we ran 35 hours and 59 minutes. Both teams went under the old record by over 25 minutes."


With little rest, it was back to the east coast for the historic Boston Marathon. He credits running 80 plus miles in the desert within 36 hours got him going again pretty quick. It marked his third time in three years being in Beantown, however this was his first time running the event. Last year, he guided Mike Wardian as he ran blind folded in the BAA 5k to raise awareness for blind athletes.

"It's a big reunion of friends I have all over the place and the energy in the city during the weekend and on Monday is indescribable," he said. Race day was crazy. We had a head wind the whole way, pouring rain, random large gusts, 35-40 degrees F, and small freezing rain or hail from time to time."

Kilgore hopped on the bus at 6:30 a.m. from Boston Common. He arrived at the athlete village at 7:15 a.m. where he dawned his trash bag suit he made, before he walked to the line at 9:20 a.m. and the gun went off at 10 o'clock. 

"The race went off and it was a mad house," he said.  "I tried to go out conservative due to the past month, not totally knowing where I was at fitness wise, and also the weather conditions. I was moving my way up jumping from group to group trying to fight against the conditions with everyone."

Around miles 15-17 he felt cold and miserable, but as he began to hit the hills a jolt of energy hit and he felt recharged. The roar of the crowd all the way from the top of heart break hill served as motivation.

"I was slapping hands and rolling in and having a blast," he exclaimed. "I ended up in47th place. I didn't realize as I had a goal of coming in and maybe trying to crack the top 100. I was really excited about how it went and how crazy the event and weather was."


He went onto say that Boston is a very special place.

"It was the worst weather but the streets and the city did not rest," he added. "They were out cheering and pulling us all along. It was incredible and nothing like it. I can't wait to come back next year."

So what's next for Kilgore? He will compete in some trail races and then try his hand at the Chicago and NYC Marathons, and do a trail trip to Spain, Italy, and Ireland for a few weeks. Don't stop David!