Spotlight: Danny Kilrea, Pan American U-20 10K Gold Medalist by Night, Fleet Feet Elmhurst Employee by Day

Fleet Feet Elmhurst employee by day, Pan American U-20 10K gold medalist by night.

We caught up with Danny Kilrea to talk about his high school running career and how it turned into a commitment to Notre Dame, a gold medal at the Pan American Championships and how he uses his experiences to service customers as an employee at Fleet Feet Elmhurst.

I spotted Danny darting out of the trailhead opening at Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve at the tail-end of a workout with some of his collegiate runner friends on an idyllic suburban Tuesday morning.

I turned to my photographer. “I think that’s him.” I said.

He wasn’t hard to spot despite never meeting him before. He was wearing a racing singlet emblazoned with “LAGRANGE” in all capital letters, an homage to his high school alma mater of Lyons Township High School, where he found the sport of running.

Chapter 1: The introduction to running

After playing soccer as his primary sport before high school, Danny started running his freshman year. ”My siblings did cross country and track. My dad would take me to the meets and I enjoyed running around the course and seeing them at different spots.”

“I had always known about it so I was like, well I know I’m probably not great at any of these other things[soccer] , so I’ll just try running and I’m glad I pursued that route versus trying out for the soccer team.” said Danny.

Chapter 2: The stress fracture

During his freshman year, he learned the hard way that injuries are sometimes unavoidable and developed a stress fracture early into the season. “I didn’t really know anything about running when I started and I didn’t take care of my body.” said Danny.

From that point on Danny wisened up to nutrition and training.

“There was a slow development from that. I didn’t realize what that stress fracture meant. I was like “I don’t have to run, that’s kind of nice, but when I came back after missing 9 weeks, i really did miss it so I knew I wanted to take care of my body, so that involved stretching and dynamic work.” 

Chapter 3: The realization of his talent

During his sophomore year, Danny started showing next-level promise and started to realize he might have something on his hands in terms of competitive running where he placed 10th at the state cross country meet.

“From that moment on I started taking training more seriously and learned about the mechanics of the sport and got into core workouts.” said Danny.

From there, Danny was introduced to strength conditioning his junior year. “I got into the weight room and incorporated yoga with weights and swimming. I like to do a variety of things and not let my training get stale. Not only to improve myself cardio-wise but give me a strong body throughout the entire course.”

The training paid off as Danny won the Class 3A cross country title his senior year. His time of 14 minutes and 8 seconds was 14 seconds faster than anyone else.

Chapter 4: The Notre Dame commitment

With these accolades in his back pocket, Danny had the choice to commit to either Stanford or Notre Dame for his collegiate career. Ultimately deciding that Stanford was a bit too far from home, Notre Dame felt like the natural choice and he was absorbed by the community and experience he received from the team.

“It’s nice to have everyone going for big goals. In high school the team was good at setting team goals but other than that not everyone was dedicated, so to have everyone at a certain level of dedication to share a common goal is really nice.” Danny says of his Notre Dame team.

Now entering his sophomore year at Notre Dame, Danny is currently in the cross country off-season. He’s not allowed to be in contact with his coach at Notre Dame regarding cross country per USATF ruling but he runs with teammates and friends. The Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve is one of his go-to spots.

Danny is a mild celebrity here. He gives other runners and high school athletes words of encouragement as they pass while we record the interview. “It’s almost like I know everyone here.” Danny laughs.

Chapter 5: The road to the Pan American Championships

To get ready for the upcoming cross country season, Danny decided to compete in the 2019 Pan American U20 competition. This race combines the best runners from South and North America.  It started in June when he ran the 10K distance and placed first in Miami. With a win at the qualifier, he was then invited to the Pan America U20 Championships in Costa Rica in July. Danny swept the competition and won the gold medal.

I asked him about his strategy entering the race.

“I just went out there and tried to compete. I decided to take it from the gun and push. The field stayed with me for the first 5K then I put in the surge and dropped the field. Then after that, I wanted to drop it down a bit and make the last mile the fastest mile.”

Chapter 6: Working at Fleet Feet

Now back from Costa Rica, Danny is a part-time employee at Fleet Feet Elmhurst unbeknownst to the average customer that they are amongst the fastest running under the age of 20 in the 10K distance in North and South America.

Being a competitive runner it can sometimes be difficult to relate to the average runner but that’s what makes Danny a standout employee on the sales floor.

“While I may be performing at a higher level I think that everyone who is running is trying to do something better for themselves and I’m in the same boat so I think we all relate through that.”