Damon Willens has been a Reserve Police Officer for the Los Angeles Police Department since 1996. A serious runner in high school and college, he took a lengthy break from the sport after the birth of his daughter in 2006. He began running again in 2012, and has since become competitive in his age group. After being insufficiently trained for the 2013 Los Angeles Marathon, Damon implemented a Five Year Plan and has since become extraordinarily conditioned for long distance running. He has since set his sights on the New York City Marathon, which he believes is one race he absolutely must participate in during his lifetime.
After his years of training, Damon is most looking forward to standing shoulder to shoulder with the other 50,000 runners, as well as experiencing the support and well wishes of the spectators. The training cycle has been difficult, but the experience has been less of a challenge and more of a joy for Damon because he is running for Team Answer the Call.
Damon is also running to honor the bravery of the first responders who made the ultimate sacrifice during 9/11, as well as anyone else who had the same courage under any circumstances. On the day of 9/11 Damon vowed to one day honor the character of these men and women, and is further honored to have the opportunity to do this by running for Answer the Call.
We are so excited to have Damon as part of our team, and wish him the greatest of luck!
This interview was conducted by Ryan Yi, Fall 2017 Development Intern, and has been edited for readability.
Yeah and Cheers for Damon. A long time friend and fellow Reserve. We have been virtual running partners for many years. While not in his category of running he always encourages me to keep it going.
Wishing Damon & Sandy the best of luck.
I am so very proud to have you as my brotherD damon. Good job and good luck. Dad would be proud as well.
Thank you for sharing Damon’s story, I have known him over 15 years and he is the real deal: he lives life with a purpose and spends his life doing the right thing. His compassion and honor for those who serve is displayed in his actions–not a lot of us can say the same thing. What he is doing in the marathon is hard, really hard! But he knows, and reminds each of us with his dedication, that it is little in comparison to those who died or suffered while responding to others in need. Thanks to all of you.