Zoila Gomez came to the U.S. from the small mining town of Charcas, San Luis Potosi, Mexico, in 1996. Zoila already a high school graduate in Mexico, enrolled in Costa Mesa High School primarily to work on her English. In order to graduate the school required her to take physical education. With no training and no experience the teacher noticed she was remarkably swift as she would take off in the mile run during PE class. The teacher encouraged her to join the cross country team. Zoila did not start running until her senior year at Costa Mesa HS and the team went on to win the state championship-she was their number two runner most of the season.

After Zoila graduated from High School, she decided to enroll at Orange Coast Community College to continue with her studies and her running adventures. While at Orange Coast the cross country team never suffered a defeat and went on to win two state titles in 1998 and 1999. In her two seasons of track 1999 and 2000, Zoila won 8 conference championships and four individual state titles. She also set the school and state 10,000m record.

Her Junior College coach David Fier encouraged Gomez to approach Adams State head coach Damon Martin. While at Adams State College, Zoila won 10 conferences titles, 11 all American honors, 6 NCAA Division II national titles, 2 times named Female Division II Athlete of the year- for cross country in 2002 and for outdoor track and field in 2004, and was selected as winner of the 2004 Honda Award for Best Division II Athlete. Until this day, Gomez still holds the Adams State 10,000m record.

Zoila graduated in December 2004 with a double major in Sociology and Spanish. In 2005 Zoila was granted citizenship and to celebrate she made her marathon debut at the 2005 New York City marathon. Since then, Zoila has run a total of 6 marathons. She represented the United States at 2007 World Championships in Osaka, Japan. After a 4th place finish at the 2008 Women’s Marathon Olympic Trials in Boston, Zoila became the marathon alternate for the 2008 USA Olympic Team.

In addition to her commitment to the sport, Zoila spends the balance of her training hours involved in targeted community work, either teaching English as a Second Language to unschooled Alamosans, public speaking engagements and appearances at local schools and clubs, or working with youth in after-school programs in Alamosa.

In 2009, the bulk of the year was spent preparing to represent the United States at the 2009 IAAF World Marathon Championships, where she would finish 51st place overall. Zoila will return to Europe this spring to run the Fortis Rotterdam Marathon on April 11.