7 Things to Know About 2018 Boston Marathon Winner Desiree Linden

Desiree Linden made history on Monday when she became the first elite American woman to win the Boston Marathon since 1985. Breaking the 33-year-long streak wasn’t an easy (or enjoyable) feat. The 34-year-old California native and current Michigander pushed through some of the worst weather in the race’s history—torrential rain, 30-plus mph winds, and temps in the mid-30s—to finish in 2:39:54 seconds, more than 4 minutes ahead of second place finisher and fellow American Sarah Sellers.

“It was brutal,” Linden said of the race in a press conference yesterday afternoon. “I don’t think I’ve ever raced that distance in those conditions. My hands were freezing. There were times you were just stood up by the wind. It was kind of comical how slow you were running and how much farther I had to go.”

In the end, though, the extreme conditions made the victory—which Linden described as “storybook stuff"—that much more special. “If it hadn’t been difficult,” she said, “it probably wouldn’t mean as much.”

Here, seven things you should know about this tremendously talented and gritty athlete.

1. This was Linden's first major marathon win—although she’s come extremely close before.

According to Runner’s World, Linden has started 15 marathons in the past 11 years, finished 14 of them, and nabbed second in three, including the 2011 Boston Marathon, where she came in second to Kenyan Caroline Kilel by just 2 seconds. Yesterday marked Linden’s sixth time racing the Boston Marathon—and first-ever time atop the podium of a major marathon race.

2. She’s the ultimate sportswoman.

Early in the race yesterday, Linden didn’t feel well—at all. Per The New York Times, she wasn’t hydrating enough, feared leg cramps, and considered dropping out of the race altogether. She mentioned her struggles to fellow American Shalane Flanagan and offered to help the reigning NYC Marathon champ however she could (by blocking the wind, for example) before calling it quits.

When Flanagan ducked into a portable restroom about 45 minutes into the race, Linden slowed down too, and then helped Flanagan rejoin the pack.

Then, according to Runner’s World, when Ethiopia’s Mamitu Daska surged ahead of the leading group a few miles later, Linden assisted Molly Huddle, another fellow American, in her attempt to catch Daska.

In the end, this selflessness distracted Linden from her own misery, and according to Runner’s World, she regained enough strength to break away from the others at mile 22 and maintain the lead through to the finish line. “Sometimes when you pick it up and forget how you’re feeling and engage for a bit, it can turn everything around,” Linden said at the press conference. “That’s what happened.”

3. She’s competed in two Olympic Games.

Linden ran the women’s marathon for Team USA in both the 2012 London Olympics and the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. Per Sports Illustrated, she suffered a stress fracture in 2012 that forced her to drop out of the race before the 5-kilometer mark. In Rio, Linden finished seventh with a time of 2:26:08.

4. She took a five-month break from running last year.

After a fourth place finish in last year’s Boston Marathon, Linden, who had publicly expressed her desire for a win, felt disappointed, deflated, and in need of a break.

“I hated everything about running,” she later told Runner’s World of the five month period following Boston where she traded her training runs for a summer of kayaking, fishing, and reading.

Ultimately, the hiatus was rejuvenating. By October, Linden began running again every day, logging about 90 to 95 miles a week, including “short, fast workouts, she hadn’t done in years,” according to Runner’s World.

5. She met her husband through running.

Linden and her husband, Ryan Linden, met in the Hanson-Brooks elite development running group that Desiree joined when she moved to Michigan as a recent college grad in 2005. According to a 2017 interview with running website Salty Running, the sparks didn’t fly at first sight. But in time, the pair began dating, and in 2010, they both ran the Chicago Marathon. Although they tackled the course with different strategies and didn’t see each other for the majority of the 26.2 miles, they reconvened shortly before the finish line. Both clocked personal records, and Desiree earned permanent bragging rights by besting Ryan by one mere second. His time was 2:26:21; hers was 2:26:20.

The dramatic edge-out was “a coincidence,” Ryan joked to Salty Running. The time remains Ryan’s personal record; Desiree since set a new personal record with her 2011 Boston Marathon finish time of 2:22:38.

6. She’s a whiskey connoisseur.

A self-described “bourbon geek,” Linden told Outside in 2015 that she and Ryan had amassed a collection of whiskey bottles from their travels around the globe.

“Nothing over the top, we have around 25 to 30 bottles,” she said of the stockpile that the couple started in 2010. “Or maybe that is over the top?”

As for imbibing said collection: “I try to be a normal human when it comes to having a drink every now and then,” said Linden. “Obviously, I'm not going to over-indulge the day before a big workout or long run, but if I feel like a drink after a long day I'll go for it.”

7. She has a Golden Retriever named Boston.

Linden got Boston as a puppy last summer, and introduced him via Instagram in July.

Precious? Yes. Prophetic? Perhaps.