When the skies opened up over Boston early on April 16, 2018, it was almost too perfect.
A nation of running fans was pulling for a 33-year drought to end—for an American woman to win the Boston Marathon for the first time since 1985. On the starting line in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, at least three U.S. athletes had the credentials to contend, creating a powerful wave of hope not seen in decades, if ever.
A deluge of icy rain drenching the 26.2-mile route to Copley Square, the relentless 25-mph headwinds, and the temperatures hovering in the high 30s had already made the 122nd running of the prestigious road race historic. It was clear that 2018’s Boston had a late entrant to field: Mother Nature.
Desiree Linden was not intimidated by this vicious opponent. The two-time Olympian, a Southern California transplant to the suburbs of Detroit, had spent her entire career preparing for a day like this, training for 12 years in the often challenging conditions of the Midwest with the Hansons-Brooks Distance Project.
What unfolded during the next two hours, 39 minutes, and 54 seconds wasn’t what Linden—or anyone else—expected. On her sixth try, haunted by the memory of losing this race by two seconds in 2011, the 34-year-old woman ran with doubt, in fear, and ultimately with unbreakable resolve down Boylston Street to become the 2018 Boston Marathon champion.
This is an account of exactly how it happened, through the observations and experiences of Linden’s competitors, coach, family, race volunteers and officials, and Linden herself.
BEFORE THE RACE
Mary Kate Shea senior director of sponsorships and elite athletes for John Hancock Financial Services:
After the NYC Half in mid-March, she came up to train on the course. I was out with her. She ran from Framingham to the finish. I was taking a quick video of her, and she looked so smooth. It was a different Des. She wasn’t putting it out to the world; she was holding [her goal] close to her chest.
Josh Cox Linden’s agent:
[Her buildup] hadn’t been perfect, but she was there and she was ready to compete. Des is a gamer. That’s the thing. She loves to compete. That’s why she goes to Boston—it’s a championship-style race. It’s not pacemakers and times; it’s the gun goes off, we’re going to see who’s the best racer.
Desiree Linden 2018 Boston Marathon Champion:
It seemed so not my year. I just expected it was a thing where it was going to be a rebuilding [race]. I know I have a lifetime of mileage. When you’re not consistent, that’s the thing that kind of sits on your mind. You didn’t do the work. Even though I’ve been doing it forever, it just felt like in the present, you didn’t do the work. You’re not going to win, you don’t deserve to win, you didn’t show up every day.
Natalie Davila Linden’s sister:
The curveball is always the weather. Every Boston is different. As I saw the forecast, it actually got me excited, because her strength is being tough and being smart. It gives her a huge advantage.
Mary White coordinator for the John Hancock Boston Marathon Elite Athletes’ Sports Massage Team:
Friday, I was like, “Team, this is going to be bad.” We needed to think differently. We talked through hypothermia, and we started to get the extra tables. A colleague’s husband drove down from New Hampshire with an extra towel warmer. In the ballroom, we need to double up on towels and blankets. So we wouldn’t have to think too hard on Monday.
Desiree Linden:
There is a point where you’re like, yeah, it’s going to suck. To what degree doesn’t really matter. It’s just going to be hard weather. You just wrap your mind around that. It’s going to be difficult.
Lisa Rainsberger last American woman to win the Boston Marathon, in 1985:
I started getting really excited the night before. I live in Colorado, so two hours behind—I knew it was going to be an early start for me. I got my son’s lunch made, I got everybody prepared and out the door so I could sit down and watch the race on television.
FIRST THING MONDAY MORNING
Desiree Linden:
I slept well enough. I wasn’t waking up every couple of hours. You always wake up a little bit before the alarm. Like, “Okay, it’s going to be soon.” Breakfast was at 5:15, I think, so the alarm was for 4:45. Ryan is super nice. He got up and made me coffee and went and got my breakfast. I just kind of went through the bag to make sure I had everything in there, all the options. And then just had some headphones on and sat around until it was time to walk down.
Ryan Linden Desiree Linden’s husband:
It’s the same food—maybe some rice, bagel with peanut butter. As she always says, food for function, not for fun.
Kevin Hanson Linden’s former coach:
They had them all together to take pictures beforehand. Everyone gives them an ovation as they go onto the bus. I was observing her to see if there was any difference. There really wasn’t. Honestly, she looked like, "Here we go, let’s go to battle."
Hanson, his wife, and his brother, Keith, who also coaches Linden and the other Hansons-Brooks athletes, rent a car every year and drive to a restaurant at the 10K point in Framingham to watch the start on TV, then go outside as the runners pass by. From there, they make two other stops along the course to see their athletes.
Kevin Hanson:
The only thing we said about the weather is, “It’s going to be everything they said.” We kind of laughed at it more than anything. You go through pockets of rain, with the windshield wipers at full speed. Then a little less. The hourly forecast said it was going to get worse as the day progressed.
Desiree Linden:
The first time I even considered the weather was walking out the door of the Fairmont. It just blasted us. Josh and I kind of joked about it. I was like, “Man, who predicted this? I did not see this coming!”
Dot McMahan Linden’s Hansons-Brooks teammate and 2018 Boston competitor:
We were hanging out in the church that they put the elites in [at the starting line in Hopkinton]. We were chatting about team stuff and excitement we have for some of the new women on the team. She seemed like she was okay about dropping out, which was totally unlike Des. She’s a person that, you finish if your leg falls out. We were talking about it, and she was like, “If we feel like we have hypothermia, we’re going to be forced to stop. It’s a medical reason to stop.” I think most people were thinking the same thing—“I’ll stop if I have to; I don’t want to.”
THE STARTING LINE
Desiree Linden:
I didn’t warm up. It’s just too crappy to warm up. The best thing you can do is stay dry, and the first miles are going to be super slow. Why do extra mileage or extra work? When we got on the start, I probably did a two-minute jog or something. I had a towel over me. Right before we started, I pitched that. I put on a fresh, dry headband. And that was it.
Dot McMahan:
Outside on the line, it was just, “Good luck, go get it.”
Josh Cox:
I prefer to watch in my hotel room, because I can pace and walk and scream at the TV. In the family viewing area, it’s all the competitors’ coaches and families. It gets kind of loud, you can’t hear the announcers. In the room, we had the WBZ broadcast on the TV and the NBC Sports Gold on my laptop. Watching both feeds.
Ryan Linden:
I worked out in the gym to take my mind off things. I was going to go out, but then I thought, “Eh, I’m not going out in this weather if I don’t have to.”
Mary Kate Shea recruits the elite athlete field for race sponsor John Hancock, and then runs the race every year. This was her 22nd consecutive race.
Mary Kate Shea:
Part of my job is to take the elites out to the starting line. We come out of the church holding area and down the chute to the line. At the start, within seconds, everyone is drenched—unrelenting headwinds, horizontal deluge, near freezing temperatures. It was a perfect trifecta.
Then I do the same thing for the men. After the men leave, I make sure Meb [Keflezighi] got out to the beginning of Wave 2. I jump into the race in the second wave.
THE OPENING MILES
Paul Joyce women’s elite bike spotter:
They were all in survival mode. Like, “How am I going to do this?” As we rolled out, I had ice crystals hitting my forehead. It was a unique year because they all had jackets and hats on. The camera guy came up to me in the first couple of miles and said, “Which one is Shalane Flanagan?” He didn’t even know.
Lisa Rainsberger:
It was kind of crazy when they started reading off splits. I couldn’t understand why they were so slow. Were they just being tactical? I don’t think the TV coverage gave full indication of how bad the weather really was. But then I started looking and thought they had a lot of clothes on. Shalane had her number on the outside of her jacket. She’s not taking that baby off. It became evident that it was epic.
Desiree Linden:
My body felt flat. And in hindsight, well, yeah. I didn’t warm up. So that makes a lot of sense. My feet feel really tight. My shoes felt like they are getting loose on my feet, they’re for sure going to fall off.
Dot McMahan:
We were already separated by mile three. I was constantly looking down to make sure my feet were hitting the ground. I didn’t feel like my feet were moving. Looking back at pictures and videos and seeing what the weather really was…anytime I feel bad about my race, I go back and look and I’m like, man, those were some brutal conditions. I do not think I could have given another ounce of energy.
Kevin Hanson:
From TV, I knew exactly where Des was. She’s staying well hid. I was trying to see how much she was wearing. She doesn’t usually need that much [clothing], so I was really happy to see that she had the jacket still on. I knew the day was going to get harder. I worried about people who were shedding stuff early. I thought, you’re going to get colder as you progress, not warmer.
We go outside when they run by. We’re out there for like two minutes and come in and go, “Oh my gosh. That was cold.” The crowds were thinner, but there were still people sitting out there in lawn chairs. We waited until the men went by, then got in the car and drove to Wellesley, about the 14.5-mile mark.
Shalane Flanagan 2017 New York City Marathon champion and 2018 Boston competitor:
Des said around mile six, “Hey, it’s not going to be my day, let me know if you need anything.” I grabbed her shoulder and said, “What’s wrong? Are you okay?” She said she was fine, it just wasn’t her day. So I stored that away...I thought she was going to drop out any second.
Desiree Linden:
There was a lot more racing than I was expecting at that point. I expected it to be really slow. People were running quicker than I thought was necessary or I expected in those first couple of miles. Even though it was really slow still, I was like, “I don’t think that’s the right call.” So it felt kind of hard and tougher than I wanted at that point.
MILES 12 to 15
Kevin Lynch women’s elite bike spotter:
We see the same runners year after year, so we kind of know their style, how they run. I’ve never seen an elite runner go off course and use a porta-potty, and we saw three of them do it this year. Aselefech Mergia was the first one. Shalane was after her.
Shalane Flanagan:
I thought, “I gotta pee. I can either pee myself or just make a pit stop.” So I said, “Hey, Des, I think I’m going to make a stop over there—do you think that’s a good idea?” She’s like, “It’s slow enough.”
Desiree Linden:
[The other competitors] definitely saw her go to the bathroom and made a pretty big move. So I held up, I turned back a couple of times. They gapped us.
Natalie Davila:
The first tip to me that maybe Des wasn’t feeling well was when she stopped for Shalane. That caught my attention. It was the only little clue that something might be off and she might stop. She’s not really somebody who chats with anybody in races and there was a tiny bit before that stop where I saw they had an earlier conversation. I was thinking maybe it was just the camaraderie, that it was a crappy day, and “we need to work together.”
Paul Joyce:
Every year I say, “Des is off the pack.” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve said, “Well, say goodbye to Des,” and then I always end up saying, “Oh my God, she’s back.” She can deal with separation. She runs her own race. I saw her look over her shoulder at Shalane and say, “Let’s get back.” In 13 years of doing this, that was one of the most amazing moments I’ve seen.
Kevin Lynch:
It was probably the fastest transaction I’ve ever seen. It was 13 seconds from leaving the pack to coming back.
Josh Cox:
I don’t question anything Des does in races. To see her make this decision to hang back? I was surprised.
Shalane Flanagan:
I ran in and ran out and she hung back and waited for me. We made our way back up to the pack. Then she made a move to try to help Molly [Huddle] bridge the gap to [Mamitu] Daska [from Ethiopia]. I thought Des was just going to be a sacrificial lamb. I thought, “She just doesn’t care.”
Desiree Linden:
I honestly just saw Molly at the front. I was like, That’s not the right spot to be. She’s going to try to bridge this gap and waste everything. I’ll go up in front and block the wind until she gets up there.
Kevin Hanson:
At 14.5, Daska was out in front by about 14 seconds. I didn’t think she looked that great, considering we haven’t hit the difficult parts of the course yet. It looked like Daska was running by herself up there, and this group was back running together. I don’t think there was any pursuit yet. I kind of thought there was a huge advantage to be in the chase group because you could lead if you wanted to, but you didn’t have to. Daska had no choice.
Desiree Linden:
I looked back, and I was like, I dropped Molly. That wasn’t the point. I kind of did that with Shalane, too, I looked back, and I was like, I totally gapped her. This isn’t helping her at all. I thought, “I’m probably the strongest person here right now...and feeling maybe less crappy than everyone else.” It wasn’t like I turned it around and was like, “I feel amazing, I’m going to crush.” It was, “Wow, I’m dropping people, this is super weird.”
Molly Huddle American record holder and 2018 Boston competitor:
When Des made her move around mile 15, I wanted to go with her to bridge the gap, and it felt hard. My legs just got heavier and heavier from there. It’s not normal. It was weird. Just knowing who was ahead of her, I thought, “That’s the winner’s trail right there.”
Paul Joyce:
I was told to stay with the lead woman, so I stayed with Daska. I’m not convinced at all that she’s the winner, though. Some years we can look at each other at mile 18 and say, “Here’s your winner.” I wasn’t convinced by her body language or facial expressions. Des went off to get some water off the regular aid station table around mile 15, and you know there are always fans who want to get a high-five? She actually gave some kid a high-five. I thought that was really cool. It speaks to how she was relaxed.
Kevin Hanson:
When we get back in the car, we have the radio station on, listening to their coverage. We have NBC Sports Gold on my wife’s phone. We have another phone that has splits. Whichever one is talking about what we’re interested in right then, rather than idle marathon things, it would be, “Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, listen to the radio.” Or, “Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, listen to the TV.” We head to Cleveland Circle, about mile 22.
THE NEWTON HILLS
Desiree Linden:
I was like, I’m going to blow up at any second, for sure. I’m just getting slower and slower. I always feel like I crawl over the hills. It was also the conditions were so brutal that I didn’t keep an eye on which hill I was on. It was just, look forward and run.
Natalie Davila:
I was getting really excited. It wasn’t a sprint to get the leader, she was methodical and measured. I honestly was thinking of our trip to Africa together. You see the wild animals—the hunters, hunting their prey. I was thinking of her as this lion watching the innocent gazelles up there running and she sees them and she smells them and she knows they’re going to be her victims. She’s taking her time and being smart. She was assessing to see where their energy and strength was, and as she saw weakness, she went for it.
I looked and I said, Those two are done. Right then is when I said, Des won.
Kevin Lynch:
Your heart starts racing, because this might be the year. She actually picked up the pace on the hills. It was amazing to watch her pull away—she had the perfect cadence, her arms were still up high, and her strides were just as long as they had ever been. I thought, "Wow. She’s running away." We don’t interrupt. We stay way out of her eyesight and just watch.
Josh Cox:
I was yelling at the TV, you want to believe it’s finally going to happen, you know? For someone who is so deserving. I’m hoping and I’m praying: Let this be her time, today. When they had the cameras on Daska, I told my wife, Carrie, "She’s not going to make it." She started to break down so quickly. [Gladys] Chesir [from Kenya] looked good. Behind Des, I couldn’t see anyone.
Mary White:
For 21 years I’ve been a part of this. I’ve known Des since 2011. She is so full of heart and she’s encouraging to me. I’m like a nine-minute-mile runner but I’ll do half marathons. That last four miles, when she was running alone, I was saying out loud, “You’ve got this, Des,” and my colleagues were like, “Shhh, Mary.”
Ryan Linden:
Mile 22 or so, I got the text from the John Hancock PR people that they need me to come down. “We need to take you to the finish.” I was kind of like, holy shit, this is real, this is close.
Lisa Rainsberger:
When Daska had gapped the field, I texted my daughter [Katie Rainsberger, All-American track athlete at the University of Oregon] and said, “Oh my gosh, I don’t think the Americans are going to do it.” We went to commercial break and came back and all of a sudden, there was Desi within striking distance. And I said, “Holy cow! Wait! Hold the presses! She’s coming!” My daughter and I were back and forth and back and forth sharing our excitement and fascination with what was happening. When Des went by, that was it. Race over. You could tell nobody responded.
Natalie Davila:
I watched most of the race inside because I’m a California girl and I was intimidated by the weather, even as a spectator. I was with my boyfriend in our hotel room. We ran out when Des was one of the three leading women. For me that was the point where I said, “Oh my gosh, I think this is going to happen.” It triggered that memory of 2011 [when she placed second, two seconds behind the champion], and I was like, “There’s no way she’s not having flashbacks of that. And there’s no way she’s going to lose this time around.” I was trying to contain myself.
Desiree Linden:
When I got to the front, I was like, I don’t even know if I should lead, because I’m just going to hit the wall, and it’s going to be embarrassing. I should just tuck in and run with these guys for a while. But I was obviously pulling away from them. And then when I did go to the front, I was like, "well, if you’re going to race, race." This is kind of the pivotal point from the 2011 race. Use those downhills and you can power home from there, so give it a go.
The crowds were cheering with a lot of “U.S.A., U.S.A.” I was also trying to gauge, okay, they’re cheering for me, is there a pause behind me—was it like, “You’ve got this, you can beat her?” But none of it really made sense. It was like the Peanuts teacher. They knew I was American, for sure. They could have been saying my name, I have no idea. I heard “U.S.A.” Everything else was like, “wah wah wamp wamp.”
Kevin Hanson:
We parked near Cleveland Circle. By the time she got to us, she was five seconds in front. Right at Cleveland Circle, there was a big puddle in the middle of the road. The lead vehicles come through the puddle. Des hugs the rail on the inside. She saw the puddle, she was conscious of the puddle. She knew her surroundings.
The next two that came by were looking down [Daska and Chesir]. Completely out of it. They didn’t care that someone was five seconds in front. Both ran right through the middle of the puddle.
I looked and I said, “Those two are done.” Right then is when I said, “Des won.”
The chase group was a minute and a half behind. I don’t need to see splits, I can look at her face. She’s fine, she’s good. It would be different if she were in trouble and trying to hang on.
I got emotional when I was walking back to the car, and then I was like, “Don’t say anything, don’t get too excited. It’s not done-done. Anything could happen.”
THE FINAL THREE MILES
Shalane Flanagan:
I know this sounds silly, but because the conditions were so bad I thought maybe people misjudged their moves and they’d come back. And a lot of people did drop out. But the one person I didn’t see was Des. I was alone and people were cheering for me so loud I actually thought I might be winning. That’s how delirious I was. But then two women passed me—I was walking. And I wondered if I was in the right race because I didn’t know them, but they had the yellow bib. Then I thought, "This is a weird experience right now. I don’t know what’s going on." I realized I was not winning. That was two miles to go.
Desiree Linden:
When we went under the overpass [at about 25.5 miles], I started fumbling with my zipper. I’m going to take the jacket off. I know I’m crossing the line soon. I think I am leading. And then I was like, “I’m going to lose energy doing this and then if I get passed trying to take off my jacket, that’s going to be so stupid.” So I stopped messing with it.
When you make the right on Hereford, the lead vehicle stops there and they point you to the right. I was like, “This is the end. I can’t hear anything behind me.” I don’t feel like I’m in a race. No one has come up to challenge me, there’s no one immediately behind me. But I still wasn’t sure. But I knew, I can finish. I’m not going to cramp at this point. I think I can close this section hard enough to win, even if someone is chasing me right now.
As soon as I got on Boylston, the skies opened up a little bit more. I enjoyed it after I got past the point where I lost in 2011, about 300 meters out.
When I saw the finish line tape, I definitely did the fist pump. The people are going nuts. This has to be for me. Don’t do something stupid. Don’t slip on the ground. This was going to be a picture that is going to be a lot of places. Don’t f--- it up.
Paul Joyce:
Des took that right on Hereford and we stopped—if you ever see us on Boylston we’ll be fired.
Kevin Lynch:
Right. We don’t usually get to enjoy something like that. We never say anything to the runners, but in the tunnel we just yelled at her, “Congratulations! Go, Desi!” because it was just her and her moment.
Paul Joyce:
Our job then turns to reporting who’s coming next down Boylston. We’re waiting and waiting and they keep asking us what’s going on. And I keep saying that nobody’s coming. It was surreal. And then I said, “Bib 42.” They say, “That’s not right.” And I said, “Yes it is.” And they said, “It can’t be 42.” Nobody could believe it. Then I reported seven American bibs. It was weird. And cool.
Runner-up Sarah Sellers finished more than four minutes after Linden.
Sarah Sellers second-place finisher of the 2018 Boston Marathon (Bib 42):
When I finished, I had thought maybe I was top 10. When I got to the finish line, I asked the official what place I was. When they told me I was second, I was in disbelief. I asked them to repeat it multiple times. The official told me that Des had won, and I was super excited about that. I always secretly wanted her to win.
Lisa Rainsberger:
My phone just started ringing off the hook. I was—and still am—so emotional about it. The race wasn’t over yet but my hometown Detroit newspaper, the one that covered me when I was in school, called and said, “Stay on the line with us until she crosses the finish!” It was raw emotion. Then all the newspapers started calling. I said to my husband that I got more press 33 years later than I did when I won the darn thing.
Natalie Davila:
I had a pass for the finish-line stands, but I just went right to the gate where all the spectators are without special access. It was cool to be among the community out there. I mentioned that my sister is winning and then everybody around me just got so excited. They started chanting her name and chanting “U.S.A!” I realized I was in the same spot near the finish line that I was in 2011 on the opposite side of the street. That was a weird thing. When it was finally her coming down Boylston, you knew because it got really, really, really loud. The woman next to me had a bullhorn and she was going crazy. I was spilling coffee everywhere, jumping, screaming. It was my boyfriend’s first time at one of her races and he was just blown away by the whole experience. I kept telling him, “I know this is a lot, but this is really special.”
Ryan Linden:
We were watching on the large screen at the finish and then just a nervous wreck until you heard she had a 90-second lead and I saw her underneath the overpass. She was pretty close to crossing the finish line before I could see her with my own eyes. We were going crazy.
THE FINISH LINE
Lindens former coach deputy chief security officer for John Hancock, who draped Linden with the American flag at the finish line:
We knew she had the lead, but down comes the deluge and you can barely make out Des coming down Boylston Street. We were fighting to see through the absolute monsoon of rain. I have the flag, I’m ready to go, I’m off to the side because I don’t want to be on camera. The crowd is roaring, the bells are ringing from the church. You’re caught up in this moment—it was like being on home plate during the World Series. This culmination of the weather, the victory, and everything she put into it. To be able to present her the nation’s colors was an honor—I’m a military veteran, so it was an awesome experience in my life. She went on to embrace her husband, Ryan, and I just kind of sat back and watched. It was an unbelievable front-row seat of such a joyous moment for them.
TV cameras catch Desiree, Ryan, and Josh Cox in a group hug.
Desiree Linden:
I had every emotion. It didn’t come out in tears. It was just disbelief. We were hugging. “I can’t believe that just happened!” I screamed.
Josh Cox:
Everything I did was out of pure joy and elation. I told Ryan and Des, “I’m sorry for not giving you your moment.” I wish I would have had my wits about me to just let Ryan get in. That would have been nice to have that shot of just them, without stupid me in the photo. I told Des and she’s like, “You don’t need to apologize.”
Lisa Rainsberger:
Frankly I was bawling. It was for joy.
Dot McMahan:
I didn’t hear anything until I was 30 feet from the finish line. I hear them announcing, “And our champion of the 122nd Boston Marathon is…Des Linden.” “Holy crap!” I say out loud, ”Des won! Des won!” I was super pumped. I totally forgot about how awful I was feeling. When I crossed the finish line, I had to double check: Are you sure it was her?
THE POSTRACE CELEBRATION
Lindens former coach:
As Des was receiving her wreath, trophy, and medal, I handed the flag to Ryan. I said, “Hold on to this, treasure it, you’re not allowed to wash it. Make sure it’s framed.” It was hard not to get caught up in the infectious excitement he had at that moment.
Kevin Lynch:
After the elite race is over we usually go back out and work the back of the pack, but not this year. We were shaking. I couldn’t even eat a sandwich because I was shaking so much.
Mary White:
We knew the only way to warm the body up was to get the wet clothes off. Two of us worked together on each athlete to get them into dry clothes. From there we were able to start warming them up. It really was so hard getting the gloves off, the socks off their feet, trying not to have their hamstrings go into spasm.
The first athlete in was the Canadian, Krista DuChene, who came in third. She was so emotional, she could not believe she came in third. She kept saying, “It’s not true, it’s not true.”
Krista DuChene Des took that right on Hereford and we stoppedif you ever see us on Boylston well be fired:
I think I asked at some point, "Who won?" When someone said, “Des,” I believed it, of course. Not like my own situation where I didn’t believe it.
Mary White:
Des came in and one of my colleagues helped me get all her wet clothing off. We got her dry stuff on her. She had her medal on and her laurel wreath crown on. We had to take that off to get her on the table. We got her warm with towels. And then, it was so neat, to put her medal back on, her crown back on. She looked every bit the champion she was.
Desiree Linden:
They’re the best. They throw you on the table, they’re throwing hot towels on me, and sort of massaging me and taking off wet clothes. They’re like, “Don’t worry, don’t do anything, don’t move.”
Natalie Davila:
I saw her first in the family reception area at the Fairmont Copley. I just gave her a huge hug. Just a nice, big, warm hug. I said, “Congratulations, you’re awesome, you deserve this, and I am super proud of you.” And shortly after that I, of course, asked if I could try on the crown to see what it feels like. It’s actually really big—she can’t just lay it on her head. It’s also very delicate. It’s flown from Greece. She is very careful with it, which she warned me before she let me grab it.
Molly Huddle:
If you run enough marathons, you’re going to have one that’s awful. I’m just glad it wasn’t a DNF, which for me would have been the worst. When I finished, I asked my husband who won and when he said, “Des,” I was like, “Yes! At least that panned out—an American got it!”
Shalane Flanagan:
I think there must’ve been a positive mind-shift for Des, just trying to invest herself in other people, and it took the weight off. I think she was reinvigorated. Those conditions on the course were great for Des.
Lisa Rainsberger:
Later in the afternoon, I just started to think about Des. I started to think about her and the excitement of what comes after—the drug testing, talking to all the reporters, walking around as an amazing celebrity. I started remembering what I experienced 33 years ago and thinking how she was going through the same experience. I was hoping she held on to every single moment so she could recall it 33 years from now. I was thinking, “Has she showered yet? Has she warmed up yet? Has she had a beer yet?”
Mary Kate Shea:
I’m running along. I had tried for over 20 years to find out who has won the men’s race, who has won the women’s race. I’ll be like, “Who’s winning?” to a crowd who looks really into it. And they’ll be like, “The Sox are up by two!” They’re always talking about the baseball game and never talking about the race.
I was at the beginning of Heartbreak Hill. There was a guy with a bullhorn, yelling, “You guys look great out there!”
I heard, “You can do this, the last hill. You’ve got this. And Des Linden is the winner of the Boston Marathon. Des Linden.” I’m like, "What?" I’ve never heard who is winning on any sideline. And on the most challenging Boston ever, hearing that Des had won, was a true gift. It was a gift I held in my heart, and I just smiled to the finish line.
Desiree Linden:
My parents were so happy. I don’t see them that often. And in Boston, I’m so busy, I rarely get to spend time with them on race weekend. We got to sit down and have lunch together, and that was probably the only free time I had that day. They were thrilled. It’s so funny, Meb walked over and they were like [lowers voice to a whisper], “Ohmigod, it’s Meb. Can we get a picture?” Nerding out about the people in the room. I was like, “C’mon, guys!”
Natalie Davila:
Every year we do a late, late party—after the elite athlete party. We’ve always gone back to the Fairmont and do a nightcap with just the family. It’s quiet, intimate, and small. Up until now the conversation has always been, "What could I do better?" and talking through the experience and wanting to learn from it. This year there were a few more people there. But it was still small. We had really nice champagne and everybody who wanted to could give a personal toast. Finally, after all those times we talked about what could go better, we were toasting Des because she was the Boston Marathon champion. It was a long time coming. You never know if you’re going to have that moment, so it was really special.
FIVE DAYS LATER
Desiree Linden:
There was totally a moment this morning. Ryan’s writing the email out to the coffee [customers]. In the days before Boston, the Lindens and elite athletes Sarah and Ben True had launched Linden & True coffee, a specialty coffee company. He’s explaining the weekend. I looked over, and he’s started crying.
I’m like, “What’s up, what’s wrong?”
He said, “I’m trying to write this. I’m trying to type out what happened. And it’s crazy. It really just hit me.”
That was the first time we paused and were like, holy shit, that just happened. We paused and had the hug and the dogs were there and it was just us.
