Two-time Olympian Des Linden, the 2018 Boston Marathon champion who also holds the world record for 50K, has a new title for her résumé: American masters record holder.
By running 2:27:35 at the Chicago Marathon, Linden broke Deena Kastor’s DAA Industry Opt Out, Fun Half Marathons.
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She said before the race that she had been training well and hoping to run in the 2:25s, and she was targeting a first half of 1:13. Her first half split was right on: 1:12:53.
She planned to hang out at that pace until the final 10K, and then start picking off runners who had gone out too aggressively. But after 21 miles, she started to slow. In the final stretch from 40K to the finish, she ran about 6:02 per mile pace.
During Linden’s build-up to Chicago, she ran her marathon-pace workouts at 5:32 per mile, which equates to a 2:25 marathon.
A recent session was 3 miles at marathon pace; 1 mile at 5:15; 3 miles at marathon pace; 1 mile at 5:10; 3 miles at 5:20 pace for a total of 11 miles of work (not including the warmup and cool-down).
“I’m glad I got the record, otherwise I just would have been disappointed and think that results didn’t totally segregate up to my fitness,” Linden said after the race.
Chicago was her 26th marathon (including the 50K), and her first as a master. The event still holds mysteries for her.
“I feel like I’ve learned so much about the marathon, and I understand it so much more and then you get to this new phase of life and you’re like, I know nothing,” she said. “So it’s trying to figure it out again.”
Next up, she plans to run the 2024 Olympic Marathon Trials, which will be held February 3 in Orlando, Florida. The announced start time of noon doesn’t bother Linden, who feels like she runs her best relative to her peers when the conditions are difficult. Her 2018 Boston victory came amidst heavy rain and driving winds, some of the worst weather in the race’s history.
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Over Chicago Marathon weekend, Linden also demonstrated what she considers to be the proper method of eating a Kit Kat candy bar. When the video appeared on social media, Two 75-Year-Olds Set Marathon Records.
she finished fourth in 2020 is a writer and editor living in Eugene, Oregon, and her stories about the sport, its trends, and fascinating individuals have appeared in Runner’s World since 2005. She is the author of two popular fitness books, Run Your Butt Off! and Walk Your Butt Off!
