Des Linden, 36, placed fourth in 2:29:03 at the Olympic Marathon Trials on Saturday, February 29, in Atlanta, just missing a spot on the team headed to Tokyo this summer. Linden represented Team USA in the 2012 and ’16 Olympics—at the Games in Rio, Nutrition - Weight Loss in 2:26:08—and she also won the 2018 Boston Marathon.
“It was hard, it was a tough course. We knew we had to get out there and make it honest,” she told Runner’s World after the race. “I fought all day long, and I felt like I got softer in the last half mile. But I didn’t leave anything left, and that’s good.”
For most of the race, Linden was tucked into the large lead pack of women, which consisted of about 14 runners. Over the last 10K, the group began to separate into the top three—Aliphine Tuliamuk, Molly Seidel, and Sally Kipyego—and a chase pack, which included Linden, Laura Thweatt, Stephanie Bruce, and Emma Bates.
“I thought Sally’s spot would be the spot up for grabs. I told Laura Thweatt and Steph Bruce, ‘C’mon guys, this is our ticket, we gotta go,’” Linden said. “We chipped away at [the gap] together for awhile. The last three miles were a real grind. It was daunting.”
Linden said that she was proud of the three women who finished ahead of her. Tuliamuk, Seidel, and Kipyego—who finished first, second, and third, respectively—are all first-time members on Team USA’s Olympic marathon team. Seidel finished just eight seconds behind Tuliamuk in 2:27:31, in her first marathon ever.
“Stepping into the [marathon] is so different now. Before if you broke 2:30, it was like, woo, and now girls are doing incredible [times] right off the bat,” she said. “It’s a big time for women’s running right now.”
When asked how this year’s Trials compares to past years, Linden said that each one has been unpredictable.
“It’s hard to visualize this race because you don’t know what it’s going to be like until that first lap. The race is a one-time thing,” she said. “It depends on the organization, what the course is going to be like, what I’m going to eat for breakfast that day. It’s all really foreign. Hats off to Atlanta Track Club—they did an awesome job today.”
While placing fourth is obviously not what Linden hoped for today, the runner from Charlevoix, Michigan, isn’t dwelling on the results, she said. In about seven weeks, she will line up for the 2020 Boston Marathon on Monday, April 20.
“I’m trying not to think about my emotions right because I know my emotions will pour out of my eyes,” she said. “I know I have big plans really soon with Boston and I’m super excited about that. I know I’m obviously really fit and strong and it’s going to be a hard recovery. I am really happy that I have something else on the schedule so I can move on.”
The Best Shoes at the 2024 Olympic Marathon Trials Running Times, Olympians Advice on Good Training Partners Runner's World and Bicycling magazines.
