Desiree "Des" Nicole Linden (née Davila; born July 26, 1983) is an American long-distance runner. She represented the United States in the 2012 London Olympics and the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics women's marathon. In 2018, she won the Boston Marathon, becoming the first American in 33 years to win the woman's category in the event. She holds the women's 50K world record of 2:59:54.
In high school Davila ran track and cross country, and played soccer.[1] She ran a sub-5 minute mile as a high school freshman and graduated from Hilltop High School in 2001.[1] At the CIF California State Meet she was a finalist all four years. In both 1998 and 1999 she was 8th in the 1600.[4] 1999 saw her also attempt to double in the 800 meters, finishing last after being depleted from the 1600. In 2000, she improved that to 5th. Her best finish was 4th in 2001 in the 3200.[5]
College
Linden studied psychology at Arizona State University, and was a two time All-American in track and cross country.[6] She finished third at the 2005 Pac-10 5,000m Collegiate Championships (16:59.93).[1]
Linden finished second at the 2008 Houston Half Marathon and ran her personal best time of 1:12:10. This time qualified her for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Marathon Team Trials.[8]
On August 23, 2009 Linden finished tenth at the IAAF World Championship in the marathon and set a personal record by 3 minutes. Her time of 2:27:53 was the second-fastest American woman.[3]
2010–11
She finished second at the 2010 Chicago Marathon, setting a personal record by one minute. Her time of 2:26:20 was the fastest American woman.
Linden finished second at the 2011 Boston Marathon by just two seconds and set a personal record by four minutes.[1] Her time of 2:22:38 was then the fastest time ever run by an American woman in the Boston Marathon. After her success in Boston she was invited to throw the first pitch at a Detroit Tigers game.[1]
2012–13
She finished second in the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials January 14, 2012 in Houston, TX with a time of 2:25:55.[10] which qualified her to run the marathon at the 2012 London Summer Olympics on August 5, 2012, but did not finish.[11] Her Olympic failure was attributed to a stress fracture of the femur.
2013 marked her return to competition, finishing second at the USATF Half Marathon Championships.
At the 2013 Berlin Marathon, Davila finished fifth, winning her age group, in 2:29:15.[12] For this accomplishment, she was selected the USATF Athlete of the Week.[13]
On April 13, she completed a 50K in 2:59:54, becoming the first woman ever to run 50 km under 3 hours and breaking the world record (previously 3:07:20 by Aly Dixon on September 1, 2019). This was Linden's first ultramarathon.[30][31]
2022
On April 18, she completed the 2022 Boston Marathon in 2:28:47, taking 13th overall and 3rd among the American women.[32]
United States
