Desiree Linden Hopes to Recapture Boston Magic of 2011

Published by Runner's World on April 3, 2014

It’s easy to forget, with all the chatter about a lack of an American champion at the Boston Marathon since 1985, how close one American runner came to breaking the tape in 2011. That runner will be back at the Hopkinton starting line later this month. And she may be a better runner than she was three years ago.

Desiree Davila (now Desiree Linden after her marriage to triathlete Ryan Linden) inched ahead of Kenya’s Caroline Kilel at assorted points in the final mile of the 2011 Boston Marathon. However, Kilel had just a bit more leg speed and beat Linden, finishing in 2:22:36. Linden, in a TV interview shortly after the race, had her wits about her and expressed no regret after giving everything she had for those 26.2 miles. Kilel, meanwhile, was splayed on the pavement, gasping for breath.

It’s natural to assume that, since Linden has come that close to winning, it could indeed happen. American success in distance races on the track, as well as recent victories by Americans who are still competing in three of what are considered truly major marathons — Meb Keflezighi at the New York City Marathon, andDeena Kastor at both the Chicago Marathon and the London Marathon — have sparked that kind of hope.

With Linden (as she wishes to be called) and Shalane Flanagan, who finished fourth in 2013, back in the women’s field, some think that this is the year that an American not only could win Boston, but should win Boston.

“I don’t know that the majority of that rest on me,” Linden said. “Shalane’s been on fire, she’s got a lot of momentum, and she ran really fast 15K [at the USA Championships in Jacksonville]. For me, I’m still trying to find out where I’m at.”