The Kenya Project: Desiree Linden Pulling Out All the Stops

Published by Competitor on March 23, 2014

American marathoner Desiree Linden spent six weeks in Iten, Kenya, training for this year’s Boston Marathon, a race she returns to for the first time since finishing second in 2011. Competitor senior video producer Steve Godwin and photo editor Scott Draper spent Linden’s last week in Iten with her, documenting her preparation for the April 21 race and highlighting the culture of the Kenyan running community. Stay tuned to Competitor.com over the next four weeks as we share footage, imagery and insight in a four-part video series we’re calling The Kenya Project.

At some point in every professional athlete’s career, there comes a time to pull out all the stops. Eliminate the excuses. Get out of your comfort zone. For American marathoner Desiree Linden (nee Davila), that moment came earlier this year, when she decided to go to Iten, Kenya, for six weeks of base training in preparation for the Boston Marathon on April 21.

So what propelled the Hansons-Brooks-sponsored marathoner from Rochester Hills, Mich., to spend a month and a half away from her husband, her coaches and her teammates?

“I think going to Iten kind of represents that leap of ‘I’m all in,’” Linden told Competitor’s senior video producer Steve Godwin, who, along with Competitor photo editor Scott Draper, spent a week with Linden in Iten this past February. “To just sort of exhaust all my options and really know that I did all the things I could do to get myself ready for race day. Boston’s special. You want to go there, you want to perform well and I’m doing all the things that I can to make that happen.”