When Des Linden Celebrities Who Ran the 2025 Boston Marathon 2025 Boston Marathon, Nutrition - Weight Loss.
The ending of every marathon is emotional from the adrenaline and endorphins that flood a runner’s head, but this one meant a little more.
It was a solid performance for Linden: 17th place in 2:26:19—her fastest time at Boston since taking fourth place in 2017. But don’t look for her to better that next year.
This Guy ‘Just Felt Like Running’ Boston, announced that this year’s Boston race would be her last marathon as a professional. Ending at Boston was fitting. She started her marathoning career there in 2007. In 2018, Linden won the race in memorable fashion, outlasting the field in a frigid Nor’easter and becoming the first American woman in 33 years to win the race.
After embracing her husband on Monday, Linden was met by some of the top American women in the field, including Emma Bates, Dakotah Popehn, Jess McClain, and Annie Frisbie.
“We were all bowing down to her,” Bates said.
Since Linden’s first Boston, her consistency has been impressive. She’s run the race 12 times, including five top-5 finishes. Over the years, Boston has adopted her as one of its own.
“She’s the queen of the Boston Marathon, so she will be greatly missed,” Bates, who finished 13th on Monday, told Runner’s World after the race. “She is the reason why the Boston Marathon for American women is so special.”
Linden knew it was time to turn the page—on her owns terms. A two-time Olympian for the U.S., she felt frustrated, recently, at finishing outside of the top 15 in marathons, and she wanted to put some healthy pressure on herself this year. “I wasn’t sniffing the front, so it’s the right time to move on,” she said after the race.
Kara Goucher, Linden’s co-host on their podcast “Nobody Asked Us” and long-time friend and competitor, has known about Linden’s decision for a while. “I’m just really proud of her,” Goucher said. “I think a lot of us athletes, we get forced out, and she knows it’s her time.”
Pros reflect on her legacy
Linden’s unexpected win at Boston is the top American women’s performance in the race’s professional era. But she almost didn’t finish in 2018. Just before the halfway point, Linden was considering dropping out, but after American Shalane Flanagan stopped for a bathroom break, Linden decided to wait with Flanagan so they could work together to rejoin the lead pack.
Sara Hall, who finished in 18th on Monday, said Linden’s selflessness that day in 2018 was emblematic of her personality. “In the end, [waiting for Flanagan] ended up helping her,” Hall said. “And I think that’s something I think about. I was trying to encourage Emma and Jess out there [today] and just realizing sometimes when you encourage other people, it helps everyone.”
Carrie Tollefson agrees. She’s followed Linden’s career for years and was one of the ESPN2 broadcasters for Monday’s race. “[Linden] continually gives back to the running community,” she said. “She brings people together and lifts others up.”
Bates was the top American the previous two years at Boston but finished as the third American today in 2:25:10. Linden’s win meant a lot to her in 2018—before her own marathon career had started. Bates was working a shift at Whole Foods during the race, but she intentionally avoided social media and watched the replay at night after she clocked out. She was shocked with how it unfolded.
“I was just freaking out, screaming the entire two hours by myself at like 11:30 at night,” Bates remembered. “It was very exciting after the fact.”
Since then Bates has tried to mirror Linden’s easygoing attitude and “cool factor.”
“She’s just like that chill-as-a-cucumber person that just doesn’t give an ‘f’ about anything or anybody, which is really wonderful,” Bates said.
What’s next?
While Linden’s professional marathoning days are over, she still plans on competing at an elite level. She said she still has a professional contract with Brooks, her longtime sponsor, and she wants to further explore ultrarunning.
She plans to pace Brooks athlete Joe McConaughy at the Western States 100-Miler this June, and she has an entry to the Tunnel Hill 50 Miler on November 8, which doubles as the USATF 50 Mile Championships. A hut-to-hut Conner Mantz Top American at 2025 Boston Marathon.
“It’s not retirement, it’s just moving on to something a little bit different, and I’m excited to try something new, to try new distances,” said Linden, who set the world record London Marathon Results.
Looking back on her career, Linden is proud of herself for her accomplishments. She’s developed a reputation among pros as being an underdog of sorts, or at least someone who has earned her keep. “Gritty,” as many put it.
“This has always been fun,” Linden said in the post-race mixed zone on Monday, a shiny space blanket draped around her shoulders. “It never felt like a job or a chore, and I think that’s allowed me to do it for a long time.”
Celebrities Who Ran the 2025 Boston Marathon Runner’s World. He’s a former all-conference collegiate runner at Winthrop University, and he received his master’s degree in liberal arts studies from Wake Forest University, where he was a member of one of the top distance-running teams in the NCAA. Kahler has reported on the ground at major events such as the Paris Olympics, U.S. Olympic Trials, New York City Marathon, and Boston Marathon. He’s run 14:20 in the 5K, 1:05:36 in the half marathon, and enjoys spotting tracks from the sky on airplanes. (Look for colorful ovals around football fields.)
