Boston, New York and Chicago are the
major marathons in the U.S. and among the
top such competitive events in the world. “If
you go overseas, Japan has an amazing running
culture,” she obser ves. “I’ve raced in Berlin,
and the fan base there is great. London also
has a huge appreciation for the sport. It’s
fairly global today, and when you are overseas,
there’s not the competition for attention we
have here with major league baseball, basketball
and hockey. The result is that there are many
m ore eyeballs on marathons outside of the U.S.”
It’s not all hard work and no play, however.
A curious footnote to Desiree’s career is that
several years ago, she and some roommates
developed an appreciation of bourbon, of all
things. “We started with a bottle of Knob Creek
just strictly out of curiosity,” she laughs. “We
then decided we needed to compare that
popular brand to other bourbons. That was the
beginning of a collection. It was a fun way for
us to hang out and be social and just do some
tasting.” She also knows how to make the
most of a trip to foreign events, typically adding
an extra week or so to her itinerar y to enjoy the
local scene. When represented the USA at the
2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, where
she placed seventh in the women’s marathon,
Desiree spent some extra time in the Brazilian
city before flying to Argentina to enjoy a few
days at the ski resort city of Bariloche.
Along the way, she’s benefited from the
counsel of her husband Ryan Linden and
manager Josh Cox, both successful former
professional runners. She is quick to pass
along some advice of her own to young
women who might be interested in the sport.
“Running is not just one thing,” she advises.
“There’s cross country, track, different
marathon courses, and different body types
work well in different circumstances. Maybe
my body type helped me in the rain and the
wind of the Boston Marathon. But, there’s not
one specific look in this sport, which is pretty
rare. And it’s a good message for girls and
young women, that you don’t have to look a
certain way. You develop your body to be the
best it can be and then seek out the conditions
that work. It’s not one-size-fits-all, which is a
positive thing.”
At an age when she’s competing against
runners many years her junior, Desiree
knows her career can’t go on forever, but she
vows to stay active as long as possible.
“W hat’s really cool,” she states, “is that running
is just right foot, left foot. Repeat. It’s super
simple. Eventually, something doesn’t
f unction as it should, but at this point I don’t
really want to find out what it is. It might be
leg speed that goes first. Women can probably
compete longer because of their strength,
and a marathon is a ver y strength-oriented
event, so a good runner can probably extend
their career a bit. But, father time always
wins out in the end. For now, however, I just
want to enjoy the joy of running.”
”
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article? Email us at info@latinastyle.com
“For now, however, I just want to enjoy
the joy of running.
Winning the 2018 Boston
Marathon.
LS
2018 Boston Marathon finish line (L-R) standing at attention is a Boston Police
Officer, Manulife President and CEO Roy Gori, Massachusetts Governor Charles
Baker, Desiree Linden, B.A.A. Board of Governor Member Joann Flaminio, and a
Boston Police Officer.
26 www.latinastyle.com LATINAStyle Vol. 24, No. 3, 2018
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