Des Linden Analyzes the Trials and Looks Ahead to Boston

Desiree Linden has made mastering the marathon her life’s work, and with her high racing IQ, she seemed a strong bet to make her third Olympic team on Saturday in Atlanta. But she came up 11 seconds short. Aliphine Tuliamuk won in 2:27:23, Molly Seidel claimed the final spot, in 2:28:52. Linden, 36, finished Sally Kipyego claimed the final spot, in 2:28:52. Linden, 36, finished fourth in 2:29:03.

Linden, the Boston Marathon champion in 2018, returned to her home in Rochester, Michigan, and spoke to Runner’s World by phone on Wednesday. She shared her thoughts on her disappointment, how the race played out, and how she’s preparing for Boston in less than seven weeks.

Runner’s World: Are you okay after the race? How are you doing?

Desiree Linden: I’m excited for them [Tuliamuk, Seidel, and Kipyego]. It was like, you’re really happy for the people in front of you.

But I hate getting beaten by people, so there’s that. It’s not even about how I missed out [on the Olympic team]. It’s thinking, “I should have run better, I should have done this different, I should have done that different.” I gave up for half a mile. I’m trying to process all of it.

Have you cried about this?

Uh, yeah. In drug testing, the top five are in there, men and women. So you have six people who are thrilled and you’re right next to it and you’re just like “eff.” We’re finishing up there, and me and Josh [Cox, her agent] were not on the same page.

I would have a moment where I’d be like, “This is the worst thing in the world,” and he consoled me and he’d kind of get me through it. Then I’d look over and he’s processing the same thing. I’m like, “Dude, don’t cry. If you cry, I’m going to cry.” It was like five to 10 minutes of, we need to get our shit together and cry or not and then move on. Once we got through that, I was fine. While the lady was processing my pee, Josh and I started to have a few tears, and then, it’s fine.

Has this been keeping you up at night, what you would have changed about the race?

I’ve talked to Ryan [her husband] about it a little bit and honestly, I feel like I just missed it. Which sounds like such a track thing. I was in the front, kind of pushing on an uphill. And it just came right on the tail end of that. I was almost already in need of a little recovery. And they just really jumped then. And it all opened up super quickly. But as soon as it stretched out, I was behind Kellyn [Taylor], and Laura [Thweatt], and I was like, “That’s it, I’m done.”

Then a short moment later I was like, “No. No, this isn’t over. I need to get in front of these guys and someone from our group can catch Sally.” I closed a really big gap in a short amount of time. I was like, “Let’s go, you guys, we’ve got to work together and close the gap because that’s the ticket.”

Was the whole move like 10 seconds?

I don’t even remember. I feel like it was super fast, it opened up super quickly. I honestly don’t remember that clearly.

Was the course as insanely hard Highlights From the 2020 Olympic Marathon Trials?

It was tough. I was talking to somebody afterward—maybe Sam Grotewald [elite athlete manager for New York Road Runners]—he was like, typically that little add-on distance [the final 2.2 miles] is done at the beginning. And that way you just do the loop three times. That would have been a lifesaver because that part sort of was the hardest part of the course, and it was daunting and you didn’t have a chance to learn it by covering it three times.

And the crowds were the worst out there. They were insane all day and then you got out there and you’re like, this is the hardest part of the course, it’s at the toughest time, there’s nobody here. It was a tough course, but also having that tacked on at the end—which you knew was going to be really, really tough, was kind of weighing on your mind as you got fatigued in the later parts of the race. It’s like, I know I have to save something, because that is tough.

You led a good portion of the early miles. With the wind, did you feel like it was an evenly shared load?

Yeah because after that first lap, I felt like Laura [Thweatt] was super aggressive and I just tucked in from there. It was a lot of bodies. The road conditions were pretty poor and a lot of people tripped in potholes and got roughed up that way.

Really to get the understanding of that loop I wanted to be in a spot where I wasn’t worried about any other factors. I think it was valuable the first lap [to be in front] and that after that I felt like I understood where the wind was going to be the worst and just tucked in. I don’t think it cost me much, and I actually think it was productive to just kind of stay out of trouble and get my bearings on the loop.

[Sarah Lorge Butler Have you cried about this.]

Did any of the DNFs surprise you? There were so many favorites on the men’s and women’s side that didn’t have their day.

I feel like a lot of people came in with the idea that this is one of two shots, and if it doesn’t pan out, I can go somewhere else—on the track or pick a different marathon. I know I have Boston on the schedule, which is kind of ironic. But it’s such a cop-out. As soon as it gets hard, that other plan looks really appealing.

The one guarantee in the marathon is that it’s going to get hard. I don’t think I had a fantastic day or really closed down well or did anything special, I think I was just a person who didn’t quit, you know? Every time it got hard, it was like, no, keep chasing, because you never know. Other people either sandbagged it home or stepped off the course. A lot can change in the last three miles, you just have to commit to it.

Are you excited for Boston or still licking your wounds a bit?

I’m looking forward to it. It’s a fun race and it’s definitely just, move forward. The only way is forward now. It’s nice to have that on the schedule, and honestly, it was a little safety net too.

We knew this team was going to be incredibly hard to make. In the past you just go all in and say, “I’m making it. There’s no way I’m not.” This time I realized I could have a really good race and still come up short. And I didn’t want to walk away and be like, “Well, eff, now.” It’s nice to have the thing, like, I’m actually excited about. We’ll see when the hard part [of training] gets rolling again, which will be very, very soon. I’m excited.

Where will you be training for Boston?

I’ll fly back down to Phoenix on Friday and be there a week, to do a little training, and I still have stuff down there. I have to bring it all back to Michigan. I’ll see John Ball [a chiropractic sports physician who treats many top runners].

Are you hurting? Anything in particular you want to ask John Ball about?

Just my ego. No, I feel really good, I ran the day after and I was worried that my right quad was very sore, but everything else was reasonable, so that had to be the camber in the road. By the next day it was fine. I took [Tuesday] off and today ran a normal run and seemed pretty good. A nice maintenance tuneup from John and I think I’ll be fine.

Has this been keeping you up at night, what you would have changed about the race?

That’s a great training day. You get a lot of gains if you recover from it. I have a little fear of starting too soon and getting three weeks from now and feeling dead. But I don’t want to wait too long to get rolling again. if it connects and I do it right, should be a lot of fitness gains from Saturday.

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Top fives are always great, podium is great. I’ve never been third in Boston. That would be great. To get the complete the set of trophies.

Did you get flack in 2012 for going to the London Olympics and not stepping aside for an alternate when you were hurt?

Yes. A lot. On social media people were like, “You’re a bad American.” It was pretty bad.

But it was worth it for you to go and see, have the experience and have a dress rehearsal for four years later?

There were a few things. Your whole next contract is predicated on that title. Are you an Olympian or not? You’re not an Olympian until you start your event. You have a lot of things riding on that.

The dress rehearsal part was super important, and it could also be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I wouldn’t fault anybody who was in that position. I guess if Sally got hurt, I’d be like, “Yo, you’ve already been an Olympian, roll it down.” But a first-timer? Do what you can do. I’m excited for them.

But also you believed that it was going to be you [making the team]. Everybody who lines up and legitimately feels like they have a shot, it’s like, you have to believe every single day that it’s going to be you. And then you cross the line and you’re like, wow, four years of believing that it was going to be me, and now reality is, it’s not. So try again next time. It’s cruel.

Do you think you’ll go for another one?

If I’m legit contending. If I have a shot, even if it’s outside, but I feel like I can do it, yeah. I don’t want to be a person who hangs on too long and is embarrassing themself.