The cover of “Choosing to Run” by Des Linden. To have my name on the list of champions is incredible.” “It’s incredibly gratifying to feel that connection with the race and the community and be in that history book. Then winning, she added, “was a huge relief because I always felt it was something I could do. “I went to Boston and I thought, not my year,” Linden says. That experience almost forced her to stop running, but she kept at it and her diligence paid off with the 2018 win. She tells stories we’ve never heard before in the book, especially the health scare she had with a diagnosis of hypothyroidism after the 2017 Boston Marathon. It’s about the lessons she learned from her parents and coaches and herself during hard times over the years that helped her seize the opportunity that April day five years ago. But the book is about much more than that. In her new memoir “ Choosing To Run,” she offers a mile-by-mile account of her historic victory. She kept coming back to Boston and won the race in 2018, in what was basically a monsoon.

To see an American woman contending in the final miles when none had won the race since 1985 was newsworthy. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.I must admit Des Linden (then-Des Davila) wasn’t on my radar when she ran the Boston Marathon for the first time in 2007, but she sure was after finishing second by just two seconds four years later in 2011. For all readers, it grants a peek at what goes into building that endurance. The challenges she meets along the way include when she was diagnosed with hypothyroidism, a potentially fatal condition that nearly derailed her distance running career.įor seasoned runners and beginners alike, Linden’s book offers plenty of inspiration about the power of endurance in the face of obstacles. Sprinkled throughout the book are passages from the songs that helped keep Linden going throughout her journey.Īlong the way, she provides a fascinating look at the training and culture of professional running. She offers a look at the grueling conditions that distance runners face as they prepare for such races, from injuries to unbearable weather conditions. Her memoir alternates between vivid descriptions of running the famed point-to-point Boston Marathon route in 2018 and her upbringing as a runner. Business & Finance Click to expand menu.

Choosing to run des linden