Des is one of the most accomplished American distance runners of all time, with multiple top-five performances at four of the six World Marathon Majors. In 2011, her near-win in a thrilling 1-2 finish at the Boston Marathon set a new American women’s record. She was the top American woman at the 2014 New York City Marathon and again in Boston in 2015. After representing Team USA at the 2012 London Summer Olympics and four years later in Rio, she braved rain and wind in 2018 to become the first American woman in 33 years to win the Boston Marathon. In 2021, Linden set the 50K (31.06 miles) world record at 2:59:54, making history as the first woman to run the distance in under three hours.