Desiree Linden this year was all alone as she crossed the finish line in Boston unlike in 2011

Desiree Linden became the first American woman to win the Boston Marathon since Lisa Rainsberger in 1985, ending the drought on a day when the runners faced a deluge of rain. Linden came two seconds from winning Boston in 2011. Before the race, Linden told Boston.com that her goal was to “compete up front and hopefully have that battle on Boylston again. And have a different outcome this time, for sure.” The first battle she was referring to came in 2011, when she matched Caroline Kilel stride for stride down the stretch but fell two seconds short of a laurel wreath. Linden, racing in her marathon debut, crossed the line in a personal best of 2:22:38. People expected her to feel ecstatic about the result, but she had spent four months convincing herself every day that she was going to win the race. “So when I crossed the finish line second, it was the first time in four months that I wasn’t the winner of the Boston Marathon and I was pretty pissed,” Linden said. There was no one to battle on Boylston this time around as she pulled away from the pack and raced alone to the finish line.

posted Tuesday April 17th