An American woman has won the 2018 Boston Marathon.
The last time a woman won the storied Boston race was in 1985, when Michigan’s Lisa Larsen Rainsberger won with a time of 2:34:06.
In grueling weather conditions, Desiree Linden, 34, crossed the finish line in 2:39:54; that’s nearly 20 minutes off the record time, but still an incredible accomplishment given the rainy, windy and 38-degree weather.
It looked like Ethiopian female runner Mamitu Daska was going to win the race at the halfway mark, but Linden, who is from Chula Vista, California, turned on the jets to make sure that didn’t happen.
In 2011, she finished the Boston Marathon in second place, missing first place by just two seconds. This was her fifth time running the Boston Marathon.
Linden broke out of the pack and left the field behind in the final five miles of the race, reported SBNation.com.
A wildly enthusiastic (if soaked) crowd of spectators cheered on the American as she turned onto Boylston Street and toward the final stretch.
“It’s everything packaged into one,” Linden told Boston’s WBZ television station just minutes after her win. “I’m thrilled, and I’m exhausted. I left everything out there, and now I’m ready to warm up.”
26.2 miles in a downpour: Desiree Linden (age 34) of the U.S. and Yuki Kawauchi of Japan won the Boston Marathon https://t.co/4Kd0VtV6Os
— The New York Times (@nytimes) April 16, 2018
Linden had tears in her eyes and her hand on her heart during the playing of the national anthem. She then received her gold-dipped olive wreath, placed on her soaking-wet head by Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker.
Related: At This Year’s Boston Marathon, Who’s Winning Under What Gender?
In the men’s race, Japan’s Yuki Kawauchi bested 2017 marathon winner Geoffrey Kirui to become the first Japanese winner of the Boston Marathon since 1987 — the biggest accomplishment of his running career thus far, reported SBNation.com.
He ran the race in 2:15:58.
Deirdre Reilly is a senior editor for LifeZette.
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