It was a fast day at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon on Sunday. A world record got broken. Numerous course records were shattered. And northern Michigan’s own Des Linden ran a 2:27:35 marathon to become the fastest over-40 women’s marathoner in American history.

Linden, who lives and trains in Charlevoix, is no stranger to success. She's an Olympian, for one, having placed seventh in the 2016 Olympic Marathon in Rio de Janeiro. In 2018, she won the Boston Marathon, becoming the first American women in more than three decades to do so. She even has a world record to her name: In 2021, in ran a 50K in 2:59:54, becoming the first woman on the planet to run that 31-mile distance in under three hours.

Yesterday (Sunday), at the Chicago Marathon, Linden added another feather to her cap. Running her first masters marathon – in distance running, the “masters” division consists of those aged 40 and up – Linden, who turned 40 this past July, broke the previous women’s American masters record by 12 seconds. The previous mark, of 2:27:47, was set in 2015 by Deena Kastor, another former Olympian. Linden was the 17th woman across the finish line overall at the Chicago Marathon, and the eighth American.

In northern Michigan, Linden regularly collaborates with the Traverse City Track Club and other area organizations on local running events. In 2022, she was on hand during Bayshore Marathon week for a live podcast recording at Chateau Chantal. And late last month, she joined up with the MoMitt Endurance Festival to co-host the “Dirty Des at Dusk” run, a five-mile twilight race through the grounds of The Village at Grand Traverse Commons.

Linden’s new American record came on a momentous day at the Chicago Marathon, which also saw a new men’s world record set by 23-year-old Kenyan running phenom Kelvin Kiptum; Kiptum won the race in 2:00:35, breaking the previous record by more than half a minute.

Sifan Hassan of The Netherlands won the women’s race in 2:13:44, a 20-second course record and the second fastest time in history; the fastest, 2:11:53, was run just two weeks ago by Berlin Marathon champion Tigist Assefa of Ethiopia.

Next up for Linden? Training for the 2024 Olympic Marathon Trials, scheduled for February 3 in Orlando, Florida.