Dakotah Lindwurm: From 5:35 high school mile to the US Olympic Marathon Team - Best Thing in Running 

Perhaps Dakotah Lindwurm's development trajectory as a runner and her fantastic achievement of earning a spot on the U.S. 2024 Olympic Marathon team is affirmation of what important voices in the sport like Lauren Fleshman, Mary Cain, and Allie Ostrander have been advocating in recent years. Namely, female distance runners in high school and college might be better served by a system that would encourage them to progress more gradually in the sport, honoring the fact that as the female body transitions from adolescence into adulthood performance might sometimes lag in the near term. Too often, top female distance runners in high school and college end up unwittingly sacrificing their longevity in the sport by falling prey to over training and/or disordered eating, almost inevitably leading to a frustrating cycle of injuries and compromised physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing. I would love to know more about how Dakotah's passion and talent for running were nurtured and supported by her high school, college, and professional coaches even when she wasn't finishing at the top of the pack. I hope that sports media like Let's Run will be delving into that during the lead up to Paris. I wish Dakotah the best in her Olympic Marathon build, and I look forward to cheering for her, Fiona, and Emily this summer.

Let this be a message to all young athletes in love with the sport to keep showing up regardless of how good you think you are.

Another Minnesota runner that made the Olympic marathon, but wasn't a very fast runner in high school, was the late Ron Daws. From my recollection of reading his story, the fastest he ran in high school for the 2 mile on the track was around 10:30. But Daws still finished 3rd in the trials in 1968, which back then was an automatic qualifier for the Olympics. I believe his time in the trials was around 2:18.

More follow-up would be appreciated! 😮

yup..a cinderella story!!!!!

She was an alternate for 2023 World’s so it’s not like she’s completely a newbie! 🤷‍♂️

Honestly it’s great good looking gal full of life

The dark haired guy has a way of making her story sound negative. Is he jealous or something? 🫤