Masters Women at Boston 2025: Desiree Linden Reclaims the Tape

• Linden wins in 2:26:19 (5:35/mi), edging Sara Hall by 13 seconds in a two-woman battle at the front of a Masters Women field of 6,759 finishers.
• Hall's 20K→Half split ranked 7th-fastest among all women; Linden answered with the 7th-fastest women's split from Half to 25K — the race within the race that decided it.
• Dot McMahan ran the 21M→35K segment 21st-fastest among all women, the surge that separated her from the chase pack and locked up 3rd in 2:33:43.
• Sharon Cherop held 10th among women through the opening 5K — the fastest early position of anyone in the top five — before gradually fading to 4th in 2:34:47.

Desiree Linden ran a measured, intelligent race from Hopkinton. She tracked through the women's field in the mid-to-high teens for most of the journey — sitting 22nd among women at the half — before steadily climbing to 17th by the finish. That quiet ascent was punctuated by her 7th-fastest women's split from Half to 25K, the move that created the decisive gap over Hall and confirmed she was the strongest master on the course. Her 2:26:19 at 5:35/mi is a commanding performance in any company.

Sara Hall pushed Linden every step of the way. Hall was actually moving better than Linden through the first half — her 20K→Half segment ranked 7th-fastest among all women — and she was as high as 16th among women through 25K. But the back half told a different story: Hall faded slightly in the women's standings while Linden continued to climb, and the 13-second gap at the tape reflects who ran the stronger second half. Hall's 2:26:32 at 5:35/mi is a superb run in its own right — the pace was identical, the outcome was not.

Behind the top two, McMahan put together a quietly brilliant finish. She was 28th among women at the half and used a top-21 women's split from 21 miles to 35K to pull clear of the chase, crossing in 2:33:43 for a well-earned 3rd. Cherop, who had been running with the lead women's pack early — 10th among women through the opening 5K — couldn't sustain that early pace and finished 4th in 2:34:47. Keira D'Amato (5th, 2:35:57) and Stephanie Bruce (6th, 2:36:09) were separated by just 12 seconds, while Boston legend Edna Kiplagat rounded out the top seven in 2:36:32.