Quick note before you press play. This conversation with Des Linden first aired on Long Run Labs, my podcast about the business of endurance and the outdoor industry. Des is one of the most thoughtful people in running when it comes to how athletes can build something lasting beyond their competitive years, so I figured her story was worth putting in front of the For the Long Run audience too.

Des Linden won the 2018 Boston Marathon in one of the most iconic performances in the history of the race. But this conversation is not about that day. It is about what she has built since and how she thinks about the next chapter.

Des and Jon chat about:

• how Des started seeing the business side of running as early as 2011

• what twenty years of loyalty with Brooks actually looks like in practice

• why winning Boston in 2018 gave her permission to flip the switch

• her transition to trail and why she is entering that space carefully

• why gravel running might be the most underrated opportunity in the sport right now

• the financial literacy gap in professional running and why it matters

• what she would tell a current athlete who wants to build something beyond competition

• the one brand she has not pitched yet but absolutely should

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