Underdog. Surprise finisher. Unforeseen force.
Long-distance runner Dakotah Lindwurm has heard all the labels and doesn’t disagree with them—she embraces them. The St. Francis, Minnesota, native, who was a walk-on Division II cross-country runner for Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota, is heading to the Summer Olympic Games in Paris in July and August to represent the United States in the women’s marathon competition.
The 29-year-old athlete, known for her broad smile, gained national recognition winning Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth in 2021 and again in 2022. She made the Olympics team this February after finishing third at the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in Orlando, Florida, with a time of 2:25:31. She now lives, trains, and coaches in the Twin Cities. We recently checked in with her before she heads to France. The Summer Olympics run July 26 to Aug. 11, with the marathon races closing out the events.
Photo by Darin Kamnetz
Tell us about your Minnesota background and running experience.
I grew up in St. Francis and ran in high school, but I walked onto my Division II cross-country team; I never got any offers for scholarships from any school, and I never got recruited. I just felt like I like wasn’t done with the sport [after high school]. I still was enjoying it and getting faster every year. So, I thought that if a team was going to let me walk on, I may as well keep running, because I was probably going to anyway, either recreationally or competitively.
After I graduated and moved back here, I kept running, [but] it’s generally not a very lucrative sport. When I first moved back to Minnesota to pursue running, I still was working full-time as a teacher. I just finally went full-time as a runner literally a couple of weeks ago. So it has been a slow progression.
With your back-to-back Grandma’s Marathon wins, did that feel like a “light-bulb moment” that you were a successful athlete?
I feel like every time I go into Grandma’s, it elevates my career. But even after I won twice, it didn’t necessarily feel like, ‘OK, I’ve made it.’ But it has always been a really big step in my career. After winning the first time, I got my first sponsorship from Puma, which is a huge step in professional running. And then the second time, I took four minutes off my PR [personal record]. Up until that point, I just hadn’t put together the right race. With marathons, you learn something every single time. It just felt like I understood how to race it better that second time when I won.
What did you learn at the Olympic trials?
The big thing I learned from the Olympic trials was my race strategy in the past has always been to kind of go out and lead and push the pace. But at the Olympic trials, I sat back and let other people do the work and get tired. And, you know, I felt like I was sitting back and waiting for my opportunity, which paid off for sure. I think not putting my neck out there early and being patient paid off for me.
Photo by Darin Kamnetz
Have you been to France before? The course looks very interesting, starting in Paris proper and heading out to Versailles and looping back.
I just returned. I went out for a weekend to see the course. It’s incredibly hilly [but] super beautiful. It’s an amazing course. What’s really amazing about it is there are women in the field who quite literally can run 10 minutes faster than me in the marathon, but because it’s such a challenging course I think that it will level the playing field. I think it’s a great a great day for an underdog.
For the first time, the women’s marathon closes out the Summer Olympic Games, instead of the men’s competition (which is scheduled the day before, on Aug. 10). There are other changes, too, like only two American men competitors instead of three for the women’s team. Are you impacted by that?
It’s incredibly complicated for the men. Only two men have the time standard, but all three of us [women] have the time standard. There was kind of two tiers of things you had to do to make the team, and I have checked both boxes. … I’m super excited that they’re highlighting the marathon by making it the last day, last event. Women just started being able to run the marathon at the Olympics 40 years ago [at the 1984 events in Los Angeles], so I think it’s really important to realize how far we’ve come, and I’m really happy that they’re doing it that way.
Do you have family and fans attending?
My dad and three aunts are coming. Also my boyfriend and most of his family and then a few friends, too. I think everybody’s taking the opportunity to see the Olympics and go to Paris.
Photo by Darin Kamnetz
I saw in an interview your mom passed away in 2020.
Yes, we lost her to cancer in May of 2020. It was a pretty short-lived cancer. Unfortunately, she was diagnosed May 7 and passed away May 30.
What are your expectations for competing in August? What are your goals and hopes?
I would say I’m a bit of a dreamer. I’d like to say I can crack the top 10. I’m not going to count myself out and say I can’t at all. I think on the right day—if I run a smart race—I could medal. I’m certainly a huge underdog to do so, but you don’t make it to the Olympics and sit on your laurels. You go there to bring some hardware home. So, I’m going to train as hard as I can to do that.
If you’ve always been a bit of a dreamer, did you expect to compete in the Olympics when you were younger?
When I was younger, like a true Minnesotan, I played hockey. When I was in middle school, I did watch [the 2004 movie] “The Miracle” [about the United States men’s hockey team beating the Soviet Union team in the 1980 Olympic Games]. I remember as a goalie, I looked at Jim Craig and was like, that’s what I want to be. That’s what I want to do. When I transitioned to running, I wasn’t incredibly great at it. I would say that that dream kind of dwindled until I got out of college. And then it was like, well, I have some success at the marathon. I can do this.
