2 min readAmerican marathoner Dakotah Lindwurm has always played to the crowd when she runs. She smiles broadly, she’ll gesture at the crowd for larger cheers. She’s even been known to do a mid-race macarena.
“I mean, if you’ve followed me at all, I’m one to always react to the crowd,” Lindwurm, 29, said, moments after finishing the Olympic Marathon in 12th place in 2:26:44. She was the top American finisher.
“I like to be involved,” she said. “I love what I do. And without the crowd, I don’t have a job. So, um, you know, I just I want to inspire them. I want to show them that marathoning is fun and hopefully you know somebody out there thought, ‘She’s smiling at the end of it. Maybe I can run one.’”
After this race, however, Lindwurm was in search of someone who inspired her. A young someone. Boy. She’s guessing American, roughly age 10, although don’t fault her if she is off by a few years. After all, this was at about 35K (almost 22) miles of the hardest course in Olympic Marathon history.
The boy was running alongside her (briefly, we assume) and yelling her name: “Go, Dakotah! Go, Dakotah!” she said. “He gave me so much inspiration. I need to find him. I need to give him a high-five.”
She planned to make an appeal to her 40,000 Instagram followers, too. But in the minutes after she told reporters about the situation, Lindwurm’s boyfriend, Montana Popehn, gave her an engagement ring. She said yes. So she might not get to her search for the unnamed child immediately.
She will eventually, though. On a happy day for her in Paris, Dakotah Lindwurm wants to return the love.
Sarah Lorge Butler is a writer and editor living in Eugene, Oregon, and her stories about the sport, its trends, and fascinating individuals have appeared in Runner’s World since 2005. She is the author of two popular fitness books, Run Your Butt Off! and Walk Your Butt Off!
