A week after getting married, Dakotah Popehn ran 2:31:45 to place 17th at the New York City Marathon.
Popehn, who previously went by Lindwurm, started to fall off the leaders’ pace heading into the 18th mile. Running much of the second half solo, the Paris Olympian battled through an off day to finish as the seventh American in the elite women’s race on Sunday.
Popehn, 29, has had a breakout year. In February, the former Division II runner shocked the field by taking third at the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials to make her first Olympic team.
At the Olympics in August, she continued to surprise. Popehn, who trains with Minnesota Distance Elite in Minneapolis, positioned herself toward the front of the race through the halfway mark and took the lead during the 15th mile. She ultimately placed 12th in 2:26:44—the top American in the race. Afterward, her then-boyfriend, Montana Popehn, proposed to her.
During the pre-race press conference in Manhattan, Popehn said she took time to recover from the hills on the grueling Paris course before returning to 130-mile weeks in preparation for New York City. Even though New York was Popehn’s third marathon of the year, she said she didn’t think the frequency would affect her too much. The past two years, she’s run three marathons: Boston (April), Grandma’s Marathon (June), and either New York or Chicago in the fall.
In 2022, Popehn had a difficult debut in New York City, dropping out of the race at mile 18. But things started to turn around the following year. At the 2023 Chicago Marathon, she ran 2:24:40, a personal best, despite fading slightly over the last few miles.
To date, her highest finish in a World Marathon Major is 12th, which she ran at the 2021 Boston Marathon and again in last year’s Chicago Marathon.
Theo Kahler is the news editor at Runner’s World. He’s a former all-conference collegiate runner at Winthrop University, and he received his master’s degree in liberal arts studies from Wake Forest University, where he was a member of one of the top distance-running teams in the NCAA. Kahler has reported on the ground at major events such as the Paris Olympics, U.S. Olympic Trials, New York City Marathon, and Boston Marathon. He’s run 14:20 in the 5K, 1:05:36 in the half marathon, and enjoys spotting tracks from the sky on airplanes. (Look for colorful ovals around football fields.)
Taylor Dutch is a writer and editor living in Austin, Texas, and a former NCAA track athlete who specializes in fitness, wellness, and endurance sports coverage. Her work has appeared in Runner’s World, SELF, Bicycling, Outside, and Podium Runner.
