Underdog
Dakotah Lindwurm: The Walk-On Who Worked Her Way To The Olympics
Words by Sarah Barker
On paper, Dakotah Lindwurm was a long shot to make the Olympic marathon team. Her high school and college running resumes were modest, especially compared to the NXN and NCAA champions also on the start line. She had the eighth fastest time going into the Olympic Trials Marathon. LetsRun didn’t include her in their top eight picks, and put her at #10 of eleven on their dark horse list.
But hers is a story not captured by statistics. Self-belief, grit, resilience, passion—these things can’t be measured but are every bit as responsible for her Olympic berth as months of meticulously planned workouts.
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“I didn’t have doubts,” Lindwurm said. “I must have texted my dad ten to 15 times before the Trials to get his passport. I truly believed I was going to make that team.”
Periods of homelessness, losing her mom to cancer, married right out of college and divorced—any one of these challenges might have derailed her. But they didn’t. In fact, they made her stronger.
“I’ve always had this belief that I was going to do something great, that I had the ability. I felt it in my heart and soul. That I wasn’t going to live this normal life. I could do something amazing if I worked hard for it,”
Beginings
Dakotah is the only child of Shawn and Connie Bullen. She grew up in St. Francis, about 40 miles north of the Twin Cities. Like a lot of Minnesota kids, she started playing hockey in second grade—her first Olympic dreams involved skates, not running shoes. Her parents divorced when she was in elementary school, and shortly after that, her mom started suffering a debilitating array of symptoms, including fatigue so severe that sometimes she couldn’t get out of bed. Eventually, she couldn’t work. Connie Bullen went to doctor after doctor but no one could provide a diagnosis, and without a diagnosis, she couldn’t get financial assistance to help pay rent. When Dakotah was in middle school, she and her mom sometimes stayed with relatives but sometimes had to make do by sleeping in their car in a Walmart parking lot. This, at a time when many of Dakotah’s classmates were feeling deprived because they didn’t have the latest smartphone or $150 sneakers. She wasn’t immune to the unfairness. Some in her situation would have used this as an excuse for bad behavior or failure at school and socially.
“Partly, that’s not who I am,” Dakotah said. “I am not one to lash out in general. My mom was going through so much mentally, being misdiagnosed. She was so unlike the mom I knew as a child. I could see it was wearing on her. Me being mean about that would only make her feel worse. We were in a system, and I was determined not to fall into the traps of being a bad student or not turning in my homework. The way out of that, as I saw it, was working hard and making sure I did better for myself. Being outwardly angry toward my mom wouldn’t have changed anything. We were a bit of a team—she was honestly my very best friend.”
“I knew I was going to do something big because I was always told I was going to do something big”
Afraid their homelessness would jeopardize her ability to stay with her mom, Dakotah didn’t mention it when she stayed with her dad. But when he chastised her for not keeping her phone charged, she couldn’t keep the secret any longer. In an amazing display of generosity, Shawn Bullen immediately stepped up and rented a townhome where they could all live together, creating a family unit rather than merely subsidizing an apartment for Dakotah and Connie. And this was key to Dakotah’s growing sense of self, that she was loved and important.
“Stability was more than just housing. My mom’s health issues were pretty severe. Even after she was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, getting the right medicine was a really long process. To have my dad there gave me extra stability. He could drive me to hockey practice or to my friend’s house. When I look back at it, having two parents who 100% told me I could do whatever I wanted if I worked hard was really important. They believed in me. My mom said, ‘Dakotah, I don’t know what you’re here to do in this world, but you’re going to do something amazing. You’re going to change the world.’ Maybe that was just the mom in her talking, but her always having such high belief in me…I knew I was going to do something big because I was always told I was going to do something big. I have incredible memories with my mom. It was not always easy, but that made me a gritty person. I never look back and say I wish my childhood had been different.”
falling in Love with running
By eighth grade Dakotah was the starting goalie for St. Francis/North Branch, living and breathing hockey. This mono-focus didn’t sit well with her mom, who encouraged her to broaden her activity horizons. Dakotah considered tennis but couldn’t abide the wardrobe requirements—skirts—so she went out for track her freshman year. She did not show immediate talent. By her own admission, she was “terrible.” Other 14-year-olds might have been disheartened and quit, but Dakotah dug in and started working harder at practice and running on the weekends.
“It’s so natural to me to get better if I’m bad at something,” she said. “You know, my dad’s the hardest worker I know. He was up at 2 am, 3 am, to go to work. If he doesn’t know how to do something, he figures it out. Having that example, it doesn’t feel like there’s any other option.”
She continued to play hockey in the winter and summer all the way through high school but thoughts of playing in college were fading. Instead, she found herself falling in love with running.
“In track and cross country, working harder meant measurable improvement. In hockey, I might have a great game but we still lost. With running, if I worked harder, I got faster. And it was so social and fun. When you’re the goalie, you’re in the net by yourself.”
One can imagine the bubbly, ever-smiling Dakotah jogging along with her teammates, chatting and laughing, in the moment, as high schoolers are. Little risk of overthinking. Certainly, she put in the work and saw improvement, but it was largely in service of being a contributing member of the team. By her senior year, she estimated her long run was 7 or 8 miles, with no more than 30 miles/week. That year she finished the Roy Griak Cross Country Invitational in 169th place in 22:09 (just over 7-minute/mile pace), and graduated with PRs in track of 5:35 for 1600 meters, and 11:56 for 3200 meters. “I never made it to the state meet. It wasn’t even very close, to be honest,” she laughed.
For perspective, Fiona O’Keeffe, who won the Olympic Trials Marathon and will be a teammate of Dakotah’s in Paris this summer, placed fourth in the Nike Cross Country Nationals as a sophomore in high school in 17:31, a 5:39 minute/mile pace. O’Keeffe won the California State 3200 meter race in 2016, and was a two-time California state cross country champion. Sara Hall, one of many highly decorated women at the Trials Marathon, finished her high school career with a 4:46 best at 1600 meters, and 10:11 at 3200 meters. Olympic teammate in the marathon, Emily Sisson, was already a seasoned international competitor by the time she graduated from high school, having set a U.S. national record for high school girls of 15:48 for 5000 meters.
Those women’s impressive high school stories could already be told in places, minutes and seconds. It must also be said that a fair number of high schoolers who won state championships never ran again. While Dakotah’s high school times were indeed modest, the groundwork was laid for an untapped aerobic beast who simply loved running.
She wasn’t recruited by any college, but Northern State track and cross country coach Kevin Bjerke thinks Dakotah likely received a general letter from their DII program. “I was so in love with running, I would have kept doing it even if I had not walked on. I had improved pretty substantially every year in high school, which made me think I was not anywhere near my ceiling. And I’d been playing sports ever since I could remember—not being on a team was a scary thought. I loved the camaraderie, so I thought, why not give it a shot?”
After a visit to the Aberdeen, South Dakota campus, Bjerke invited Dakotah to walk on to the team. “I saw she had a great personality and would be a good fit for the team, even if she didn’t blossom as a runner,” he said.
Running 40 to 50 miles/week as a freshman was quite a jump from the 30 miles she’d been doing in high school, but she seemed to handle it well, and was consistently the third to fifth runner in cross country that fall (2013).
In track, Dakotah went immediately to the 10,000 meters. “There was zero question,” Bjerke said. “Her form, her ability to just float through long runs and recover quickly—everything about her just screamed distance runner.”
Dakotah and freshman teammate Sasha Hovind had come into Northern State with the same high school PRs, but Sasha improved dramatically that first year. “Sophomore year, Sasha made nationals. I was far from making nationals. I sat there and watched her raise that trophy over her head and thought, I had the same PRs as she did; there’s no reason I couldn’t be there. She took me under her wing and said, ‘Here’s everything I did. You can do it too.’”
It was apparent to everyone that longer was better for Dakotah. Bjerke sent the runners home for the summer with instructions to get in some local 5Ks and 10Ks, but Dakotah found an advertisement for the Eugene Curnow Trail Marathon and couldn’t let go of the idea.. “When I asked Coach Bjerke about doing it, he said absolutely not!” She persisted, bargaining that she’d do it really slowly, like a long run rather than a race. That promise fell by the wayside when she got to an aid station and was informed that the first woman was only a minute ahead. Dakotah won the 2014 Eugene Curnow in 4:21. And the 2015 version in 3:57. And 2016 in 4:01.
With gradual increase in volume came steady improvement in performances. By her senior year, she was putting in a 16-mile long run, and topped out at 80 miles/week. She laughed remembering that the guys on the team weren’t thrilled when she showed up for the long run because they knew she’d push the pace, especially at the end—6:30, 6:20. Now, of course, they’re taking credit for her success.
“Eighty miles a week is flirting with risk versus reward,” Bjerke said. “But Dakotah had such a nice progression, and just ate up all the miles I could throw at her with ease. She had one major injury her senior cross country season, so she got a fifth cross country season, and graduated in December 2017.”
Her Northern State career included five nationals qualifiers and two All-American honors in cross country and track, and PRs of 16:47 for 5,000 meters, and 34:57 for 10,000 meters.
Coming back to her apartment after the last cross country national meet in 2017 was a bit of a shock. A big empty. She’d been part of a team since second grade. What now?
“She was interested in continuing to run after college, and it was clear she had a love for it,” Bjerke said. “I thought the [2020] Olympic Trials Marathon was a fairly achievable goal. Her tempo runs are 6:10, 6:20 with ease. I had very little doubt about her being able to qualify for the Trials, which I think was 2:45, but at that time, there was very little indication she’d be under 2:30 and knocking on the door to the best marathoners in the country. Honestly, I thought making the Trials would be the pinnacle achievement of her post-collegiate running.”
MInnesota Distance Elite
The team atmosphere seemed to suit her, so Bjerke first contacted Andrew Carlson, a former pro runner with Minnesota Distance Elite, and then the coach of the group, Chris Lundstrom. Though Dakotah didn’t have the times to qualify as a full member of the team, Lundstrom invited her to train with the team. She moved to the Twin Cities in early 2018, got a substitute teaching job, and started her post-collegiate running as a walk-on. Again.
Even for those coming out of college with NCAA titles, pro running is a gamble that, even in the best of circumstances, barely allows athletes to pay rent and keep up with their student loans. Graduate school, career, family, and major purchases usually have to be put on hold. For most, going pro is a limited time experiment. But Dakotah did not give herself a deadline.
“That would have been a wise thing to do, but no. I thought I would do it as long as I loved it. I thought as long as I worked hard, something would work out. That was incredibly naive, I know.”
If there was anything she excelled at, it was hard work. Logging 80 to 90 miles/week, she notched a 1:16 at the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon the summer of 2018. That and solid performances at shorter races earned her a full membership on Minnesota Distance Elite. Her first go at racing the marathon, California International in late 2018, ended in a DNF, a tough learning experience. She came back to place fourth at the 2019 Grandma’s Marathon in 2:34, well clear of the 2:45 needed to qualify for the 2020 Olympic Trials Marathon. Again, that performance far exceeded anything that her running resume to date would have predicted. Both coach and athlete were delighted, but not surprised.
“The marathon is clearly her best event,” Lundstrom said, “and it’s not a distance that’s contested in college. And it takes a few years to get near your potential because of the demands of the event. Also, as a D2 runner from a small high school, she was not exposed to the kind of high level competition a D1 runner might have had. A D2 runner like Dakotah might have more potential in the marathon than it would appear on paper.”
Practicalities of paying rent aside, she liked the balance of having something in her life besides running, so she always had at least one part-time job. In early 2020, her mom was diagnosed with an aggressive form of lung cancer. Connie moved in with her daughter so Dakotah could more easily care for her. Connie Bullen, her inspiration, her best friend, passed away May 30, 2020, at the age of 49. It was a huge blow, but made her even more committed to her mom’s belief in her destiny.
While some pros top out at 80 miles/week, Dakotah thrived on high mileage, gradually increasing to 110 then 120 miles/week over the next four years, notably without injury. Nothing mysterious really—she was consistent, year in, year out, putting in the work. She won Grandma’s Marathon again in 2021 and 2022, competed well in a field of the best runners in the world at the Boston Marathon in 2022 and 2023, and lowered her PR to 2:24 at the 2023 Chicago Marathon, and still, still, names like Emily Sisson, Sara Hall, Keira D’Amato, Betsy Saina, Molly Seidel, and Aliphine Tuliamuk far overshadowed Dakotah Lindwurm in the media.
“I like the challenge of getting better. It puts a chip on my shoulder. You know, underdog is a role I like to play. I never would have fallen in love with running the way I did if I had been good at it right away. I wouldn’t get that dopamine rush of seeing big improvements.”
2024 olympic trials
After the Chicago Marathon her focus shifted to the Olympic Trials Marathon, three-and-a-half months away. She moved to Florida in December to acclimate, cleared the calendar of all races, and settled on a plan to build to 130 miles/week—ambitious, but supported by her history.
“Coach Lundstrom has been really good about building me up slowly and cautiously. I’d topped out at 120 miles/week for the last several marathons, and it had gone well, so I suggested 130 miles. I thought I could handle it. When I get into those high mileage weeks, I’m so tired my body doesn’t have time to process how much it’s doing. When I get into the taper I feel worse because my body has time to tell me my quads hurt. But for those 4 to 6 weeks before a marathon, I’m comfortable being in that zombie state.”
Lundstrom, too, was comfortable with the “subtle shift” from 120 miles/week to 130. “She’s incredibly consistent, and takes care of the little things. And she doesn’t go out and jog—her miles are at an honest clip.”
“I have this self belief that I was going to do something great, that I had the ability. I felt it in my heart and soul, I wasn’t going to live this normal life. I could do something amazing if I worked hard for it.”
Dakotah had the eighth fastest marathon PR going into the Olympic Trials in Orlando, which may be close to the front of the field, but this is not horseshoes. She was not getting a lot of pre-race attention from the media. Yet she and Coach Lundstrom were quite optimistic.
“Other than Betsy Saina, I didn’t believe anyone else had as good a buildup as I did. There was not a single workout where I wished it had gone better. I was near or faster on every workout than I’ve ever run.”
Lundstrom, too, thought a top three finish was doable. “We talked about it. Looking at the list of PRs, those are times people have run on the very best day of their life, which might have been ten years ago. You have to set those aside. A third of the women will not be in shape or injured or not really prepared. Another third will do something not optimal—freaking out because it’s the Olympic Trials, going out too fast. We thought if Dakotah could control her effort and run a smart race on that day, her odds looked a lot better than by simply looking at everyone’s PRs.”
The plan was to be “unseen and unheard” as long as possible, moving up by stealth, but seeing her family at the start of the second loop (of four), she got excited and took the lead briefly. Self-belief or no, she stifled it and faded back into the chase pack. Around 22 miles, when the rubber hit the road, and she was battling Caroline Rotich for that third spot, her mantra came out, one she’s used since college—I am strong, I am fast, my speed will last. She didn’t speed up, she just kept her pace. Relentlessly, steadily. But Rotich hung on just in her wake. The strain showed—her signature smile didn’t appear until steps before the tape, where she joined fellow Olympic teammates Fiona O’Keeffe and Emily Sisson.
“I think I was just in shock. All my hard work, and deep belief in myself had finally paid off!”
Minnesotan in paris
Puma, Dakotah’s sponsor, flew her and Coach Lundstrom to Paris to preview the Olympic marathon course. Here was Lundstrom’s assessment: “It’s fairly flat in central Paris, but then you run out to Versailles, ten miles over what would appear to be a small mountain range. It’s mind-boggling. I’ve never seen anything like that in a road marathon. It’s going to come down to who can handle that terrain and then be able to run the last 10K.”
Media attention has added another element to Dakotah’s schedule since February. Seeing her struggling to recover, former Minnesota Distance Elite teammate Katie Jermann advised Dakotah to pay attention to self-care. “I told her she didn’t have to always be 100 percent,” Jermann said. “Dakotah at 60 percent is more than most of us are on our very best day.”
In May, Dakotah focused on some shorter races, before starting her build toward the August Olympic marathon. As of May, she was still working as a paralegal and coaching others through Team Run Run, but says she’ll pull back on work once marathon training starts.
Dakotah joins a proud legacy of track and field Olympians from Minnesota. Of course there’s Carrie Tollefson (1500m, 2004) who provided commentary for the 2024 Olympic Trials Marathon. Others that come to mind are: Joe Klecker (10,000m, 2021), Mason Ferlic (steeplechase, 2021), Payton Otterdahl (Shot put, 2021), Ben Blankenship (1500m, 2016), Garry Bjorklund (10,000m, 1976), Janice Klecker (marathon, 1992), Ron Daws (marathon, 1968), Buddy Edelen (marathon, 1964), Shani Marks (triple jump, 2008), Steve Placensia (10,000m, 1988 and 1992), Bob Kempainen (marathon, 1992 and 1996), Kara Goucher (5000m / 10,000m 2008, marathon 2012). There are many more.
Like Dakotah, many of these Olympians were long shots to make the team at the time. Something to do with the weather, or Minnesota’s position in the Midwest, or our understated nature. In fact, Dakotah sees these as reasons Minnesota has so many dedicated runners. “You have to be a gritty human, trudging through the snow to get to the bus stop. Everything is kind of hard. I mean, how hard can a 5K be when a few months ago you had to shovel out your car?
“If you can survive a winter here, you can survive a marathon.”
Self-belief is nothing without the hard work
It’s the first really steamy day in the Twin Cities. Dakotah and twelve of her Minnesota Distance Elite teammates are on Washburn High School’s track, stretching, doing drills, changing from trainers to faster trainers. A media team follows Dakotah around, getting a closeup of her shoes, the sheen of sweat on her face, the banter between teammates, the tattoo on her calf: Let us run with endurance the race God has set before us, from Hebrews 12:1. It’s controlled chaos, Coach Lundstrom says as he juggles three watches, since people are at different points in their training for different races. Dakotah and Annie Frisbie will be heading to New York City in a few days to race the Mini 10K Women’s Race. They’ve got a descending ladder—1600, 1200, 800, 400, and 4 x 200, with minimal rest.
Game face on, Dakotah takes the lead for the 1600.
“They were supposed to shoot for about 5-minute pace, but they just came through in 70 seconds, so about 4:40 pace,” Lundstrom says. “Must be a bit of adrenalin.”
As the intervals get shorter, Annie’s speed and Dakotah’s claim to fame as a never-say-die marathoner become apparent.
“Cowboy, take me away,” Dakotah laughs as they blast off for a 400.
contributors
sarah barker
Sarah Barker lives and runs in St. Paul. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Deadspin, Runner’s World, and elsewhere.
Track Photos: Isaiah Rustad
Isaiah Rustad is a photographer based in the Twin Cities. His work revolves around sports, live events, and anything else involving action. Running photography is a new passion of Isaiah’s. In the past year he’s photographed for Mill City Running, TC Running Company, Providence Academy Track and Field, and more. His portfolio of work can be found at isaiahrustad.com/running