Did the Olympic Channel just unknowingly reveal how Des Linden (and Yuki) won 2018 Boston? Des has a 19.6% body fat percentage

Here is the article from 2018 where we talked about body fat % briefly.

it might help her some but she won Boston also because she is tough as nails and seems to always get the most out of herself no matter the day or conditions. She is super reliable.

She was also second at Boston in 2011 when it wasn't cold at all. Do you think Kawauchi has a high body fat percentage as well or is it because both are really tenacious runners? Maybe not the fastest but toughest.

I am surprised that Wejo has dismissed the statistically significant body fat difference of Desiree compared to other female marathon runners as hypothesized by none other than his very own twin brother. Science indicates that women swimmers have more body fat than other athletes partly due to resistance to cold and this would support Rojos hypothesis.

https://www.velopress.com/whats-your-body-type-cyclist-runner-triathlete-rower-or-swimmer/

Please can you bros stop the bickering.? I hope this site doesn't end up with only two twin brothers posting vitriol all day long. Would you guys please shake hands and move on?

No way her BF is 20%

Let it be clear. I think the world of Des. She almost won in 2011. Yes, you have to be a stud. I'm not denything that.

I'm not sayings it's the only reason why she won but a key reason. Perhaps the title isn't clear but I only had like 118 or 128 characters to work with. I didn't have enough space to write, " Did the Olympic Channel just unknowingly reveal a key reason as to how Des Linden (and Yuki) won 2018 Boston? Des has a 19.6% body fat percentage".

But yes, my theory would be that Yuki also has a higher body fat % than your average pro. His legs seem a little thicker to me. Even if that's disproven, I don't think it invalidates the higher %R helpign Des.

it could just be that's he's used to grinding out sub 220s all the time in less than ideal conditions.

That number seemed shockingly high to me. Perhaps it's off or mismeasured. Still I'm glad it was presented on tv as that high as it gave me a good excuse to bring up this less than PC topic. I've been wondering this since the race finished but didn't have the guts to ask it directly as people freak out if you talk about body types. But since Des was cool with her body fat % being discussed, I said, "Ok, let's do this."

I knew that you would fight back against your brothers dismissal of you thoughts. You guys need to go into couples therapy and work out your aggression toward one another. For the sake of this site, I hope you both can work through your anger.

The higher BF percentage probably plays a role in long-term durability as well and decreased risk of injury.

And resistance to cold like a walrus. Wejo are you going to refute your brothers statistically significant observation while not PC or are you going to fold and give Rojo a win?

Comparing dexascan results to underwater weighing, impedance, or calipers is comparing apples to oranges. Dexascan are always much higher

Les wrote:

She was also second at Boston in 2011 when it wasn't cold at all. Do you think Kawauchi has a high body fat percentage as well or is it because both are really tenacious runners? Maybe not the fastest but toughest.

i think you're right. they both seem like very tough runners - a characteristic that played in their favor that day

Apparently DEXA Scan technology is superior.

https://www.compositionid.com/blog/dexa/dexa-scan-vs-hydrostatic-weighing-for-body-fat-analysis/

So we know she ran the Boston marathon like a Seal and was immune to the cold. I think Rojo is in the lead.

I suspect that she has such a high body fat % because she has crap genetics compared to her peers. She sucked in college and had to grind away for years before becoming a serious threat. She's all heart and hard work. A-level athletes can glance at a weight room and they have a 6-pack the next morning.

But ya, her higher body fat had to be helpful in those awful conditions. For the greyhounds like Hasay and Rupp, the race was likely lost before it ever began.

I heard she had four cups of Des Coffee before the race and with the combination of fat, whiskey and coffee, she was the only female that remained warm through the Boston marathon, but that is just anecdotal, so don't quote me.

Agreed. Need independent testing before I believe the 20%.

I also remember the TV commentator at the start saying that half of the elite women have already decided they are beat.

Des was just tougher than the rest. Michigan winters, go figure.

Yes, it was absolutely the reason she won Boston. I don't buy the "tough as nails" thing for one second. The Kenyans are "tough as nails" too - they got hypothermia and lost by 10 minutes.

Talk to people who ran the race in the 2:50 range and many of them ran good races too

Assuming Kawauchi has a high body fat percentage (which you have no proof whatsover of) and assuming Linden and Kawauchi were not the only runners at Boston with high body fat, then the top finishers should be skewed toward higher body fat runners. Do your research and come back and report to us. It's on you because you posted the assertion originally.

gjk Tri ijn be to k wrote:

No way her BF is 20%

20% is believable. I've always thought super low body fat was overrated in running. The negative health effects of what many people do to get to low body fat negates the small gains from slightly lower weight.

Not a runner, but I've done a quick estimate of body fat using skinfold calipers on the upper arm for my skinny, sub-100 lb 5'4 sister. A one point test is not that accurate, but the table for that said she was around 28%. You'd never guess looking at her.

ThickThighs wrote:

Des was just tougher than the rest. Michigan winters, go figure.

Given that runners need a couple of weeks to acclimatise to running in heat (and altitude), I wouldn't be surprised if the same is true for extremes of cold.

I'm sure someone with a "central governor" type explanation will show up