Des Linden isn’t sure if this is her 12th Boston Marathon or her 13th. She had to resort to counting on her fingers last week, while the BAA’s Mary-Kate Shea was on the phone trying to confirm the number. Next month’s race will be Linden’s 12th Boston — the discrepancy probably lies in a 2008 visit for the Olympic Marathon Trials, held in Boston the day before Patriots Day — and eighth in a row, as the 2018 champion has become as much a fixture of Marathon Monday as the Newton Firehouse or a Red Sox matinee. Even 18 years after her first trip down Boylston Street, coming to Boston remains a thrill. “I still get really excited for this race,” Linden said. “It’s one of those things that I can put on the calendar, and it’s easy to get out the door. Like, I had New York prior to this, and I was so unmotivated for New York because I was excited for Boston. That’s always how it’s been for me.” The challenge is a little different for Linden, 41, at this stage of her career. As the next wave of athletes get faster and faster — this year’s field boasts 10 women with personal bests under 2 hours, 11 minutes — Linden likely won’t be jostling at the front in the final miles. Linden isn’t alone in her age group, with this year’s field laden with women still running at an extraordinary level in their 40s. The ageless Edna Kiplagat, the 2017 and 2021 champion, is still in the mix at 45; Keira D’Amato, 40, the American record-holder as recently as 2022, will race her first Boston; and 41-year-old Sara Hall, the second-fastest American woman in Boston last year and fifth-place finisher at the 2024 Olympic trials, is back for another go. “It’s actually funny,” Linden said, ”It’s one of those things where I feel like we’re almost just waiting each other out, like, ‘You quit first, no you quit first,’ and no, everyone’s still running really well.” “So, it’s kind of frustrating,” Linden added with a laugh. Already with a Boston crown and little left to prove, the goals have started to change for Linden. “I think it’s hard to watch the front run away and not really be competitive, but that’s where I’m at in my career,” she said. “So, it’s adjusting. Is [the goal] top American, is it running a really great time for myself right now? The one thing that hasn’t changed is the course is really technical and challenging and hard. I can go in there and suffer all day long and feel like if I get to the end and played all my cards right out there, then I think that’s a really good day.” Few top pros know that technical, challenging course quite like Linden, who has only missed one Boston — the 2016 race, which she had no choice but to skip as she prepared for that summer’s Olympics — since 2014. Even still, the road from Hopkinton to Back Bay always has some tricks up its sleeve. “It’s always surprising,” Linden said. “I’ll get out there and be like, ‘I think I took a wrong turn, because this [mile] 9 to 11 looks unfamiliar.’ When you’re out there with no crowds and stuff, you learn little things and you see different things. “But I will say, this trip, the course felt a lot flatter than usual.” Famous last words, even for a former champion. Giving Day sets fund-raising record The BAA announced last week’s Boston Marathon Giving Day raised $1.87 million, a record. The race’s fund-raising efforts have been boosted over the last couple of years through its partnership with Bank of America. Last year’s Marathon, the 128th, raised $71.9 million, with a record $45.7 million raised directly through the charity program’s nonprofit organizations. “In 2024, for the first time there was a comprehensive, altogether effort,” said Jack Fleming, CEO of the BAA. ”There wasn’t one approach for teams that were smaller and a different approach for teams that were larger.” Giving Day brought together athletes and representatives from 176 nonprofit organizations for a celebratory event at Bank of America’s Federal Street location last Thursday. “I believe that when we put together events like this and shine a positive light on what they’re doing, it does help them,” said Fleming. “When you have [176] charities in a room and they’re talking about, ‘Hey, have you tried this?’ They’re really helping each other. They’re not competitive. They’re cooperative.”