BOSTON — Desiree Linden thought about dropping out of the Boston Marathon on Monday. She wasn’t drinking enough fluids and was afraid of getting cramps in her legs. Teeming rain, strong winds and the coldest temperatures in 30 years made racing that much more challenging.

Instead, she became the first American woman to win the race in 33 years, finishing in 2 hours 39 minutes 54 seconds.

“This is storybook stuff,” Linden said afterward. “I got out here in 2007 and debuted as a nobody. To win on this course and in this race with that support group that has always believed in runners — and believed in me — is just awesome.”

Linden, who was born in California, said her desire to run the course in Boston was the reason she started running marathons. She has a golden retriever named Boston, and had another named Miles who died last year. She has finished in the top 10 four times, and her previous highest finish was a second-place berth in 2011. At 34, she is the first American woman to win in Boston since Lisa Larsen Weidenbach did so in 1985. It was also Linden’s first major marathon victory.