Shalane Flanagan improves to 2:35:04

hurrikane wrote:

this is the equivalent to Ryan Hall's deadlift mile.

a decent accomplishment if they can pull it off, but it's a long way from where they used to be.

Sorry, I just can't be impressed with it.

Nope this is way better. Wish more pros did it.

She is likely making a great appearance fee for each marathon, but who cares, she is making appearances.

Jealous of the sub elite men and women who get run alongside her.

I wish marathons would more routinely entice pros to run the races, even if they just jog it in. Could you imagine running a marathon next to a bona fide, albeit washed up, pro?

Wow, he really had to REACH to get to that hate. Lame.

Free_the_thigh wrote:

Nope this is way better. Wish more pros did it.

She is likely making a great appearance fee for each marathon, but who cares, she is making appearances.

Jealous of the sub elite men and women who get run alongside her.

I wish marathons would more routinely entice pros to run the races, even if they just jog it in. Could you imagine running a marathon next to a bona fide, albeit washed up, pro?

About 7 or 8 years ago, I ran the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler next to Bill Rodgers. At one point he asked me (well, actually he asked the person next to him, who happened to be me) if we had passed a certain mile marker yet. That memory has always been really special to me.

Retired elites like Bill Rodgers or Joan Samuelson running the race do a LOT to promote the sport, IMHO.

This is awesome and good for the sport. Can’t wait to see her strategy next week.

cruising usa wrote:

multiday running expert wrote:

She might not even get her sub 3 hours in. Which was the overall goal for her marathon series.

I think she can get a sub 3 any day of the week if you have the lifetime training she does. If you're in her shape you can basically have a broken femur and run one.

I've run sub 3 with an actual torn hamstring myself. Also ran one off a full stomach just after lunch for fun one day. a 6:52 pace isn't that hard.

These next 2 races will definitely be the hardest part of the challenge. Doesn't help that it will be warm days for both.

Damn, I had a slight tear in my hamstring and I couldn't even jog for a month without pain that would throw my stride off. Took me a month to off to walk fast with no pain.

When I grow up I hope I'm as bad-ass as you.

Shows the impact of the super shoes on recovery. Never would have done that with the shoes from 20 years ago.

NERunner0353 wrote:

Wonder if she had 2:27:47 in the back of her head

. Surely she could take that down without racing the way she is. I mean she was pretty close to that pace through 30k, a week after Berlin. Super impressive. Hope she runs something in the spring.

This. If she has a 2:25 in her, wouldn’t be better publicity to just take Deena’s masters record down?

Film Rep wrote:

This feels like a dumb stunt to distract from the Nike/Burrito Truck Club failures and the offal nandro scandal

+1

Lost all respect for this blatant doper defender. Looks like she was in on it, the way she reacted.

yep. far more impressed by Diver's 2:27. 2 kids, 44 years young. competing in the women's only group. would guess that, as a "Nike coach" in Portland, there is no one with greater resources to stay healthy and fit than SF. do we have to be impressed, as she "carefully navigated the water station with masses"?

Agree. The 2:27 by the 44 year young Diver was a heck of a run. It seems to be missed amongst the race discussion. The Shalane thing is utter nonsense. Her team is falling to pieces back in the States and she's on some month long self glorification tour. And with the team physio for that matter. Why can't anyone retire gracefully anymore?

I think running 2:35 given her two knee surgeries and back to back weekends doing marathons is impressive. However, if you look at her splits, she really crashed in the last 10k. Her IG story mentioned that she went out too fast and paid the price. There is no way to know for sure if she shut it way down from 40k to the finish or if that is truly all she had left. I really wonder what shape she is in, or what she could have run today if she hadn't run Berlin. Maybe 2:29?

I am very curious to see how she fares next weekend since this effort likely took a bit more out of her than she expected. I'd guess she runs a conservative low 2:50s in Chicago, then tries to negative split Boston to stay under 3 hours. That last 10 miles in Boston is going to be really painful with the cumulative fatigue she will have in her legs.

Questioning wrote:

Am I the only one that thinks this is not a great idea?

She has had knee surgery and was given tissue from a donor (deceased). Seems foolish and disrespectful to the donor to possibly shred it with such a feat.

Seriously, why is she doing this???

Flagpole wrote:

not sure wrote:

more than 3 miles behind the winner and nearly, as much off her pb...is this really something amazing? "oh, but she raced last week with more races to come..oh, but she's retired...oh, but she's 40"...ok

Why slam her at all? Seriously? Yes, she is RETIRED as a serious professional runner, and she is 40 years old. I just don't understand why someone who reads and posts here on a RUNNING MESSAGE BOARD would decide to rip on her at all. Good freakin' grief dude, re-evaluate your life.

I normally agree with your posts, but I think in this case the poster you are responding to was mainly reacting to the hyperbole that this is some sort of epic comeback from retirement as opposed to ripping on her.

It was a very solid run but I don't think it signals she's going to unretire and win a major marathon.

as read on Letsrun wrote:

Flagpole wrote:

Why slam her at all? Seriously? Yes, she is RETIRED as a serious professional runner, and she is 40 years old. I just don't understand why someone who reads and posts here on a RUNNING MESSAGE BOARD would decide to rip on her at all. Good freakin' grief dude, re-evaluate your life.

I normally agree with your posts, but I think in this case the poster you are responding to was mainly reacting to the hyperbole that this is some sort of epic comeback from retirement as opposed to ripping on her.

It was a very solid run but I don't think it signals she's going to unretire and win a major marathon.

I think you didn't read that correctly. He is clearly slamming her.

who cares?

high school xc coach wrote:

im sure she can still fight to be a 2:25 runner on a fast course, but that's not competitive at this point and maybe not good enough for her. So she is doing this type of gimmick, which is probably more appealing than going the ultra route.

But you know, you do enough races at these kind of paces and you get competitive with yourself. Maybe she will gear up to see just how fast she can go.

I think that's what keeps most of us in it. Clearly she still loves running, even if she doesn't have a chance to be the best anymore.

I respect her. To me, she's one of the GOATs who loves the game and is still competitive. Think Jerry Rice with OAK and later, DEN; he had lost a step by '02 but he was still talented and a threat.

cruising usa wrote:

multiday running expert wrote:

She might not even get her sub 3 hours in. Which was the overall goal for her marathon series.

I think she can get a sub 3 any day of the week if you have the lifetime training she does. If you're in her shape you can basically have a broken femur and run one.

I've run sub 3 with an actual torn hamstring myself. Also ran one off a full stomach just after lunch for fun one day. a 6:52 pace isn't that hard.

These next 2 races will definitely be the hardest part of the challenge. Doesn't help that it will be warm days for both.

6:52 is difficult for a lot of people over 26.2 miles.

Here is the insta-story you are referencing. She says her stomach does not feel good (it's the 4th or 5th one and first one with video).

Funny little thing from the results on the London app. Flanagan is listed as the first placed club runner. She's also listed as British.

https://ibb.co/GPhT91N