Shalane Flanagan Wins 2012 Olympic Marathon Trials
By David Monti
(c) 2012 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved
January 14, 2012
HOUSTON (14-Jan) -- Running in only her second marathon, Shalane
Flanagan showed a mastery of the distance in winning the USA Olympic
Marathon Trials here today.
Flanagan, 30, who is coached by Jerry Schumacher within the
Nike-sponsored Oregon Track Club Elite, ran with the leaders from the
gun, but saved enough energy to pull away from her primary rival,
Desiree Davila, at the 40-K mark. Clocking 2:25:38, she shattered the
previous Trials record by about three minutes.
"The last mile was a cross between savoring the moment and just being
really grateful that I was almost done," said the 2008 Olympic bronze
medalist at 10,000m. "I knew Desi was charging hard, and I told myself
that I just had to have one last gear if she came up on me. So, I tried
to approach it like a track race, and know that it's a hard last mile,
so if Desi pulls up I've got to have something."
In just two marathons, Flanagan has finished second (New York, 2010,
2:28:40) and first here. The smoothness she showed in the final miles
provided ample evidence that she was totally prepared.
"Literally, I didn't enjoy that last mile; it felt really long," she
said. "Just couldn't wait for the finish line to get there."
After her runner-up finish in New York, Flanagan dedicated the first
quarter of last year to her cross country career, winning the USA title
and winning the bronze medal at the IAAF World Championships. She went
back to the track in the spring, running 30:39.57 for 10,000m, 14:45.20
for 5000m, winning the USA title at 10,000m, and finishing seventh at
the IAAF World Championships in the same discipline.
Flanagan went back to endurance training in the late summer, and started
her marathon build-up. She didn't race again until November 13, when
she ran her first of two tune-up races at the Rock 'n' Roll San Antonio
Half-Marathon in 1:10:49, followed-up by a 1:09:58 at the Dodge Latin
Music Miami Beach Half-Marathon on December 11. The latter effort was
impressive because of extremely windy conditions, and showed that
Flanagan was ready for her race today.
Midway during her marathon training, she began to do some of her
workouts with Kara Goucher who had joined her training group. Even
though Goucher was about a month behind Flanagan in her training due to
an injury, the two women nonetheless helped each other both to get ready
for the race, and to execute their race plans today.
"It felt very comforting to know that Kara was in the race today,"
Flanagan said. "There were a couple of times we pulled up next to each
other. It just made it feel like were were at home working out, and
kind of had this level of calming effect for me. Kara said just the
other day as were doing our shake out, she looked at me and she's like
I'm so happy that I'm not doing this alone. We've had a great journey
together, and I think it's going to get even better now that we get to
train full-time for London."
Now that Flanagan has finished well in tactical races with no
pacemakers, she has already begun to think about how fast she can run,
and what it would take to win a medal in London.
"That's encouraging," she said of her time today. "When I ran my first
marathon it was 2:28:40, but I knew on that day I was in better shape.
I knew I was capable of something like this. I believe I'm capable of
something even faster, because this was tactical and we were all over
the board with some of our splits. It just shows that there is more
work to be done to put myself in contention in London."
1 Shalane Flanagan 30 Oregon TC Elite 2:25:38
2 Desiree Davila 28 Hansons-Brooks Distance Project 2:25:55 +0:17
3 Kara Goucher 33 Oregon TC Elite 2:26:06 +0:28
4 Amy Hastings 27 unattached 2:27:17 +1:39
5 Janet Cherobon-Bawcom 33 Atlanta Track Club 2:29:45 +4:07
6 Deena Kastor 38 unattached 2:30:40 +5:02
7 Clara Grandt 24 RIADHA 2:30:46 +5:08
8 Alissa McKaig 25 ZAP Fitness Reebok 2:31:56 +6:18
9 Dot McMahan 35 Hansons-Brooks Distance Project 2:32:16 +6:38
10 Magdalena Lewy Boulet 38 unattached 2:33:42 +8:04
*Full Results
More: Deena: "I have no idea. This was not in my plans...I really thought I was going to book my ticket to London today"
On the boards: Surprises from the Trials
*Will Deena Kastor retire now?
Your Olympic Team Reacts |
Women's Post Race Press Conference |
Former Olympians Coming Up Short |
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Deena: "I have no idea (what is next). This was not in my plans...I really thought I was going to book my ticket to London today" |
Jen Rhines: Says Her Long Runs are Better (But Not Her Marathon) |
Colleen: Try Some Cross Training If You Want to Run at 47 |
Magda: "It's not over for me." |
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