Marblehead's Shalane Flanagan Runs 'My Best Boston, By Far'

MARBLEHEAD, MA — Shalane Flanagan came "home" to run her fifth Boston Marathon on Monday.

The Marblehead High alumna and 2008 Olympic silver medalist said this one stood out as special among all the rest.

"I have never loved it more than I did this morning," Flanagan posted on her Instagram account on Monday after completing the 26.2 miles in 2:40.34 — just one day after she ran the Chicago Marathon in 2:46.39. "Today was my best Boston, by far."

Flanagan, who won the New York City Marathon in 2017 before retiring from competitive running in 2019, raced the Boston course on Monday as part of a quest to run six world marathon majors in 42 days. She said she decided to set the daunting challenge to take something back "coming off a year and a half where so much was taken away from the world."

"I have to admit I was a little nervous about how I was going to feel after racing in Chicago (Sunday)," the 40-year-old posted. "I was in foreign territory and had no idea how my body was going to react. If we're being honest, I was prepared to implode."

But she said it was about Mile 12 where she realized she actually felt better than she did while running Chicago 24 hours earlier.

"The epic, blood-curdling screams (especially from the BC and Wellesley crews) — the day was just everything," she posted. "Running down Boylston meant more today than it ever has before.

"Today gave me the confidence to know deeply and truly that I can accomplish this goal. My body is going to let me do something that's never been done before."

Having also already run Berlin on Sept. 26 and London on Oct. 3, Flanagan will finish her odyssey with a virtual running of the Tokyo Marathon on Oct. 17 and New York City on Nov. 7.

"It feels so good to have that realization at home," she posted. "Six marathons, in under three hours (each), feels so close I can taste it.

"Four down, two to go. Thank you so much for the love out there (Monday), and all the '(expletive) yeahs' and 'go Marblehead.'"

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(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)

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