Quest to Break American Record Falls Short, Marblehead Native Runs Personal Best

Shalane Flanagan, the 2000 Marblehead High School graduate who was shooting to become the fastest American female marathoner in history on Sunday, came up a little short.

Flanagan did finish running a personal record 2:21:14 in third place in the Berlin Marathon in Germany. Ethiopian Tirfi Tsegayewon the race.

The American women’s marathon record is held by Deena Kastor at 2:19:36.

“I put everything I had to it,” Flanagan told NBC Universal Sports, which broadcast the race. “I went big. I left everything I had on the course. As you could tell, I was struggling the last 5km to keep my momentum. Sometimes we have to push ourselves and put ourselves out there and be subject to failure before we have the big, breakthrough success.”