Tragic day mars Flanagan’s homecoming

BOSTON – It was a day that was supposed to fulfill a dream for Shalane Flanagan of Marblehead.Instead, it became a nightmare.Three hours after Flanagan finished fourth in the women’s field at the Boston Marathon on Monday, two explosions broke out near the finish line, resulting in multiple fatalities and wounding others.Before the tragedy, Flanagan, a Marblehead High graduate who had finished 10th in the Olympic marathon in London last year, had received a warm welcome from her hometown fans in her first Boston Marathon.She drew extensive coverage when introduced at the elite runners’ press conference last Friday. She and training partner Kara Goucher also drew hundreds of fans when the duo appeared at a pre-race expo on Saturday.Flanagan finished the Marathon in 2:27:08, exactly seven seconds behind defending champion Sharon Cherop of Kenya, who finished third this year. Rita Jeptoo, who also won the Marathon in 2006, added her second Boston laurel wreath this year.”Bostonians want it just as bad as you do,” Flanagan said at a post-race press conference at the Fairmont Copley Plaza. “It just tugs at your heart.”The race began with Yolanda Caballero of Colombia in front, pursued by Ana Dulce Felix of Portugal. At the halfway point, Caballero posted a 1:14:02 time. A pack of runners chased her, including Flanagan.”The longer the race went and I knew (Caballero) was still far ahead, for a brief moment, I got next to (training partner and fellow Olympian) Kara (Goucher),” Flanagan said, with a plan to “catch the woman ahead, then settle back in and proceed with the plan.”However, she added, this ran counter to coach Jerry Schumacher’s instructions, which she said were tough to follow.”I got antsy,” she said.Former champion Joan Benoit Samuelson, who finished in 2:50:29, which she was told was a record for her age group, saluted both Flanagan and Goucher.”Shalane and Kara are great,” she said. “They have each other as friends and training partners.” She added, “Shalane had a lot of pressure on her shoulders. She was coming home to Boston. She handled the pressure extremely well. She’ll be back. Kara will be out there with her. The future of American marathoning is healthy on the women’s side.”When all the women’s and men’s elite runners had finished speaking, the interview room cleared out. Shortly afterward, Flanagan was spotted walking through the hotel lobby.She was asked if she’d seen friends along the race route (“I think so”) and where the Marathon ranked among the others she’d run, such as New York City and London.”This one’s super-special to me,” she said.Tragically, not long after, two explosions would shatter what had been a special day for Flanagan, and for Boston.Rich Tenorio can be reached at [email protected].