Flanagan absent from press conference, rivals take notice

BOSTON – Unfortunately for anyone seeking to interview Marblehead native and Boston Marathon elite runner Shalane Flanagan at a press conference at the Fairmont Copley Plaza on Friday, the most relevant information came not from the runner herself, but from a placard on a table.?Shalane Flanagan will arrive late on Saturday due to a change in her travel plans,” the placard read.A member of the Boston Athletic Association, which organizes the marathon, said that Flanagan had a flight change from Arizona.Last year, in her first Boston Marathon, she finished fourth, on a day marred by two bombings at the finish line that killed three people and wounded 264.When Flanagan arrives for this year?s Boston Marathon, the first since the bombings, she will have a busy schedule leading up to the race, including interviews with the BBC and WBZ on Sunday.Despite Flanagan?s absence Friday morning, the 32-year-old Olympian was a popular topic of conversation.?After the tragedy of last year, for a hometown girl to take the laurel wreath would help the healing process,” two-time women?s champion Joan Benoit Samuelson said. “It would help survivors and fellow runners.”She discussed their shared New England origins.?I think, (being) both from New England, we understand the importance of a hard work ethic,” she said. “We?re both a little feisty. She?s probably a little more feisty.”Asked about Flanagan?s “60 Minutes” appearance with Anderson Cooper on Sunday, in which she mentioned a penchant for making her competitors sweat, Samuelson said, “I?ve always been a runner who?s run my own race. I don?t care about other competitors ? You can?t waste energy worrying about how the competition?s feeling, what you?re doing to make them suffer. There?s enough on an athlete?s plate.”Last year, Flanagan finished in 2:27.08, just seven seconds off the podium, behind 2012 champion Sharon Cherop of Kenya.?She?s really a strong lady,” Cherop said, identifying Flanagan as a “threat” for this year and citing her training as one reason for this.Other runners echoed this praise.?Shalane Flanagan is a good, strong athlete,” Adriana Aparecida da Silva of Brazil told an Item reporter in Spanish, expressing her surprise that Flanagan was not at the press conference.The defending champion, Rita Jeptoo of Kenya, won in 2:26.25 last year. She sought to avoid mentioning any specific rivals in her quest to repeat.?I don?t want to say anybody,” Jeptoo said. “I came here to run ? Monday?s the day for everybody.”?Everyone comes well-prepared,” said former Salem State coach and Winthrop resident Tom Derderian, who is covering the Marathon for New England Running Magazine. “Everyone?s talented. That?s why we have races.”Later that day, as the John Hancock Sports & Fitness Expo opened at the Hynes Convention Center, marathon expert Hal Higdon offered his thoughts on Flanagan.?She?s sort of my favorite,” said Higdon, who was promoting his book “4:09:43: Boston 2013 Through the Eyes of the Runners.” “She was very, very, very close. I had my fingers crossed. It was a fraction of an inch from Jeptoo.”Higdon added, “I?ve never met Shalane, but I knew her mother. At one point, I was in Terre Haute, Indiana. She would run all the boys races long before girls ran boys races.” Citing Flanagan?s parents, both of whom are former marathoners, Higdon said, “She obviously has good genes, good makeup.”