Marblehead native Shalane Flanagan, who won the New York Marathon in November, will headline the group of elite runners who have signed up for next April’s Boston Marathon.
Also set to run is Chicago Marathon champion Galen Rupp. Joining them are Olympians Desiree Linden, Dathan Ritzenhein, Abdi Abdirahman, Deena Kastor, and Molly Huddle, the latter of whom is the North American 10K record holder.
“The 2018 John Hancock U.S. Elite Team represents a dedicated group of athletes who have consistently challenged themselves to compete with great success on the world stage,” said John Hancock chief marketing officer Barbara Goose. “We are honored to invite this team to the Boston Marathon to lead 30,000 runners along the world’s most historic marathon route.
“And of course, it will be especially engaging for local fans to welcome Marblehead’s own Shalane Flanagan back to follow up her magnificent triumph in New York.”
On Nov. 5, Flanagan became the first U.S. woman to win the New York Marathon since 1977. A four-time Olympian, she holds American records in the indoor 3K and 5K and in the 10K, 15k And 25K.
She won the silver medal in the 10K at the 2008 Olympics and won the bronze medal at the 2011 IAAF World Cross Country Championships. Flanagan was the 2012 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials champion and then finished ninth in the 2012 Olympic Marathon. Last year she was third at the 2016 Trials and sixth at the 2016 Olympic Marathon in Rio de Janeiro.
Flanagan, a Marblehead High graduate, was back in her hometown Nov. 25 to run in the fourth annual Back The Track road race. Her appearance drew throngs of people to the town.
Flanagan first ran the marathon in 2013, but had finished and was out of the area by the time two bombs tore through the finish line in the Copley Square area, killing three people, including 8-year-old Martin Richard.
Almost immediately, she vowed to run the race in 2015, and was among the first of the elite runners to sign up.
In 2014, Flanagan led through the first 17 miles of the 26.2-mile course, but fell back on the series of Newton Hills commonly called “Heartbreak Hill.” She ended up finishing seventh, still running a personal-best (at the time) 2:22. By comparison, her winning time last month in New York was 2:26.53.
In high school, she won three all-state cross country performances, a first-place All-State finish in the mile, and a two-mile win whose record still stands; her 4:46 mile won the National Scholastic Indoor Championships. She was the Moynihan Lumber Student Athlete of the Year award winner in 1999 and 2000.
She ran at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, twice winning the national cross country championship there before turning pro.
She initially won a bronze medal in Beijing in 2008 in the 10K but was awarded a silver years later when the original winner was disqualified for doping. She ran the marathon in 2012 in London and 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.
