Shalane Flanagan

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Shalane Flanagan (born July 8, 1981 in Boulder, Colorado) is arguably one of the best female distance runners in American history, and currently holds the American record times in the 3000, 5000, and 10000 meter distances.


Flanagan grew up in Marblehead, Massachusetts where at Marblehead High School she participated in soccer and swimming in addition to cross country and track. Before matriculating at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, her Marblehead HS accomplishments included three-time 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 Indoor National Scholastic Championships. When attending UNC, she won national cross country titles in 2002 and 2003--the first individual champion in the sport in Tarheel history--and numerous track accolades, with best times of 4:11.24 in 1500m (7th in the US at any level in 2003,) 9:00.22 in the 3000m, and 15:20.54 in the 5000m.

Since advancing to the professional level in 2004, she has lowered her 3000 meter time to 8:33.25 and her 5000 meter time to 14:44.80, which are both American records; her 1500m record has slightly improved to 4:05.86. She is a two-time national champion in the women's 5.000 metres.

Shalane ran the 10,000 for the first time at the 2008 Stanford Payton Jordan invite meeting, in a time of 30:34.49 to beat Deena Kastor's American record of 30:50.32.

Flanagan presently lives in North Carolina with her husband Steven Ashley Edwards, also a former varsity track and field athlete at UNC.

Flanagan has two very accomplished parents in the running arena. Her mother, Cheryl Treworgy, is a former marathon world record holder and five-time U.S. World Cross Country Championship participant. Her father, Steve Flanagan, also a U.S. World Cross Country Champion participant and marathon runner (PR 2:18) raised her in Marblehead along with her stepmother Monica.


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