American women have marathon hope in Flanagan

Not everyone felt beaten down by the New York City Marathon's demands Sunday. American Shalane Flanagan, 29, who has won all manner of shorter races and has an Olympic 10,000-meter bronze medal among her trophies, debuted at the 26-mile, 385-yard distance and said, upon finishing second, that she can't wait to do it again.

"As soon as I finished," she said, "I thought about what I could have done to have won it. So I think that's why the marathon is so addicting, because you always want more, to do it again. I'm happy that I actually do want to run a marathon again, because I've heard so many people finish and say, 'I'll never do that again.' This is the opposite."

She finished in 2 hours, 28 minutes, 40 seconds, 20 seconds behind winner Edna Kiplagat, 31, of Kenya, winner of the Los Angeles Marathon six months ago. For 23 miles, Flanagan was right up front in the lead pack, which remained unusually large through 20 miles - a dozen women all with a shot to win.

Included in that crowd was defending champion Derartu Tulu of Ethiopia, who finished 14th, and Ludmila Petrova of Russia, last year's runner-up who finished seventh. It wasn't until the final three miles that Flanagan lost contact with Kiplagat and Kenya's Mary Keitany, who surged to second but soon was caught by Flanagan and finished third.

"I love this event," Flanagan declared. "Really, it was only that my legs started to give out, but other than that, I felt great. I loved it. I loved the warm-up into it. Every mile that clicked away that felt good, in delaying the inevitable pain and fatigue, I gained more and more confidence from it."

Her father, Steve, once ran a national-class 2:18 marathon and her mother, the former Cheryl Bridges, set the women's record for the event (2:49:40) in 1971, when there barely was awareness that women even attempted marathons. The first New York City Marathon, in 1970, had only one female entrant - Long Island's Nina Kuscsik - and she dropped out, feeling ill.

Not until 1972 did the hallowed Boston event have an official female champion (Kuscsik). But by the time Shalane came along, growing up in Marblehead, Mass., it was routine for her to attend every Boston Marathon. She was "dreaming of running the marathon since I was a little girl. Knowing that my parents have a passion for running and specifically marathoning, I've always been aware of the pull and the draw of the event."

Her parents and coaches kept her at shorter distances, convinced the marathon was for later in her career. When she won her Olympic 10,000-meter medal in Beijing in 2008, she at last turned her attention to marathon training.

Her second-place finish Sunday was the highest by an American woman in New York City since 1990, and Flanagan is ready to do it again.