Flanagan Now An “Absolutely Hooked” Marathoner

This year’s ING New York City Marathon runner-up will now return to the track.

A day after she placed second in the 2010 ING New York City Marathon,Shalane Flanagan said she was “absolutely hooked” in the marathon and that her long-term plans are to compete in that event in the 2012 London Olympics. However, for the short-term, the 29-year-old from Marblehead, Massachusetts will return to the track next summer and hinted that she may be interested in competing in the 10,000m in the Olympics as well.

“We’re not going to rule that out,” she said. “This summer hopefully we’ll get a good indicator. I think we’ll play around with the idea of doing track and the marathon. Will  [Coach] Jerry [Schumacher] think I should do both? I don’t know. We have no idea. A double would be pretty hard, for sure, but crazier things have happened.”

Flanagan ran 2:28:40 in her debut last Sunday. It was the best finish for an American woman in the the last twenty years at the ING New York City Marathon.

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