Covid 19 forced the organizers of the 6 most important marathons in the world to choose autumn to schedule their events. In this way, in a period of 6 weeks, we are witnessing the realization of the Berlin, London, Chicago, Boston, Tokyo and New York marathons; the first four have already been carried out and the last two are yet to be carried out.
Participating in all of them represents a physical, mental and organizational challenge of great dimensions. Even more participate in Chicago and Boston, marathons that were carried out last Sunday and Monday, on consecutive days; Participating in these last two required a plan similar to the following: having secured a place in each event and having sufficient training, it was necessary to register and collect the number in Boston the Friday before the test and immediately move to Chicago to perform the same process on Saturday; later run Chicago on Sunday and when finished move to Boston to rest and run it the next day.
Something very similar did Shalane Flanagan, with the considerations that one of the most successful runners of all time could receive, to participate in an extraordinary way in both events.
Shalane not only participated in those two, but also in Berlin and London; As if that were not enough, he has Tokyo and New York on his agenda.
Shalane Flanagan is one of the most successful runners in the United States. He was born in Boulder Colorado in 1981 and achieved an Olympic medal in the 10,000 meters at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and crossed the finish line of the New York City Marathon in first place in 2017 with a time of 2 hours, 26 minutes and 53 seconds. .
A member as a professional runner in the past and today as a coach of the Bowerman Track Club (a running club sponsored by Nike), at the moment she is fulfilling to the letter the goal of running the 6 Majors in just 6 weeks, below 3 hours. Here his results: Berlin, 2 hours, 38 minutes and 32 seconds; London, 2 hours, 35 minutes and 4 seconds; Chicago, 2 hours, 46 minutes and 39 seconds; and Boston, 2 hours, 40 minutes and 34 seconds.
A truly extraordinary performance for an athlete already retired from professionalism, but whose competitiveness, discipline and love for the sport drive her to set great goals. I am sure that in the weeks to come, we will see Shalane at the top, running the 6 great marathons in less than 3 hours, all in 42 days. Mother, athlete and extraordinary woman.