Last night at the Peyton Jordan Cardinal Invitational at Stanford University, Shalane Flanagan had a spectacular debut at 10,000 meters. Running strong and fast right from the gun, Flanagan took over 17.5 seconds off Deena Kastor's American Record with a first place finish of 30:34.49 (that's 4:55 pace). Shalane now also has the outdoor 5,000 (14:44.80) and indoor 3,000 meter (8:33.25) records. In addition, she dominated the field in winning the USATF Cross Country Championships in February.
I know that Deena is the bronze medalist from the 2004 Olympics, won the Olympic Trials Marathon a couple of weeks ago, and soundly defeated Flanagan at the 2007 Cross Country Champs. But, Shalane seems to have taken another step in her fitness and racing abilities. She may not the queen bee quite yet; but, Deena may have to consider sharing the throne.
TB
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