"Have you lost all of your marbles?" This question must be the running joke hurled at all of the great people of Marblehead , Massachusetts. For this reason, it's a good thing they have a local female celebrity who is able to refute any of the negative connotation surrounding their town's name. Who is she? She is record breaking runner Shalane Flanagan.
At 27 years old, Shalane Flanagan is a slight, cross country runner who showed up big at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Besides coming in third in the 5000 meter race at the U.S. Olympic trials, she also took home a bronze medal in the 10,000 meter race. These wins were a great follow-up to her prior 2007 record-breaking runs where she set a new U.S. indoor 3000 meter record (8:33.25) and outdoor 5000 meter record (14:44.80). However, what's crazy is that these events aren't the most interesting aspect of Shalane Flanagan's life.
Shalane Flanagan was born with a rare condition that gave her an extra bone in her foot. Unaware of her condition for most of her life, she just found out about it three years ago. How? She was in excruciating pain and couldn't figure out why. After seeing a series of doctors, one correctly diagnosed her with an extra bone that happened to be tearing through a tendon. This event prevented her from competing in the year of 2006 but probably is responsible for her amazing rebound as a runner in 2007.
So what's the moral of Shalane Flanagan's story? If you come from a town with a funny name and just happen to have an extra bone in your body, you just might have the makings of a great athlete. And if you don't, you at least have a good story to tell.
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