Shalane Flanagan will run the Berlin Marathon on September 28, rather than the more visible (and more lucrative) Chicago or New York City races later in the fall. That's because for the first time in her marathon career, she's focused on time, not place, and thinks Berlin is the best place to do so. Her one goal for the race: break Deena Kastor’s American marathon record of 2:19:36, set in London in 2006.

It’s a mission that Flanagan has had in mind for a year, and it’s a dream apart from the Massachusetts native’s hope last April, which was to win her hometown Boston Marathon. Instead, she was seventh after leading for the first two-thirds of the race; becoming the fastest American woman in the race’s history with her 2:22:02 seemed to provide little consolation.

In Berlin, Flanagan’s not talking about winning, although, in the small field of elites, she very well could. Everything is about running 26.2 miles faster than 2:19:36. In an interview with Runner's World Newswire earlier this week, she spoke repeatedly about steeling herself to “run 5:19 [per mile] pace for 26 miles.”

“Either you’re trying to win the marathon or you’re trying to run the record," Flanagan said. “If a byproduct of the record is a win, that would be fabulous. But I’m going to do everything I can to get the record. This is purely about about seeing how fast I can run over that distance. I think if I start to try and win, that could compromise the running.”

So what happens if she’s next to a leader at, say 23 miles, and that woman makes a move?

“I’m going to have to gauge how much energy I have," Flanagan said. "I don’t want to give the race away. But if I feel like I’m running on fumes and I’m doing everything I can just to maintain, the goal is not to take any major risks [regarding the American record], just be methodical and stick to the plan and the pace.”

She needs to take 2:26 off her Boston time to get down to 2:19:36. This time, she’ll be on a pancake-flat course and, she noted, “I don’t have to lead for a step.”

Berlin permits elite women to have male pacesetters. Flanagan has enlisted the American Ryan Vail, whose best time is 2:10:57, and Canadian Rob Watson, who has run 2:13:29.

"I have no strategy," Flanagan said. "Just get as fit as possible. And then just put myself on the course and see how fast I can run. It’s kind of a weird event right now."

For Berlin, Flanagan did 28-day altitude training stints in Park City, Utah, and Flagstaff, Arizona, around three and a half weeks at home in Portland, Oregon.

“I will say that I am the fittest I have been in the marathon,” Flanagan said. “Everything has surpassed our expectations thus far in terms of what Jerry [Schumacher, her coach] asked me to do. Sometimes I shake my head and say, ‘I don’t know how I’m going to do this,’ but I just put my head down and try. It’s amazing, when you raise the bar of expectations, you somehow just meet it if you really are motivated.”

Flanagan's American 10,000-meter record is 30:22; she estimated she's in 30:30 shape now. For three months, she’s done a weekly long run of from 24 to 28 miles.

The training cycle has not been without its doldrums. In Park City, besides her husband and her father accompanying her on bikes, Flanagan had no real training partners. “That was tough," she said. "I actually doubted numerous times during that month whether I should tackle this marathon.”

Then she had just “one really good workout that changed my mind” before running the Beach in Beacon 10K on August 2, where she lost by a fraction of a second to Britain’s Gemma Steel.

“I felt, ‘Okay, I’ve got what it’s going to take,’” Flanagan said. The crucial workout was four or five times a mile, averaging 5:00 a mile, with a lap jog between. “I’d done it before Boston and it was faster than I did then,” she said.

The other elite women in Berlin are Ethiopians Fayese Tadese, the 2013 Paris champ in 2:21:06, and Tirfi Tadese, the 2012 Berlin runner-up in 2:21:19, plus Japan’s Kayoko Fukushi, who has a 2:24:21 PR from Osaka in 2013 and was the World Championships bronze medalist that year.

These women have all been invited to have their own pacesetters. They’ve all indicated a desire to run 2:19, according to Flanagan.

Vail, who’s preparing for November 2’s New York City Marathon, and Watson, who’ll run the Toronto Waterfront Marathon on October 19, will pace Flanagan for at least 20 miles. Beyond that, things will depend on how they’re feeling.

“I heard that Deena literally had someone until 800 meters to go when she set her record," Flanagan said. "I’m hoping to get at least one of them to go to 25 miles. That would be fantastic.” She paused, then added, “But I’m not going to fault them if they’re tired.”

Asked if she’s surprised that no other American woman has broken 2:20 in the marathon since Kastor did it eight years ago, Flanagan tepidly responded “yeah,” but then more heartily answered, “It’s not easy. Having trained for this, it’s really, really fast. It amazes me that [Kastor] has done this. Sometimes it’s scary to take this leap of faith and go for it and just put yourself out there. But I didn’t want to sit on my couch all summer wondering ‘what if?’

“I may epically fail, but at least I’ll find out whether I have what it takes. It’s a daunting task.”

Even if she runs under 2:19:36 and gets an American record bonus from Nike, Flanagan will have made an economic sacrifice by choosing Berlin over the top American marathons of the fall. “There’s a huge financial difference. Like a lot,” she said.

But Flanagan is starting to think of her athletic legacy.

“A lot of my decisions are based on that,” she said. “I’m really picky about what I do because I want it be memorable and impactful. I feel like there are only so marathons within your body and they have to be meaningful.”

To chase what’s important right now, she’s inserted herself in a strange set of circumstances that she called “like doing a hard workout at a major marathon.” There will be no moves to be made or to respond to. Essentially, she’s along for the ride with three other 2:19 aspirants and their rabbits.

That relieves a lot of psychological stress, but, Flanagan said, “I’m nervous because I know it’s going to be really uncomfortable in the last stages and you’re always nervous about how you’re going to deal with the pain and discomfort.

“But other than that, I feel kind of relieved. Normally, it’s this game of chess, and waiting and moves and all that stuff. But here, I just lock into this place and go for this ride as long as I can and then fight tooth and nail to get through the finish.”



If all goes according to plan, the endeavor will take no more than 2:19:35.

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