Shalane Flanagan to Make 13.1M Debut in January

Flanagan enters USA Half Marathon Championships

U.S. long distance running standout Shalane Flanagan (Pittsboro,
N.C.), who won a bronze medal in the 10,000 meters at the 2008 Olympic
Games in Beijing, will make her half-marathon debut on January 17 at
the 2010 USA Half Marathon Championships hosted by the Aramco Houston
Half Marathon. 
 
The 28-year-old Flanagan has been one of the
best middle-distance runners in the U.S. over the past six years,
making two Olympic teams and setting American records on the track at
3,000, 5,000 and 10,000 meters. Flanagan was the USA champion at 5,000
meters in 2005 and 2007, before winning the U.S. Olympic Trials at
10,000 meters in 2008. That victory sent her to Beijing, where she
became only the second American woman in history to medal in that event
at the Olympic Games. Her American Record of 30:22:22 run in China
still stands.
  
Joining Flanagan on the starting line at the championships will be the top two finishers from the 2009 national championships. Magdalena Lewy Boulet (Oakland, Calif.), who crossed the finish line in 1:11:47, will be back to defend her title, and runner-up Kelly Jaske (Portland, Ore.) also will be among the top seeds in the race. 
 
Among the men currently committed to run in the National Championship race are 2008 Half Marathon champion James Carney (Lafayette, Colo.), along with Josh Moen and Patrick Smyth (both Minneapolis, Minn.), who finished second and third respectively in the 2009 USA 10 Mile Championships. 
 
Gotcher steps up to marathon
 
Brett Gotcher
(Flagstaff, Ariz.), who finished third in the 2009 USA Half Marathon
Championships, will return to Houston in January, but will move up in
distance. The 25-year-old Gotcher will make his marathon debut as one
of the top seeds in the 38th running of the Chevron Houston Marathon. 
 
The
former Stanford University All-American at 10,000 meters won his first
national road title in September, claiming the 20 km crown in 58:57 in
New Haven, Conn. 
 
Houston is hosting the men’s half marathon
championships for the sixth consecutive year, while the city is home to
the women’s title race for the fourth straight time.

For more information on the 2010 USA Half Marathon Championships, visit: www.usatf.org.