Shalane Flanagan has a poignant message on her Boston Marathon uniform

Flanagan, on a mission to run the world's six major marathons in six weeks, shared an inspiring message the morning of her hometown race.

Shalane Flanagan's Boston Marathon race uniform. Shalane Flanagan/Instagram

October 11, 2021

2 minutes to read

Shalane Flanagan has a message for young women everywhere: She’s running today’s Boston Marathon on Girl Power.

Flanagan, a Marblehead native, is in the midst of accomplishing the incredible: running the world’s six major marathons in a six-week window. On Sunday, she finished the Chicago Marathon in 2:46:39, her third in the six-race series. On Monday morning, she lined up in Hopkinton.

Prior to the start of Monday’s race, Flanagan posted an Instagram photo of her Boston Marathon singlet, which was adorned with messages like “Running on girl power” and “Hard work leads to success.”

“Today, I am home,” Flanagan wrote. “Back in the very place that raised me. Back to the streets where I watched my father run the Boston Marathon as a little girl. Back to where running changed my life. I played a lot of sports growing up in Boston, but there was nothing quite like running. I don’t know if it was the sense of accomplishment it gave me, or the energy it was surrounded with, or if it was simply cheering on my Dad all those Monday’s in April….but what I do know, is that running gave me a future.

“I recently learned that girls drop out of sports at 1.5x the rate of boys by age 14,” Flanagan continued. “To make things worse, it’s been identified that by age 17, more than half of girls will quit playing sports all together. Whether that be from thinking they aren’t good enough, to feeling like the don’t belong, to not being able to find a proper role model — I want to encourage young women and girls everywhere to make sport a part of their lives, for it can do so much to shape your future.”

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A post shared by Shalane Flanagan (@shalaneflanagan)

Flanagan explained that her singlet’s design — her “runway look” — was created by the Marathon Kids Run Club in Austin, Texas, writing that she was “honored to have the extra strength and girl power” from their illustrations.

Flanagan’s Chicago/Boston double in 24 hours represents the shortest turnaround time in her six-race series. She finished the Berlin Marathon on Sept. 26 in 2:38:32, and the London Marathon on Oct. 3 in 2:35:04. After finishing the Boston Marathon, she’ll run the all-virtual Tokyo Marathon from her current home in Oregon on Oct. 17, and finish with the New York City Marathon on Nov. 7.

Monday’s race is Flanagan’s first time running the Boston Marathon since she retired from professional running in 2019. Her career highlights included becoming the first American woman in 40 years to win the New York Marathon in 2017. She also won silver in the 10,000 meters at the 2018 Beijing Olympics, bronze at the 2011 World Cross Country Championships, second place at the 2010 NYC Marathon, and fourth place at the 2013 Boston Marathon.

Flanagan finished her Instagram post with words of inspiration for her fellow runners: “I know it’s not April, but it’s definitely still Boston. Boylston, I am coming for you. Remember, we don’t have to do this…we GET to do this! See you out there fam.”

Kevin Slane

Staff Writer

Kevin Slane is a staff writer for Boston.com covering entertainment and culture. His work focuses on movie reviews, streaming guides, celebrities, and things to do in Boston.