Posted: April 14, 2007

Athletics (RRW): Flanagan Breaks U.S. 5000M Record

From David Monti © 2007 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com Former University of North Carolina star Shalane Flanagan took down Regina Jacobs's U.S. 5000m record yesterday at the 49th Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, Calif. Running in favorable weather conditions, she crossed the finish line in 14:44.80, well inside Jacobs's mark of 14:45.35 set at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Sacramento in July, 2000. "I really have to give credit to my support system," said Flanagan in an interview with Flocasts.com. "I had a great pacer tonight, Erin Donohue, college teammate and friend. She really just set up the pins and I knocked them down." It's the second U.S. record for Flanagan this year which wiped one of Jacobs's marks off of the books. Last January at the Reebok Boston Indoor Games, she ran 8:33.25 for 3000m, breaking Jacobs's 1999 mark by about six seconds. In the race at Mt. SAC, Jen Rhines finished second in 15:10.80 with Malindi Elmore finishing third in 15:15.12, a big personal best for the Canadian. Subscribe to the Runner's Web Weekly Digest