Olympian, track star
Flanagan answering
a long-distance call

By David Leon Moore, USA TODAY

Olympic bronze medal in the 10,000 in Beijing in
2008 before deciding to take on the marathon.

Everyone at the table is in agreement.

"The marathon is just cooler now," Flanagan says.

Her coach smiles.

"Yeah," Schumacher says. "The marathon is in."

Schumacher is glad his pupil thinks she is so hip by
taking on the marathon. Maybe that will help her
deal with the torture and uncertainty of it. The
marathon might be cool and hip, but its
fundamental puzzles — and horrors — remain
unchanged.

The marathon stands nearly alone in that it is a
competition — inevitably, a painful one — that one
does not practice over and over to prepare for the
event.