Breakfast Club: Good Luck to the Boston Bound

breakfast club

the east bay's running newsletter 

The moody view from Mt. Tamalpais last month.
Photo:  Isabel Whitcomb.

Good afternoon!

"What if?" 

That was the thought that vexed Shalane Flanagan as she contemplated retirement in the weeks following her victory in the New York City Marathon.  In Erin Stout's recent piece in Runner’s World, Flanagan imagined this possible scenario: she wakes up early on Monday, April 16, 2018 to finish her hair and makeup before stepping into the CBS broadcast booth.  She reviews her notes on the athletes lining up in Hopkinton to provide TV commentary for the Boston Marathon.  And, hours later, she watches as an American woman turns onto Boylston Street to end the US drought in the women's race.  Sitting in broadcast booth, Flanagan can only wonder, “What if?”

Of course, Flanagan is indeed competing next week in Boston.  She is one of several prominent Americans vying for the win.  But the counterfactual exercise is good one.  I often use “what if” questio…