Famed Marblehead Runner Withdraws from Boston Marathon

MARBLEHEAD, MA – Shalane Flanagan has withdrawn from the Boston Marathon due to a training injury. Flanagan announced that she wouldn't be running the marathon in an emotional Facebook post on Tuesday afternoon.

"I have shed a lot of tears this past week," she wrote.

Flanagan said she fractured a lower back bone while training during snowy weather in Portland, OR. She did not say explicitly whether she would try again for 2018, but said that "marathoners are used to suffering and overcoming challenges."

"I'm heartbroken that I will not get the opportunity to test myself against the greatest runners on the planet. I consider myself a very fortunate person. I've had more good than bad in my career. But I can't lie, this stings," she wrote.

Flanagan, born in Marblehead, placed sixth last year at the Rio Olympics.

Image via USA Track and Field