Ben Flanagan grew up in a super close knit, highly competitive family environment, loving Mats Sundin, the Toronto Maple Leafs, and all things hockey. To this day, on 12/24, his family and community still gather for a Dads vs Kids hockey game. Body checks, punches, & bloody noses were all fair game. He was a hockey player trapped in a runners body!

Ben burst on the national scene winning the 2018 10,000 meter in a career best 28:34.53 at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, where he unleashed a 56 second last 400 to outkick Vincent Kiprop over the final meters of the dramatic finish. Ben came in seeded 23rd of 24 runners and, against all odds, became Michigan's 1st 10,000m national champ since 1989.

Ben was also a big underdog at the Falmouth Road Race in 2018 against a stacked pro field—including 4x champ Stephen Sambu, Scott Fauble Leonard Korir—covered a late Fauble surge, closed hard, and came FLYING across the finish line with panache!

In 2021, Ben returned & recreated his FLYING Falmouth finish and became part of a select group of repeat Falmouth champions. They've adopted Ben in the community and he treasures the connection and long-standing traditions of this great race.

We discuss: his high school/college days, key coaches & mentors (Krestena Sullivan in high school, Pete Grinbergs as his Club coach, and Kevin Sullivan in college), key race highlights, PR's, meaningful moments, NCAA Championships in 2018, OFSAA Champs in HS, Falmouth Road Race 2018 & 2021, Big Ten Champs 2014-2018, his sub-4-minute mile in 2018 (3:57), mindset during races, mantras, bouncing back from injuries, changing his training approach to remain healthy, what’s next on the docket for him, his community service (helping facilitate exercise programs for children & adults with autism spectrum disorder & meeting  with college running programs over Zoom throughout pandemic to share story and encourage collegiate runners)

Ben is grounded, humble, and someone you can easily root for. I'm all-in on Ben and hope you all enjoy this convo as much as we did!

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Connect With Ben:

Instagram: @ben_flanagan

Connect With Ron:

Personal Instagram: @ronrunsnyc

Podcast Instagram: @runchats_with_ronrunsnyc

Facebook: https://fb.me/runchats

Website: https://ronrunsnyc.com

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© 2021 Ron Romano