Barbara Howard: By now you have likely heard the news: Shalane Flanagan of Marblehead is the first American woman in 40 years to win the New York City Marathon. But there is a backstory to her win, and joining me on the line is Thomas Grilk. He's CEO of the Boston Athletic Association, organizers of the Boston Marathon. Hi, Tom.

Thomas Grilk: Barbara, hi.

Howard: Well, Flanagan, let me ask you about her — she's 36 years old. It said that she ran her first marathon back in 2010. Presumably she was, what, 29 years old for the first marathon? She came in second place, but isn't that kind of late to start running marathons?

Grilk: It's late, now, for people to start running marathons. But for a long time, Shalane followed the time-tested model of being a track runner for a long time, and only graduating to the marathon after the track career was starting to wind down. And she had won what turned out to be a silver medal in the Olympic Games in 2008 on the track. So in 2010, she moved up in distance.

Howard: OK, so after she did that first marathon in 2010 — that was seven years ago. What's she been doing? She was, what, on the Olympic teams, I understand?

Grilk: She has largely been running longer races, although she's run a great many distances. She's run a number of marathons, she’s run very fast times in New York and, particularly, in Berlin. But she also ran an American record for 10 kilometers on the road here in Boston at the BAA 10K.

Howard: OK, now she did not make it to the Boston Marathon this year?

Grilk: She did not run in Boston this year because she had experienced a stress fracture in her back.

Howard: Now, she does have experience, though, watching the marathon — I understand her father was a runner?

Grilk: Her father, Steve, was a very good runner. He was about a 2:17 marathoner. But her mother, Cheryl, held the world record in the marathon back in the 1970s.

Howard: My goodness, OK, so, now the race itself it just happened this weekend, she was just – what, a few miles short of the finish line, it looks like, when she made her move going past the Kenyan runner who had won the last three years. Is that right?

Grilk: In Sunday's New York City Marathon, Shalane was very carefully watching Mary Keitany, the winner of the last three years of the New York City marathon, and expecting Keitany to make a break, which is what she normally will do. But Keitany never did it, and finally, Shalane Flanagan decided it was her time to go, and she did. Mary Keitany never matched that move, and Shalane had her international marathon win.

Howard: Were you there, were you able to watch this?

Grilk: I was there watching at the finish line as Shalane was coming in. It was — it was fun. It was emotional. It was a lovely day.

Howard: Did you have a chance to talk to her?

Grilk: Well, she had a lot to say to a great many people. I did not want to push in the way of those who were there. We'll have quieter times to reflect on how all that went for her when she's back in Boston here.

Howard: Talk about the runner who she credits with inspiring her, Meb Keflezighi.

Grilk: Shalane has often credited Meb Keflezighi as being her inspiration. Meb is somebody who had won the New York City Marathon a number of years ago, was an Olympic medalist for the United States in the marathon, overcame a lot of childhood challenges. His family moved from Eritrea, which was a war torn country, to Italy, and then to the United States. What Meb did most emotionally was win the 2014 Boston Marathon, one year after the bombing, in a way that captured the hearts of people around the world. He knew how hard Shalane had been working to earn a victory in a marathon on the world stage, and was encouraging to her all the time. They were in regular communication leading up to the TCS New York City Marathon this year, as he was both encouraging and helpful in the days leading up.

Howard: And it's kind of ironic that he was the runner the year after the Boston Marathon bombings, and now here she comes along, and just five days before her win at the New York Marathon, of course, that truck plowed into people on a bicycle path there — both of them, you know, winning marathons in those respective cities following great tragedy. Did that inspire her, do you think, in any way?

Grilk: Shalane was inspired and working hard for a long time, but I am sure that as she looked back to the very recent tragedy that had taken place in New York City and the resilience of New Yorkers all along the way as she ran, it was in her mind that she was not simply helping people to elevate their spirits, but joining in with the hundreds and hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of New Yorkers, who were out there to say that they would live their lives the way they choose, no matter what anyone else does to try to stop them.

Howard: OK, thank you so much for talking with us.

Grilk: You are very kind to ask. Thank you.

Howard: That's Thomas Grilk. He's chief executive officer of the Boston Athletic Association, organizers of the Boston Marathon.