Shalane Flanagan Joins WBZ-TV Marathon Broadcast Team

BOSTON (CBS) - Three time Boston Marathon elite runner and Marblehead native Shalane Flanagan is joining the WBZ-TV marathon broadcast team, the station announced Monday. Flanagan, who holds the Boston course record for the fastest finish by an American woman, was forced to withdraw from this year's race due to injury.

A 4-time Olympian, Flanagan has run the Boston Marathon three times and finished in the top ten each time. She recorded the fastest time ever for an American woman in the race in 2014 (2:22:02). Last year Flanagan was in training for the Rio Olympics (where she finished 6th) and did not run Boston.

Rather than running the course this year, Flanagan will spend this Marathon Monday perched high atop the Boylston Street finish line, alongside WBZ-TV's Lisa Hughes and fellow race analyst Toni Reavis.

"I'm really excited for the challenge and to hopefully share a bit of the experience from the elite side, and what the runners go through... I'm pumped," said Flanagan.

Last month, Flanagan revealed she had fractured a bone in her lower back while training in the snowy weather in Portland, Oregon.

Flanagan fills the slot vacated by longtime race analyst Katherine Switzer, who at age 70 announced she would once again run the Boston Marathon this year. In 1967 Switzer became the first woman to run Boston with an official bib number. This year's race marks the 50th anniversary of that feat.

WBZ-TV is the exclusive local broadcaster of the Boston Marathon. Pre-race coverage begins at 7 a.m. on Monday, April 17, followed by race coverage at 9 a.m.