Shannon Rowbury

About Shannon Rowbury

Shannon Rowbury is an elite middle distance runner under contract with Nike currently residing in San Francisco, California. Shannon is currently contending for a position on the U.S. Olympic Team at 1500 meters for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

In April of 2007, shortly after winning her first title in the mile run at the NCAA Indoor National Championships, Shannon was diagnosed with a Femoral Neck Stress Fracture (Hip Joint) which abruptly put an end to her collegiate career at Duke University. Although this injury was a major blow to Shannon's running career, it forced her to evaluate not only her biomechanics and physical strengths and weaknesses, but it also challenged her emotional strength and passion for her sport.

Shannon's injury turned out to be a blessing in disguise as it led her to her current coach, John Cook, and training partners, Erin Donohue and Shalane Flanagan. During Shannon's rehabilitation, she dedicated herself to Coach Cook's thorough and comprehensive training program which improved her strength and flexibility while maintaining her aerobic fitness through various methods of non weight and low weight bearing exercises. In June of 2007, just 6 weeks after her diagnosis, Shannon was able to resume running on the Alter-G Treadmill, an anti-gravity device that enabled her to reduce her effective body weight while running, thus reducing her risk of injury and expanding her ability to train and condition in her sport. By early August of 2007, Shannon was running at her full body weight and beginning in earnest to build her aerobic base in preparation for the upcoming Olympic year. Shannon credits Coach Cook for her transformation from being "just a runner" to becoming a "true athlete".