The "Kara Goucher" thread

lvrunner

So the American woman that almost won the Boston Marathon back in April did it again.  Beating not just the other women, but also the guys and was first finisher overall at yesterday's Rock 'n' Roll Chicago Half Marathon with a time of 1:08:05!  I think she finished 17 secs ahead of the first guy that finished.  All this despite having a bandit on the course for 9-10 miles hogging the camera (wow - that bandit was fast), and a motorcycle that got in her way towards the end.

But I'm posting this because of a story I read about her this morning. This shows how hard she has been training for Berlin in 3 weeks.  Doing 120 miles (200 km) a week has got to be tough at her level.

"When Goucher learned her Thursday flight from Portland to Chicago was delayed three hours, she went into the Nike store at the Portland airport, bought shoes, a shirt and shorts and took off for a 40-minute run."  Now thats dedication to the sport.

Look out for her at next month's IAAF World Marathon Championship in Berlin, Germany.  What an amazing woman she is.

[ 本帖最後由 lvrunner 於 2009-8-3 14:34 編輯 ]

spmho

Yes....really so dedicated...........not many one can do this

佐治男孩

Kara is definitely one of my favorite runners.  She just won the Chicago half in 1:08:05.  She not only won the women's race.  She won it out right, beating every man in the race.

Had she got some competition, she could probably have a shot of breaking the American record set by Deena Kastor a few years ago.

The only concern I have for her is that she might not have enough time to recover after this fine run.

WalkBreaks

An article about Kara before Championship in Berlin:

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-streeter22-2009aug22,0,2507539.column?track=rss

I know more about Kara after reading this article. Maybe we will not see her running marathon for some time as she planned to be a mother soon.

Bad news for Kara Fans: (from runnersworld.com)

China's Xue Bai Takes World Champs Marathon; Goucher 10th, Davila 11th

The American hope in the World Championships marathon, Kara Goucher, stayed in contention for about an hour and 45 minutes of Sunday's race in Berlin but could not keep up when a decisive break was made. The gold medal goes to Xue Bai of China, who hit the finish line just beyond the Brandenburg Gate in 2:25:15. Yoshimi Ozaki of Japan, who dueled with Xue nearly to the finish tape, got the silver medal in 2:25:25 and Aselefech Mergia of Ethiopia, who was swooning at the finish, held on for the bronze in 2:25:32. It was the first gold medal for a Chinese woman in a World Championships marathon and amazingly, Mergia's bronze was the first Ethiopian medal of any kind in these marathons. Kara Goucher ended up tenth in 2:27:48 and American Desiree Davila, moving up through the field in the second half as is her wont, was just behind Goucher in 11th in 2:27:53, a personal best by well over three minutes. We'll have more details and precise times as they come in. The team World Cup crown went to China, with Japan second and Russia third.

[ 本帖最後由 WalkBreaks 於 2009-8-23 23:06 編輯 ]

佐治男孩

原帖由 WalkBreaks 於 2009-8-23 22:59 發表

                               
登錄/註冊後可看大圖

An article about Kara before Championship in Berlin:

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-streeter22-2009aug22,0,2507539.column?track=rss

I know more about Kara after reading this article. Maybe  ...

I think people may be expecting too much from Kara Goucher.  Ok, she looks pretty cute and got a bronze medal in the 07 World T&F women 10k.  But she is still pretty new to Marathoning.  She did very well in NYC as a first time Marathoner and did ok at Boston too.

However, she still hasn't reached the standards set by Deena Kastor a few years back.  Deena Kastor at that time set multiple US records, including road 8k, track 10k, half and full marathon (The track 10k record has since then be broken by Shalane Flanangan).  Kastor was also ranked #1 in the world in 06.

Now that Kara Goucher is going to step away from running to have a baby at the age of 31.  It is not likely she will surpass Kastor.  If she is not stepping away, she really might have a better chance to get to Kastor's level.

And also, it does look like the "Cavemen Plan" (referred to by RW) that Kara Goucher advocates might not work very well.

lvrunner

Kara Goucher and Paula Radcliffe are both pregnant and due on the same date in September !!

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/09/sports/09marathon.html

lvrunner

A funny gag between Kara Goucher and Shalane Flanagan

http://video.competitor.com/2010/06/running/run-center/runcenter-shalane-kara-speak-out/   (at the 3:00 minute mark)