Kara Goucher pulling away from Paula Radcliffe at the 2007 Great North Run (© Getty Images)
A year ago, Kara Goucher got a good look at the 26.2 miles of the 2007 ING New York City marathon course riding as a passenger in the lead car.
This year, Goucher will be covering the course on foot. “Watching the race last year, I was blown away by the course,” she said in a telephone interview Tuesday. “I knew right then I wanted to run a race on it. It’s a little bit daunting, especially the last five miles, but I’m excited to be in the race this year.”
The ING New York City Marathon is an IAAF Gold Label Road Race.
For the 30-year-old Goucher, who with Deena Kastor and Shalane Flanagan has given American women’s distance running a modicum of respectability in recent years, it will be the longest race she has ever run.
She and her coach, Alberto Salazar, who won the New York men’s race here three times, in 1980, 1981 and 1982, believe she is ready to move up to the Marathon. Salazar has been weaning her away from shorter distances since she and her husband, distance runner Adam Goucher, moved from Colorado to Portland in 2005 to train with Salazar’s Nike group.
That paid off last year in Osaka at the IAAF World Championships, where Kara won the bronze medal in the women’s 10,000 metres. Six weeks later, she stepped up to the half-marathon, winning the slightly downhill Great North run in 1:06:57 and defeating Paula Radcliffe.
This year, in Beijing, Goucher ran both the 10,000, where she was 10th with a personal best of 31:55.16, and the 5000, finishing 9th in 15:49.39. Says Salazar, “I thought she could medal in the 10,000, and she thought so too. We were geared toward a [tactical] 31-minute race, with a fast last couple of laps, and the pace was a lot faster.
“That solidified in my mind that in order to be the best in the world Kara has to move up to the marathon, where I think she can be a force. In terms of her biomechanics, she’s got a stride that’s perfectly suited for the marathon. It’s efficient, and less punishing. She sort of shuffles, like I did.” You can almost hear the grin over the phone.
Four weeks ago, in her only race since Beijing, Goucher won the American 10-mile road-racing championship by nearly two minutes, covering the distance – about 16.1 kilometres – in 53:16, a 2:19:40 marathon pace.
“I had hoped to run faster,” she said Tuesday, “but I was running alone for the last seven miles. I do my best in racing situations, and there was no-one to push me. But,” she added, “it was good to get out on the road. That was only the third road race I’ve ever run.”
Her coach, Alberto Salazar, was happy with her 10-miler. “It was really an easy run for here. Basically, it became a tempo run.”
Despite the strong field in Sunday’s race – including 1-2 finishers Radcliffe and GeteWami -- Salazar says, “I don’t see any of them breaking 2:22 to 2:23 on the New York course.” The course record is 2:22:31, set by Kenyan Margaret Okoro in 2003.
He adds, “We don’t have any time goals. We’re not really worrying about the time. I think she’s capable of running with the leaders. And,” he adds, “I don’t see anyone who’ll pull away from her in the last couple of miles.”
Salazar recalls what his coach, Bill Dellinger, the 1964 Olympic bronze medalist at 5000m, told him about running the Marathon in 1980. “Bill said, ‘Essentially, it’s a 5000 or 10,000-metre race. You just stick with everybody – just sit back and relax – and it becomes a 5k or 10k race.’ ”
That worked for Salazar in 1980-81-82, and it suits Goucher just fine. “I like to run with a group, where I can just zone out and run,” she says. “I know tackling the marathon is sort of a tall order, but I put all my faith in Alberto. When Alberto says I’m ready, I believe I’m ready.”
And, says Alberto, “She’s ready.”
James Dunaway for the IAAF
