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Kara Goucher Set to Make Marathon Debut Sunday in New York City

Posted October 27th, 2008 at 10:00 AM by Stephanie Lowe

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Road Racing

Now that the Olympics have ended, athletes must reevaluate their goals. For Kara Goucher, that means moving up to the marathon distance. Goucher, 30, announced last month that she planned to make her debut November 2 at the New York City Marathon.

The elite women’s field includes world record-holder (2:15:25) Paula Radcliffe, 34, of Great Britain and 2008 Olympic silver-medalist and former world record-holder (2:18:47) Catherine Ndereba, 36, of Kenya. Ethiopia’s Gete Wami, 33, fought hard but ultimately finished second behind Radcliffe at last year’s NYC Marathon and will compete again this weekend. Also making her marathon debut is Kim Smith, 26, of New Zealand. Smith defeated Goucher in the 2008 Olympic 10,000m. Smith has faster 5,000m and 10,000m times than Goucher, but has not recently raced any longer distances.

Goucher proved herself against Radcliffe at the half-marathon distance by winning the 2007 Great North Run in 1:06:57. Radcliffe was coming back from an injury and childbirth at the time, but went on to win New York last year.

Since then, Goucher continued training for the 5,000m and 10,000m, while Radcliffe pursued the Olympic marathon. Goucher finished 9th in the 5,000m and 10th in the 10,000m in Beijing. Radcliffe was 23rd in the marathon. Although Goucher ran a personal record in the 10,000m (30:55.16), her coach, Alberto Salazar, believes she is meant to run the marathon.

“I told her that, you know, Kara you have a chance at medaling at the 5 and 10 if you stay there, but in the marathon, you can be the best in the world. I think she is that good and that suited for it,” Salazar said in a KGW Sports article.

Salazar is a veteran on the New York City Marathon. He won his debut there in 1980, and defended his title in 1981 and 1982.

Goucher’s marathon preparation appears to be right on track. She won the U.S. women’s 10-mile championship at the Medtronic TC 10 Mile race in Minnesota on October 5. Her time of 53:16 broke Katie McGregor’s previous course record (53:51). McGregor, 31, took second (55:04) this year and will also run the New York City Marathon. She (McGregor) placed 9th in New York in 2006.

Radcliffe, however, just ran 51:11 for 10 miles at the BUPA Great South Run.

No matter the outcome of Sunday’s race, Goucher is not putting too much pressure on herself.

“For this particular marathon, I really don’t care what the time is,” she told KGW. “I just want to be as competitive as possible and finish well.”

Find out if Kara Goucher has a future in the marathon by watching a live broadcast of her race at UniversalSports.com from 9:00 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. EST on Sunday, November 2.

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October 27th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
New York City Marathon 08: TheFinalSprint.com’s LIVE Coverage Begins at 9am EST | TheFinalSprint.com - Track & Field, Marathons, Racing News, Training Advice, Elite Athlete Blogs, Interviews, Podcasts, Videos and More! said:

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November 2nd, 2008 at 6:50 am