Ryan Hall tweeted early this morning that he was at the airport heading home. I wonder what Kara would have told us over Twitter, if she had such a way to connect with her fans. Flotrack tweeted earlier in the day, “Sports Illustrated reporting Kara Goucher and coach Alberto Salazar are attempting to add her to this weekend’s London Marathon.”
Screeech. What?! Quick, Google. Truly she’s not considering…Okayokayokay. She is NOT running London. Salazar talked her out of it. Well thank goodness he did!
So, my predictions were kinda crappy. Let’s see how I did.
Men’s Open Race (Prediction/Actual)
- Robert Cheruiyot / Deriba Merga
- Ryan Hall / Daniel Rono
- Deriba Merga / Ryan Hall
Could have been worse, actually. Two of my top three picks actually finished in the top three, though four-time champ Cheruiyot was a DNF due to back pain. Rono wasn’t even on my radar, but he is now.
Women’s Open Race (Prediction/Actual)
- Kara Goucher / Salina Kosgei
- Dire Tune / Dire Tune
- Bezunesh Bekele / Kara Goucher
I suppose I’m a little psyched I was on the nose with Tune, but no need to go into how I’d have rather been right about Kara. Bekele came in fourth, so while she didn’t make the podium she was a better call than Cheruiyot! Salina Kosgei had her day on April 20th, for her first World Marathon Majors Win (like Merga).
Flotrack was the first site with video up, as I trolled the web before I had to jump on the Amtrak regional back to New York yesterday evening. JG came to watch what few clips were up then, and we both felt kind of yucky, gaping at Kara as she struggled to keep the tears at bay for the press, standing there in her racing bikini, with Adam hovering protectively at her side. In this video, the sports reporter, Steve Burton, actually calls her “Sara Goucher.” It only goes to show what a class act Kara is that all she did was give one little chuckle and a private smile, rather than ream the dumbass out. And the video of her all alone on the dais answering questions from an insensitive press corps, as she choked back tears, was heartbreaking. (You can see Adam’s profile to the left of the stage, ready to go to her if she needs him.) In this video, Kara’s answering a Q&A with the same guy who interviewed her and Bernard at New York Running Co. earlier this year. This time, the single piece of advice she gave the crowd was to “have patience,” and to not worry about a timeline when working towards your goals. “You have forever,” she said. Was she speaking directly to me? Most certainly not, but once again Kara provides me with the inspiration I need.
Pigtails Flying 
What I took from watching those videos is that Goucher was under tremendous pressure to perform, with that pressure coming from two sources: the public and, perhaps even moreso, from within herself. I had the same reaction with regard to the impulse to run London six days later (crazy idea, as much from a mental as from a physical standpoint, given the deep women’s field there this year).
I hope she eases up on herself a bit and learns from the experience. Two marathons isn’t a lot, and experience is such a huge component of doing well at that distance.
I actually teared up for Tune rather than for Goucher, primarily because Goucher had a support system all around her. Tune obviously wanted it so badly — and after she crashed and burned, she was completely and utterly alone.
I hadn’t thought of Tune’s experience like that, but I am glad you have pushed me towards empathy for the Ethiopian.
Hey Pigtails,
Got to see Kara at Niketown after the event and the key takeaway was that she wanted it so bad because she didn’t want to disappoint her fans. I’ve always been a big fan of hers but there wasn’t a single person who was at the post race event who didn’t leave with even more respect for her. Here was the post I did from my Twitter feed.
http://www.runboston09.com/?p=296
So cool you were there!
I didn’t feel disappointed in Kara at all; my disappointment was empathetic. She’s the best.
I wish that Kara was on Twitter. It would be great to know what she was thinking… The speculation about running London really makes me curious as to what her near future plans are.
I think she’s gonna get preggers. She has said it more than once recently, including Monday night at a Nike event.
Guess she’s not ready to hang up her sports bra yet…. Track & Field News sez “Kara Goucher is throwing her hat in the ring for the World Championships marathon in Berlin on August 23.” and “Goucher also intends to run several races on the track, including the U.S. Championships in Eugene in June.” Woohoo!!