Flotrack Article on Kara Goucher Causes Drama

The best part of that article was the self-referral link to Chris barnicle narrowly breaking 2:00

Hey Kara,

You screwed up. You have a larger and more loyal following than Flotrack.

Your tweet got myself and many others to go back and read their silly article. I NEVER READ FLOTRACK. It was poorly written and a terrible article that I only read because you promoted it. I know that wasn't your intention but you screwed up.

In addition Nike hasn't produced anything special in the running industry in 20 years. You are validating their shoe. WHY? I know it is not out of love for Nike. Your comment should be when asked about the Vaporfly 4%, I think it is just another Nike gimmick.

While I see her point, she didn't lose a spot on the team because of the shoes, she came close to third because Shalane fell apart. On her best day she couldn't beat Shalane on her worst.

She cares about Shalane? Please. She cares for Shalane as much as she cares for NOP and Nike, only she can't trash Shalane because Shalane is popular and is not controversial in the least. Blaming the shoes is a case of sour grapes, just like pretty much everything out of Kara's mouth anymore. She really needs to let go, which despite her claims to the contrary, she clearly has not.

You are a Drama Queen. Otherwise you wouldn't see any drama.

Frommeled wrote:

While I see her point, she didn't lose a spot on the team because of the shoes, she came close to third because Shalane fell apart. On her best day she couldn't beat Shalane on her worst.

I agree with you. That also means that the shoes are a Nike scam because if they provide a 1% improvement then Shalane would have been 4th.

And not surprising a thread calling out a terrible article from Flotrack has turned into an opportunity for the haters to bash Kara.

"I just think if technology determined our Olympic team, then that's a problem."

There's an ambiguity here that's not helping her case. Colloquially this could mean,

"If we get to a point one day where technology determined our Olympic team, that would be a problem."

However, it also could mean,

"If technology is responsible for me missing out on our Olympic team in 2016, then that's a problem."

The fact that she used a simple present tense rather than some sort of future conditional "would be" in the second phrase suggests that she's actually speaking about the use of those shoes in the 2016 trials. Either way, she could have spoken more carefully maybe. Unless she was directly misquoted I don't see what she has to complain about with respect to Flotrack's handling of the RW article.

Flotrack for sure used clickbait, but Goucher's own words definitely call the shoes into question. Further, her PR person, sister and the CEO of Oiselle had all previously made public statements suggesting Kara didn't make the team because Amy and Shalane wore the 4% shoes.

Kara is smart. She knows that if she answers that question then that's the soundbite that everyone will hang on. She could have sidestepped it if she didn't want her views on the shoes to be the story.

Frankly, I think half of the reason the interview even took place was *because of* the shoes. Otherwise her update is: I was injured, I'm not injured, I'm not running anything, but I will, but I can't say where because I don't know. That could have been a blog post, but the blog post wouldn't have asked about the shoes.

Also, when she says in the article that the races wouldn't accept her- what I *think* she means is that they wouldn't pay her what she wanted. Given the level of attention NYRR has put on American 2:42 athletes in past NYC marathons, it's impossible for me to believe that Kara Goucher can't get into an elite field at a major race.

BocaBaton wrote:

Kara is smart.

She's a lot of things, but smart isn't one of them.

The truth is that she's an over-the-hill narcissist who cannot accept that there are athletes out there who are better than she is without cheating.

If race directors don't pay her the appearance fees she feels she deserves, she bashes them.

If coaches don't let her husband coach her, they're accused of all sorts of heinous crimes.

If shoe companies want to reduce her fees because she doesn't perform or doesn't compete for months at a time, they're called out.

Why does anyone take anything she says seriously?

Was she crying??

If that's the case is she just stirring the pot, choosing her words poorly, or being misquoted? What the article quotes her saying is:"There was a spring marathon I wanted to do and I was told, no, I couldn’t come there."Who told her she couldn't come? Why? The race organizers said they didn't want her there, or that they had no appearance money for her? It's odd that she's speaking so vaguely. I wonder what the race organizers of this spring marathon think of the quote.

BocaBaton wrote:

Also, when she says in the article that the races wouldn't accept her- what I *think* she means is that they wouldn't pay her what she wanted. Given the level of attention NYRR has put on American 2:42 athletes in past NYC marathons, it's impossible for me to believe that Kara Goucher can't get into an elite field at a major race.

Rupp has been crying knowing the jig is up. Salazar cries on the inside. Rupp on the outside. They find comfort by applying androgel to each other.

Thinkster wrote:

Who told her she couldn't come? Why? The race organizers said they didn't want her there, or that they had no appearance money for her? It's odd that she's speaking so vaguely. I wonder what the race organizers of this spring marathon think of the quote.

BocaBaton wrote:

Also, when she says in the article that the races wouldn't accept her- what I *think* she means is that they wouldn't pay her what she wanted. Given the level of attention NYRR has put on American 2:42 athletes in past NYC marathons, it's impossible for me to believe that Kara Goucher can't get into an elite field at a major race.

Here is the problem. Only 2 groups get big appearance fees.

1. Top level

2. Potential

Kara is currently neither. Shalane, Desi, and Amy can all garner 6 figure contracts. Up and comers with interesting stories fall into the potential category and garner 50-60k. This is people like Jordan Hasay.

Someone like Kara thinks she belongs in the first category. SHE IS WRONG. She and Dathan are also being misled by their manager. Neither will pick up another 6 figure contract until after they do something big. If either go to a marathon and run a big race 2:25 for Kara or 2:09 for Dathan then and only then will they get another big payday. Sorry to Dan Lilot but those are the facts.

Kate didn't seem to mind using every technological advantage provided to her by Nike when she was with NOP.

hatehatehatehate

Differences in gear is a fact in most sports. Suits in swimming, bikes in cycling and tri, skis, bobsleds, rifles... you name it. If the gear doesn't break a rule by a governing body, then there is no issue.

And isn't technology why certain runners accept contracts from certain shoe manufacturers?

Rupp, or Farah, or Rudisha, or Bolt (on and on) could probably get comparable contracts from several companies.

If Kara had offers from 2 or 3 or 4, how did she choose?

Maybe because she though she was getting the best shoe (hint: better tech).

If you choose to run in Brooks, or Adidas, or New Balance, don't whine if Nike has a better shoe(which has not been proven- they also happen to have the better runners right now)

Drama queen wrote:

The whiniest bitch ever to run professionally

YESS!!! Exactly

It's classic Kara Goucher.