Goucher's "wheels" just fine, thank you
by Doug Binder, The Oregonian
Monday March 23, 2009, 10:53 PM
Kara Goucher returned home from Lisbon, Portugal on Monday night, worn out by a long day of traveling, but full of confidence as she enters the final phase of her training prior to the Boston Marathon.
You wouldn't have thought that by reading the Libson Half Marathon race report as posted on Letsrun.com. Here's part of what the web site reported after Goucher's 30-second win on Sunday morning.
"The wheels came off, so to speak, for Goucher in the final kilometers (we think her last 1,000m may have been 4:10). In fact, though it appeared she had the race easily won from the early stages, Goucher was fortunate to win the race as Kenyan Alice Timilili came into the picture just in the final moments. Had the race been just another 400m, Goucher may have finished lower down in the standings."
None of that, apparently, is true.
Goucher widened her lead over Timilili over the final stages of the race. And she finished strongly.
The final kilometer was almost assuredly not accurately measured. It was about 30 seconds (150-160 meters) too long, as evidenced by almost every runner in the field. The top men in the race were going 2:47-per-kilometer and yet the final split was timed in 3:03. And that's when they were sprinting. Likewise, Goucher, who consistenly ran 3:15 pace throughout (per kilometer), was timed in 3:38 for the last kilometer. Again, Goucher picked up the pace. Her wheels certainly did not fall off.
Split times reported on a live telecast were wrong throughout. Perhaps that's what Letsrun.com was using as its source.
Regardless, there is nothing wrong with Kara Goucher. She got up early in Lisbon on Monday and ran a workout. She ran again at the Frankfurt, Germany airport, and once more at O'Hare in Chicago, during a long trip back to Portland.