Shalane: “This course trashes your legs. All those turns, all that kind of stopping and going, it’s harder to find a rhythm. We practiced breaking rhythm, but until you do it over 26 miles you won’t find out how you deal with it.”
"It was like Portland weather."
“I was yo-yoing all over the place.”
“I don’t think Kara and I have dedicated ourselves more to anything in our lives than to this race. It’s a little heartbreaking.”
Kara: “I thought one of us had a shot. We trained so hard. I’ve never trained so hard in my life. I didn’t even know women trained the way I trained with Shalane. I didn’t even know it existed."
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OK genius, what was the Portland (PDX) copycat course? You can't tell me because you're guessing and truly have no idea. And if they did run a similar course in PDX, why did the course trash them?
Poor conditions you say? What poor conditions? It was a very, very typical PDX and London day.
Pace? The pace was great for Kara and Shalane. Easy first half.
Cramping? Why are they cramping IF they practiced on a similar course in PDX?