Kara Goucher Finished 3rd at Boston Marathon

By Kat Ahn on April 20th, 2009

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Marathon runners are of a different breed and come from all ages, races, and nationalities.  All of them have different reasons for competing in these strenuous tests of their athletic abilities whether its about raising awareness for a particular charity, a race against their own selves, or perhaps a bit of both.

Kara Goucher is one of those marathon runners who didn’t know that she would make a breakthrough debut in the world of marathon running.  She ran the New York City Marathon in 2 hours, 25 minutes and 33 seconds, which was the fastest debut time ever by an American female.  Mind you, that’s 26.2 miles of straight sneakers pounding on the pavement.

She then set her sights on becoming the best marathoner in the world, and then decided to compete in the 2009 Boston Marathon.  Goucher ran in the women’s division of the Boston Marathon today and finished in 3rd place and though she did not win, she ran a clean race.  Goucher says,“I usually have a great kick. I really thought I could do it. My legs still felt kind of pop-y. I’m proud of how I did, but I just wanted it for everybody who supported me. I raced the best that I could, but I wanted to be the one who won for everybody.”

Every athlete competes to win, but the best feeling that one can get from a race such as this one, is that feeling of knowing that you put forth your best effort.  No matter what the outcome and I’m pretty sure that Goucher did just that.