Chicago Half Marathon 2009

2009 Rock ‘N’ Roll Half Marathon press conference quotes from American star Kara Goucher and legend Frank Shorter. On running the race: “This is a great time to get out and do something a little hard to break up the training block. I have 3 weeks to go on Sunday so it’s just a chance to execute a race plan and go through a dress rehearsal for Berlin.” On the race: “It is one big start and there will be lots of men in there…It’s really about pushing myself and there will be lots of men out there for me to chase down.

On what happened to change her level of running as she hit her late twenties: “I am definitely a late bloomer, I have been in everything in my life actually. Things did change in my late twenties. I changed coaches, I moved and I started doing more overall bodywork. I was finally able to stay healthy and then I was able to take my training to a whole new level…Having the perspective in life and knowing that running isn’t the only thing that I can do well…so when I do race it really is just running.”

On running her own race versus running against competition: “I really don’t run for PRs, I think my PRs are pretty weak on the world standard and I think it is because my coach has me focused on being a good competitor and championship racer. So when I go to a big race I don’t’ think about my race I think about how to cover other people’s moves…It helps alleviate the pressure on me because I don’t really think until the end of the race, I just cover everybody else.”