2008 Olympian Kara Goucher Returns Home for USA Women's 10 Mile Championship
9/8/2008 - by Kristine Smith
Minneapolis – September 8, 2008 – Duluth-native, Kara Goucher, will return to Minnesota in pursuit of the USA Women's 10 Mile Championship, Sunday, October 5, to compete against the top professional women for $25,000.
Goucher, a Duluth East graduate, ran as Kara Grgas-Wheeler in high school. The 2007 World Championship bronze medalist at 10,000m in Osaka, Japan also represented the United States at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in both the 5000m and 10,000m, placing 9th and 10th, respectively. Now the Colorado grad sets her sights on her first national championship on the roads. While this will be her inaugural ten-mile race, last year she ran 50 minutes, 59 seconds at 10 miles during her 1:06:57 half-marathon victory over Paula Radcliffe at the BUPA Great North Run. Goucher will be joined by her husband, Adam Goucher, and her coach, Olympic marathon great Alberto Salazar, who both will also run the Medtronic TC 10 Mile.
"We are pleased to welcome Kara to a highly competitive field on October 5," said executive director of Twin Cities Marathon, Inc. Virginia Brophy Achman. "The opportunity for us to host the national championship this year furthers our efforts to support long distance running throughout the United States, including our silver level support of Team USA Minnesota and the USA Distance Project."
Goucher's stiffest competition is likely to come from a couple of other Minnesotans, Team USA Minnesota's Katie McGregor and Emily Brown. McGregor is a four-time winner of the event and owns the course record of 53:51. Brown's best time for the distance is 56:40.
USA Women's 10 Mile Championship Top Ten Seeding List (PRs related to 10 Mile or closest distance)
NAME / AGE / RESIDENCE / PR
Kara Goucher
, 30, Portland, OR - 1:06:57, 2007 BUPA Great North Half Marathon
Katie McGregor
, 31, St. Louis Park, MN - 53:51, 2006 Medtronic TC 10 Mile
Emily Brown
, 24, Minneapolis, MN - 56:40, 2007 Women Run the Cities 10 Mile
Melissa White
, 27, Royal Oaks, MI - 51:48, 2006 Utica Boilermaker 15K
Nicole Kulikov-Hagobian
, 33, Hadley, MA - 56:48, 2006 Cherry Blossom 10 Mile
Sopagna Eap
, 27, Eugene, OR - 58:40, 2006 Pear Blossom 10 Mile
Alissa McKaig
, 22, Fort Wayne, IN - 34:10 2008 Stanford 10K
Kara Roy
, 28, Fort Collins, CO - 1:15:49, 2008 Shamrock Half Marathon
McKale Davis
, 24, Stillwater, OK - 54:47, 2007 Tulsa Run 15K
Melissa Todd
, 33, Kansas City, MO - 58:54, 2006 Medtronic TC 10 Mile
The USA Women's 10 Mile Championship prize purse is $25,000. The Women's event starts ahead of the rest of the Medtronic TC 10 Mile field with a 7:05am start, Sunday, October 5. Also known as "The Shortcut to the Capitol" the race starts near the HHH Metrodome, returning to its original course, after the I-35W Bridge collapse last year forced a temporary route-change. The course follows the last seven miles of the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon route before finishing in front of the State Capitol.
Visit
MTCMarathon.org
for more information.
Source: Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon
http://www.mtcmarathon.org