Profile: Kara Goucher

 

Born: July 9, 1978, Queens, N.Y.

 Height: 5 foot 7

Weight: 119 pounds

Coach: Jerry Schumacher

(photo provided by killthepavement)

Many people would find running for 50 minutes to be a daunting task, this is not so for Olympian, Kara Goucher. In fact, she completed a 50 minute run only hours before giving birth to her now two year old son. Kara Goucher has been a major part of the running scene in the United States for years, and at the age of 34 she shows no signs of slowing down!

This past August Goucher competed with teammate Shalane Flanagan at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England. Goucher finished a disappointing eleventh closely behind Flanagan who finished tenth. But, Kara did not let that race get her down, she is determined to work harder than ever to be the best she can be. This Fall Goucher plans to take a step back from her high mileage training to concentrate more on regaining some of her leg speed. She will drop her mileage from 120 miles (per week) down to 90 in an attempt to increase leg turnover and knee lift. She plans to run a couple 10ks and qualify for the World Championships before running the Boston Marathon in April. A race where she is in contention for the win.

Kara Grgas was born in Queens, New York daughter of Mirko and Patricia. Mirko died in an accident involving a drunk driver when Kara was just four years old. After this tragedy Kara’s mother moved her and her two sisters to Duluth, Minnesota. After her mother remarried, Kara and her sisters took their stepfathers last name and she became Kara Wheeler.

Kara Wheeler attended College at the University of Colorado where she studied Psychology and ran Cross Country and Track under established coach Mark Wetmore. During her college years Kara was NCAA outdoor champion in the 3000m and 5000 m, she won NCAA Cross Country Championships and even made it to the Olympic trials in the 5000m where she placed eighth. The University of Colorado is where Kara met her current husband, Adam Goucher. He too ran under Coach Mark Wetmore.

Kara and Adam currently lives in Portland , Oregon with their two year old son Colton Mirko Goucher. After graduating from college both Adam and Kara turned their running careers professional. Adam had a successful college career, he also won NCAA Cross Country Championships. After turning professional his carrer was plagued by injuries but he did manage to run some successful races and fast times before retiring last year. Running is still a big part of his life and he recently wrote a book called Running the Edge.

Kara has over came many struggles in her life, one that stands out was a serious knee injury that left her unable to run for an extended period of time. It was extremely difficult for her because she felt useless. She had just made running her career, and she could not do it. Seeing her husband run so well only made her feel worse. She soon sank into a deep depression and turned to food for comfort. She ended up gaining some weight, and felt even worse about herself. When she was cleared to cross-train on an elliptical she went at it like mad. Cranking out two hours a day at her highest intensity. This resulted in yet another injury, a stress fracture. The doctor told her she was the only person he had ever seen suffer a stress fracture from a non-impact machine like an elliptical. She was then forced to return to total rest. Eventually, she overcame her struggle with food, by learning to cook. Instead of eating entire boxes of cereal she would spend hours creating a delicious meal for her and her husband. This made her feel better about herself, and gave her something to do. Eventually she was able to resume running and has since made a name for herself as one of the best U.S. female distance runners of all time.

Kara’s hobbies include running, cooking and spending time with her family. If she could share one piece of advice with the world it would be to always believe in yourself and never give up. She is an inspiration to runners, mothers, women and people in general!

Some of Kara’s Accomplishments Include:

2006 USA Outdoor 5,000m runner-up 2000 NCAA Outdoor 3,000m (9:02.15) and 5000m (15:54.30) champion

2000 NCAA Cross Country champion

(15:14.13)

2007 World Outdoor 10,000m bronze medalist (32:02.05

2008 Olympic Trials 5,000m champion  (15:01.02)

Three-time USA Outdoor 10,000m runner-up – 2007 (32:33.80); 2008 (31:37.72); 2011 (31:16.65)

2008 New York City Marathon, 2:25:53, 3rd place

2011 Boston Marathon, 2:24:52, 5th place

2012 USA Half Marathon Championships, 1:09:46, 1st place

3rd at 2012 Olympic Trials Marathon (2:26:06)

2012 London Olympic Marathon, (2:26:07)

To stay updated on Kara’s life follow her on twitter and facebook!