Goucher to Run London on Sunday?! UPDATED
Coach Salazar says it’s a long shot, but the slow pace of the women’s race doesn’t make it completely out of the question. What do you think? Has she lost her mind because she came up just nine seconds short, or could she do it?
UPDATE: On second thought, never mind.
I would say the jet lag alone should dissuade her from attempting it. But I can understand her desire to attempt it. Being that close and losing first place is worse than if she had bonked on Heartbreak hill.
I don’t think she should run it this soon, but then again I am not a world class running coach. If she does run it and win it then WOW, but if she doesn’t win it then I don’t think it will be a 2nd or 3rd place that she will be getting. I think that the emotions of coming off of Boston along with the marathon itself will tax her body more than she thinks and may hit her in London like a brick wall that is too tall to climb.
I think she can do it. According to the Runner’s World with her on the cover, she has the coach, as well as a chiropractor, sports psychologist, and others advising her. It’s not like she’s out there on her own with no support…
…unlike Michael Wardian, who is self-coached and actually holds down a real-world job. In 2008 he won the National Marathon in Washington, D.C. and then hopped on a plane to Knoxville, TN for a marathon there the next day. He came in 3rd.
Wardian isn’t as elite as Goucher and doesn’t have the support system she does. If he can run marathons days apart there’s no reason to believe she can’t.