FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Goucher leads Team USA women's marathoners to fifth-place finish
BERLIN - 2008 Olympic Trials 5,000m champion and 10,000m runner-up Kara
Goucher (Portland, Ore.) was the top U.S. finisher at the women's World
Marathon Cup competition Sunday through the streets of Berlin. The race was
contested under mostly sunny skies with temperatures in the low 70's.
Goucher, who stayed with the main pack for the majority of the race,
finished 10th in a season's best time of 2 hours 27 minutes 48 seconds.
Goucher's finish is the highest by an American woman in the World
Championships marathon since Linda Somers finished seventh in 1995.
Goucher was closely followed by 2008 Bank of America Chicago Marathon
fifth-place finisher Desiree Davila (Rochester Hills, Mich.), who finished
11th in 2:27:53, which greatly improves on her previous personal best of
2:31:33 set last year in Chicago.
2008 Olympic Trials marathon fifth-place finisher Tera Moody (Boulder,
Colo.) rounded out the scoring for Team USA as she placed 28th in 2:36:39
to give the U.S. its combined time of 7:32:20.
Team USA women's fifth-place finish in the World Marathon Cup at a World
Outdoor Championships is its best ever. Team USA finished sixth in 1999,
2005 & 2007.
Other finishers for Team USA included 2008 USA 25 km champion Paige Higgins
(Littleton, Colo.), who finished 30th in 2:37:11, and Zoila Gomez (Alamosa,
Colo.), who placed 30th in 2:42:49.
Team USA quotes
Tera Moody (Colorado Springs, Colorado)--I wanted to break 2:30 today, but
with the heat, I had to be a little more conservative. I felt really
great, but I just didn't have the turnover.
I felt great from the get-go. I was getting a bit impatient.
Desiree Davila (Rochester Hills, Michigan)--I went out pretty even, and was
able to pick it up along the way. A huge pack was sitting in front of me,
and as it broke up, I was able to weave my way through. I felt great going
into the last lap, and was able to pick people off.
I came in very fit, and having the confidence from the Chicago Marathon,
and being able to move through the field was huge.
Kara Goucher (Portland, Oregon)--My legs felt great, and I felt really
relaxed. It was great to have a loop course where my husband and coach
could yell at me. The pace felt comfortable, and it felt like practice.
I had a lot of problems keeping my fluids down. After the second personal
fluid station, I started throwing up what I took in. I would start taking
it, then a mile later, I'd throw up.
I started to cramp with 13k to go, and then the field started to surge. It
wasn't there. I just wasn't good enough today. I thought I hydrated
myself well leading up to the race.
When the field made their break, my body wouldn't go.
Paige Higgins (Flagstaff, Arizona)--It went very well, but the heat got to
me. Tera Moody and I pretty much buddied up together and pursued the
second chase pack. We were in it to get a real good team placing.
I liked running on a criterium-style course like this. You can figure out
the undulations, and you can break up the course into sections. My coach
told me to do a 30k run, and a 12k race. The fans made a huge difference,
and that's why I love this course. It's very runner-friendly, and even if
you're not a runner, you can see us pass by four times.
Zoila Gomez (Alamosa, Colorado)--It wasn't what I had expected. The first
10k I was right on what I wanted to run, and on the second lap I was
feeling th esame thing.
Shortly before the half-marathon, I started feeling some hot spots on the
bottoms of my feet. The race was harder than I thought with the blisters
and all. I'm glad I finished the race, but I wished I could have done
better.
For complete results, quotes and Team USA reports, visit www.usatf.org.
Fans can watch Team USA on national television broadcasts on NBC and
Versus, or online via live, daily Webcast at www.universalsports.com. For
complete TV listings, visit
http://www.usatf.org/events/2009/IAAFWorldOutdoorChampionships/mediaCoverag
e.asp.
For more information on Team USA at the World Outdoor Championships, visit
http://www.usatf.org/events/2009/IAAFWorldOutdoorChampionships.
About USA Track & Field
USA Track & Field (USATF) is the National Governing Body for track and
field, long-distance running and race walking in the United States. USATF
encompasses the world's oldest organized sports, some of the most-watched
events of Olympic broadcasts, the #1 high school and junior high school
participatory sport and more than 30 million adult runners in the United
States.
For more information on USATF, visit http://www.usatf.org
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