Who: Kara Goucher (known then as Kara Wheeler)
High School: Duluth East High School, Class of
1996
HS Personal Bests:
1600m: 5:00.92
3200m: 10:48
5,000m XC: 17:48
Current Personal Bests:
1500m: 4:05
3,000m: 8:34
5,000m: 14:55
Marathon: 2:24:52
Kara Goucher has been at the top levels of running for nearly 20 years. In high school, she twice qualified for Foot Locker nationals, won state championships and earned a scholarship to the University of Colorado, where she won the NCAA cross country title in 2000 and individual NCAA titles at 3,000m and 5,000m. In the years since, Goucher has won a bronze at the 2007 world championships in the 10,000m and been on two Olympic teams, in 2008 and 2012.
But when she thinks back on the start she got in the sport she loves, she talks about how running was just one part of a high school experience that included music, student government, other sports and lots of fun with friends. Her highest mileage: 32 per week. In September, she spoke with Running Times about those jam-packed days.
Most Memorable Race: The state final of the 1600m, her senior year. Goucher was trailing a longtime high school rival, who had won the 3200m the previous day. At the bell lap, the girl in third came up on Goucher’s shoulder. Goucher responded to the move, not only dusting the girl in third, but kicking all the way to the nip the leader at the line. The time—5 minutes flat—was her PR.
Most Memorable Workout: In cross country, the girls did a 5-mile hill loop that went by the name of “Glenwood,” for the street where the hill was. “Our coach would stand at practice, sniff the air and say, ‘It smells like a Glenwood,’” Goucher recalls. “And we’d all go ‘Noooooo!’ It was basically one mile easy, three miles hard, and one easy, and then we’d all go collapse on the infield of the track.”
Other Activities: Goucher started dancing at age 4, and continued taking classes in ballet, jazz and tap into her teen years. She played soccer in the summer (and even played the summer after her first year at Colorado) and cross-country skied in the winter. She played French horn in the school orchestra and pep band, which performed at basketball and hockey games. “I loved my band friends,” she says. “They were some of the coolest people. Hockey is like a lifestyle there, and I was going to be at the games anyway.” Might as well go with the band.
The activities didn’t stop there. Goucher was treasurer of her class and senior year, she was on the “exec board,” which planned school-wide social events. She also took her academics seriously. “We didn’t have AP classes, but I took all honors classes and was really into having a good GPA,” she says. “Kind of like that runner mentality that you’re all out in everything that you do.”
Brush With the “In” Crowd: Senior year, Goucher a nominee for “Miss East,” which is similar to a homecoming court. The senior class votes, and the eight girls with the most votes are up for Miss East. Then the entire school votes for the winner, who takes the crown. Goucher did not win, but she was happy just to be nominated. “They announced who was up for it at a school assembly, and it was all these pretty girls,” she says. “I was in the band and had to get out of the band that was playing and go up. I stuck out like a sore thumb.”
The whole experience—going to the dance, finding a dress and a date for the dance—was out of Goucher’s comfort zone. “Probably another girl would have enjoyed it so much more,” she says. “My family was in shock. I was like, ‘I’m up for Miss East.’ They were like, ‘What? How is that even possible?’ I’m like, ‘I don’t know, but I’m up for it.’”
Advice to High School Runners: Try different things. Be well rounded. Goucher says she feels lucky that she grew up in a time before people started specializing. “Running was always what I was best at, but I had to leave practice early on Mondays because I had dance at 5:30, and it was understood,” she says. “Nobody made me feel bad.”
She also gets a lot of questions about training, often from kids who are running high mileage in high school and say they’ve stopped improving. “It’s hard for me to hear that, because I didn’t train like that,” Goucher says. “I still qualified for Foot Locker a couple of times. My coach let my talent come through, but he knew I had more to give. I get a little uncomfortable when I hear, ‘She’s running 70 or 80 miles a week and she has really hit a wall.’ All I can think is, ‘Why is she doing so much? And 70 or 80 miles a week, that’s really ringing in my head.’ I always say, ‘Maybe she should back off a little bit and go to the gym or play some basketball,’ and parents and kids think I’m crazy. I loved running from the beginning. But my world wasn’t built around running until I went to college.”
You can follow Goucher on Twitter (@KaraGoucher). Make sure to follow us for Throwback Thursday and more on Twitter (@RunningTimesHS) and Instagram (@RunningTimes)
Sarah Lorge Butler is a writer and editor living in Eugene, Oregon, and her stories about the sport, its trends, and fascinating individuals have appeared in Runner’s World since 2005. She is the author of two popular fitness books, Run Your Butt Off! and Walk Your Butt Off!
