The Longest Race: Inside the Secret World of Abuse, Doping, and Deception on Nike's Elite Running Team by Kara Goucher

Author:Kara Goucher
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gallery Books
Published: 2023-03-14T00:00:00+00:00

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After reaching the podium in New York, I became obsessed with becoming the first American woman to win the Boston Marathon in twenty-four years. Alberto and I considered the race an even bigger deal than the Olympics or the New York City Marathon. I decided that with Alberto as my coach, who had won there in such a famous fashion, it was my destiny.

I inhaled a copy of Tom Derderian’s book Boston Marathon: The First Century of the World’s Premier Running Event, dreaming of seeing my own name inked in a revised edition. I wanted to be part of the lineage of iconic winners Bobbi Gibb, Miki Gorman, Joan Benoit, and Kathrine Switzer, who did what they did so I could do what I do. It was unhealthy, how much winning Boston came to fill my every thought.

The struggle for most of my running career had been a lack of confidence, but with voices both in and around me bestowing an almost religious sense of purpose on this mission, I swung toward narcissism. There was certainly a danger in this, but it did help create a potent fuel for training, and I finished some workouts that made me feel like I was in the best shape of my life.

On our way to the Lisbon Half Marathon in Portugal in March, which Alberto and I decided I’d run as preparation, we stopped in Boston to practice on the roads that formed the course. I had been there once, the month before, and was eager for another chance to put my feet down on the historic streets that I had been obsessively studying and visualizing. A big added bonus was getting to see Kelly, who was now working as the sports information director for the University of Minnesota Duluth’s women’s hockey team. The team was playing in the NCAA Frozen Four tournament in Boston, and it was great getting to watch her in her element, succeeding in the sports world. As for my practice on the Boston roads, it only heightened my excitement and sense of purpose for the race. There was something about the lush, leafy course and neighborhood feel that brought me closer in mind to Duluth, and got into my core.

Before my and Alberto’s flight to Europe, Kelly was hanging out with us in the lobby of our hotel in Boston. She pulled me aside and asked if it was “weird” having to spend so much time with Alberto on the road, with a clear implication that he could be romantically interested in me. “No,” I told her, haughtily. “He’s like a father to me.” I was mad at her for even suggesting something like that.

At Logan Airport, I walked through the metal detector and waited for Alberto on the other side. He’d had a defibrillator implanted in his chest after his cardiac event—similar to a pacemaker—so he had to get patted down. The top of the electrical device stuck out, and he joked that he wished he could get one with a swoosh logo.

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