Talk About Getting "Chicked"...

[Steve P]

"Kara Goucher Outruns Everyone, Male and Female, at Chicago Half-Marathon"

http://dailynews.runnersworld.com/2009/08/august-3.html

[Jon Allen]

I saw that- very awesome and impressive.  Good for her. 

[Sasha Pachev]

There was a guy that was ahead of her without a number that they had to pull off the course, though. Aside from him the field was just plain weak. Truth of the matter, Sean, Paul, and Jeff would not have gotten chicked. But they, and runners of their caliber were not offered enough incentive to be there. I wonder why that guy was running without a number. If they were offering elite entries he would not have had the need. So the moral of the story - if you want to have a politically correct race, go ahead and have no elite program for the men!

[Steve P]

No need to discount what Kara did in this race. She was the first out of 17,000 runners. I don't think anybody would suggest she could have done the same against the world's best men. But she ran a fantastic race after two 120-mile training weeks. She deserves respect for a great effort.

The guy without a number didn't finish the race, so what he did is irrelevant. Sean, Paul, and Jeff didn't run the race either, so we don't know who would have won if they had.

[Paul Petersen]

Good for her. Hopefully she can break 2:20 in her next marathon.

[Sasha Pachev]

I am not discounting what she did. I am just saying the field chicking was pretty much set up with the race organization. When this happens in a race with 17,000 people the race director should feel embarrassed for failing to recruit the depth on the men's side to the point where a training run by a randomly appearing world-class lady creates this situation.

[Paul Petersen]

Why would they be embarrassed? They got good publicity out of it. What's the point in bringing in some 3rd tier men to run 1:05, when they can spend all of their elite budget on the most well-known female American runner? I literally have no idea who won the RnR Seattle Half, because I've never heard of the guy (and I was in the race!). At least people have heard of Kara Goucher, and she could very well be the American record holder in the marathon within a year or two.

[Maurine Lee]

From a "chick's" point of view - I think it is awesome.  I love reading about the races where the Women get an equivalent head start on the men and the race prizes are based upon actual finishing order and not gender.  Some of those races between Deena and Meb have been really great.

[Sasha Pachev]

Paul - in my book this is a dubious kind of publicity. Equal caliber men racing women with a handicap is great. The field getting chicked because they refused to give sub-1:08 guys comps is an embarrassment. You are right though, many people fail to see it this way. But US distance running will continue to stink, our best runners will continue to get lapped in the Olympics, until something like this is viewed as an embarrassment rather than the moment of glory for women's rights. Unless, of course, we succeed at exporting our perverted values to East Africa.

[Jonathan Loschi]

What are these "perverted values" you're talking about?  We are just talking about running here, aren't we?

[Sasha Pachev]

Spiritual values or the lack thereof eventually finds its manifestation in running.

[Neil Price]

Paul - in my book this is a dubious kind of publicity. Equal caliber men racing women with a handicap is great. The field getting chicked because they refused to give sub-1:08 guys comps is an embarrassment. You are right though, many people fail to see it this way. But US distance running will continue to stink, our best runners will continue to get lapped in the Olympics, until something like this is viewed as an embarrassment rather than the moment of glory for women's rights. Unless, of course, we succeed at exporting our perverted values to East Africa.

1.  Why should Goucher's victory be considered an "embarrassment?"  and for whom?
2.  Please cite an example of someone, ANYONE touting her victory as a "moment of glory for women's rights."
3.  What Jon said.

[Steve P]

Sasha, I also fail to understand which poor values (specificially) you believe are being exhibited.

By the way, I don't know that we have any evidence that Kara was given a financial incentive to race. From her description, it sounds like she ran this race because she felt it would best help her prepare for the World Championships. It sounds like that's what 17,000 other runners did (ran a race that suited their goals), and she just happened to beat all of them.

“I’m excited to be part of the first Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicago Half Marathon. I’m grateful for the opportunity to race as part of my preparations for the World Championships here on home soil, in one of the true great sporting cities.” said Goucher, who will use the race in preparation to run the marathon at the IAAF World Track and Field Championships August 23 in Berlin.

“It’s great to have Kara competing at the inaugural Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicago,” said Matt Turnbull, Athlete Coordinator for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series... “She is the best female distance runner in America right now and the race fits perfectly into her schedule for this summer’s World Championships. There is no better ambassador for the sport of running in the United States so it’s great to have her in Chicago.”

See http://running-advice.com/blog/?p=2679.

[Sasha Pachev]

No, she probably was not. She was just out for a hard training run. But the fact that she could randomly jump in a race and win it outright reflects how weak the male competition was relative to the size of the field.  You bring in 17,000 people, and among them there are no men that can match a female world-class performance that is not even a US record. That is an embarrassment. And failure to see that this is an embarrassment is perhaps another embarrassment.

There is an art of getting embarrassed and understanding why somebody should be embarrassed in certain situation. It reflects certain qualities that are perhaps a little hard to define, but nevertheless they are real and essential to success in running. Colleen De Reuck when asked how she felt when she took the lead in the Boston Marathon 2009 responded that she felt embarrassed. I have a feeling many people have struggled to understand why. Do you understand why she was embarrassed? Can you feel it? If not, there is only one cure - train harder, feel the pain, feel the joy of running fast, learn to feel the worth of your performance. Then maybe you will be embarrassed to get the attention at the wrong time and in the wrong context, and you will understand why she was embarrassed.

Regarding spiritual values and performance. It is very similar to the performance of the economy. It is possible for few individuals to have low values and experience financial success. But when low values become dominant in the population the economy collapses. Because there is nobody left that you can cheat, nobody left that you can steal from. Success in running requires humility and hard work. When those values are not present anymore, running performances decline. It becomes statistically improbable for a runner to be  gifted and have proper work ethic and a healthy approach to the sport at the same time. Not to mention the reduction in the number of women that will stay sober and meth-free during pregnancy, which in turn reduces the count of runners born with a gift.

[Dallen]

I say it was a smart move getting Kara and good publicity for her to win.

There is a nice sized group of guys in Chicago that could have beat here. I doubt that thery didn't show up because of not being comped the $50 entry fee. There are plenty of races there and this is just a big crowded mess on a hot Sunday morning. It's a race that focuses on a good time for 17,000 people rather than a little money for a few fast guys. 

This is an exaggeration, but nobody in Chicago is running races for the prize money. There are too many good local runners. No single guy would ever have good odds at a guartanteed payday. Very different from Utah where a few guys/girls know that they can show up and be guaranteed a small check.