Kara Goucher was born in New York, as was her marathon career 30 years later. On Sunday, Goucher will be back in the city she left as a child when her father was tragically killed by a drink driver, back to run the 44th New York City Marathon.
"It's great to be here. I was born here, but I was so young when I left,'' said Goucher, who ran third here in 2008. "It's great to be back in New York. I'm very excited. This is where my marathon career started. It feels really fitting, like the rejuvenation of myself starts here in New York. I'm really excited.''
She'll be looking to give that marathon career a rebirth, to prove to the rest of the sport – and to herself – that she's still one of the world's best.
"The goal is just a solid performance that shows people I'm back, shows myself I'm back, and is a good starting point for a big year of training,'' said Goucher, who with coach Mark Wetmore set a 2:28 goal for her first marathon since last year's 2:28.11 in Boston. "(That's) what I know I'm capable of running if I'm willing to hurt a bit at the end and be smart at the beginning.
"I feel as though people are counting me out, and that really bothers me. I'm not out, and I'm not done. I'm not going to lie and say that I'm ready to win on Sunday, because I'm not. But I want to remind everybody that they should be worried; they should be worried about what I do, and they should count me in. Sunday is hopefully the beginning of a reminder, and then it builds from there.''
Build all the way from last year's injury nightmare to the Rio Olympics.
After withdrawing from last year's New York City Marathon with a broken metatarsal, she had an emotional split with coach Alberto Salazar, and moved from Portland (Ore.) to Boulder, Colorado. Then came a pelvic and sacral stress fracture – one she believes was related to lingering weaknesses from her 2010 pregnancy – that cost her three months.
But Goucher has always been tough; life saw to that in 1982 when the then-4-year-old from Flushing had to deal with her father Mirko Grgas' death on the Harlem River Drive – a road she'll run over crossing the Willis Ave. Bridge Sunday.
"I was 4, so very young. I left under like tragic circumstances. My father passed away, and that's why we moved. We moved to Minnesota to move in with my grandparents,'' said Goucher. "So I came here as a child, but I didn't get it. As an adult it's been great for me. Coming in '08 was great for me, it really was.
"It changed the way I looked at the city, and I wanted to get to know the city whereas in the past I just didn't – there was no connection there. So I love being here, and every year that I come…I feel more connected. As an adult now, I feel more connected to my father and to all those things that I've missed out on.''
Goucher's first marathon came here six years ago, when her 2:25:53 third-place finish was the fastest time by an American woman in New York and the best U.S. debut ever. For her, rebooting her career means more coming in New York.
"It's always just a deeper meaning for me here,'' said Goucher, whose aunt lives in Manhattan. "I feel like I've, not reinvented myself, but rediscovered myself in the last year-and-a-half. So it feels appropriate to start here. And this is where my marathon career started, right? So it feels like not only was I born here, but this is where everything started for me. So it feels just right that it happens here."
OPTIONAL FOR WEB _ "I was hoping to run here last year, and I broke my foot, and it was devastating. I was very, very depressed that I missed it last year. But it's been a long time coming, but I always knew I wanted to restart here.''
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