Boston, Boston, Boston

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If you live in New England, the Monday of the Boston Marathon is practically a holiday.  This year, they've really been building up the hype and for those of us who didn't think we could wait all the way until Monday for the action, the Boston Athletic Association gave us a little taste with the BAA Road Mile this morning.

Olympic Bronze Medalist (10,000m) and multiple American Record holder Shalane Flanagan returned to her hometown to take on Steeplechic Olympian and U.S. Indoor 1500m Champ Anna Willard, 1500m Olympian Carrie Tollefson and veteran miler Amy Mortimer.

The BAA Mile is a three-lap course that ends at the Boston Marathon finish line.  The course was lined with an exuberant crowd, propelling the competitors to an exciting finish as Willard surged passed Flanagan in the final quarter to win 4:38.6 to 4:40.2 in windy conditions.  Mortimer was 3rd in 4:42.00.  Willard won $3000 for her efforts.

Flotrack has a great interview (below) with Willard, who says she wants to double in the steeplechase and the 1500m at USA's and then decide which event(s) to do in Berlin at the World Championships.  The goal is to medal at Berlin, which she says she "doesn't need to be patient for."

And now New England is ready for the big day: tomorrow, April 20th, at 9:30am EST, the Boston Marathon will begin.  If you're lucky enough to live in Boston, you can go take the action in in-person.  For the rest of us, we're lucky still to be able to watch the entire race in full thanks to Universal Sports.  

The talk of the race has been Olympian Kara Goucher, who is trying to become the first American woman since 1985 to win Boston.  Goucher has run one marathon so far, the NYC marathon in November, debuting in the fastest time ever by an American woman (2:25:53).

New York Road Runners director Mary Wittenburg said, "This is real. There's a lot at stake here, not just for the individuals but for the sport. It would absolutely be a rebirth, in part because of who the athletes are. Kara is the girl next door. If she wins this race, it plants the seed in a lot of young girls that they can be Kara Goucher -- because they can."

Goucher is facing some tough competition, including defending Boston champ Dire Tune of Ethiopia, a 23-year-old with a PR of 2:24:40.  Bezunesh Bekele of Ethiopia has the fastest PR of anyone in the field (2:23:09) and won the prestigious Dubai Marathon in January.

Goucher has a lot of pressure on her shoulders, but she does not seem to be shying away from it.  Tune in tomorrow to see how the race unfolds!  You may be able to watch history made.

Check out an interview with Goucher's coach (and marathon legend and Boston champ), Alberto Salazar, to find out what he thinks about his athlete's chances tomorrow.  The interview is by Flotrack after a 20-mile training run Goucher chose to do on the last 20 miles of the actual marathon course a few weeks ago.

Boston Marathon Links:

Boston Marathon Website

Flotrack Coverage

Boston Globe Coverage

Universal Sports (Live TV and Internet Coverage)

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There is 1 comment on this post. Join the discussion!

Dr. Nicole M. LaVoi says:

Good luck to MN native Kara Goucher @ Boston Marathon! I'll be watching via the net. Thanks Ann for this great post.

Sunday, April 19, 2009 at 10:18pm EDT

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