FULL RESULTS COURTESY OF ROCK 'N' ROLL 

With about 10 weeks until the 2016 Olympic Trials, four of the top U.S. women in the marathon competed in the Rock ’n’ Roll San Antonio Half Marathon as a tune-up of sorts. For winner Kara Goucher it was a hard effort, proving that she’s healthiest, and arguably strongest, she’s been in years. Goucher, who finished third in the 2012 Trials, won the contest this morning in 1:11:10, her second sub 72-minute effort this year.

Even though the field was loaded with talent, Goucher made it her race from the gun. By mile two, Goucher had a 70m gap on the chase pack of Olympians Shalane Flanagan, Amy Cragg, NAZ Elite’s Kellyn Taylor and Canadian Sasha Gollish.

“I really like to run behind and watch the race unfold,” Goucher said. “But you know that’s a weakness of mine. I’ve gotten so used to running from behind, so it wasn’t my favorite way to run but I think I’ll get more out of it, the way it unfolded.”

She continued to gap the field with every mile, executing the uphills and downhills of the course perfectly. By four miles her lead was extended to 25 seconds and it only got better for Goucher, even though she was running solo.

“I was uncomfortable, it’s not my favorite way to run.”


The solo, hard effort was a good takeaway for Goucher, however, who said she probably hadn’t run that hard by herself since college. She knew that her old training partner Flanagan was planning on putting forth more of a “tempo” effort, but she was still surprised when she realized around mile six that she would be racing alone.

“It’s in her DNA,” Goucher said of Flanagan. “She’s very competitive.”

The key for Goucher heading into February’s Olympic Trials? “I just can’t get hurt.”

Gollish was the second finisher in 1:12:35. It was an astonishing effort for the Canadian who ran 2:02 for the 800m this spring and took home the Bronze medal in the 1500m in the Pan American Games the summer.

It was a different strategy for training partners Flanagan and Cragg, who finished together in 1:12:42. The objective of today? “A controlled effort within ourselves, imagining going at this pace for another half marathon,” Flanagan said.

About 72:40ish for @ShalaneFlanagan & @HastyHastings. #RnRSA pic.twitter.com/iadPlZpmnd

— Chris Chavez (@ChrisChavezSI) December 6, 2015

“It was good, just got in a good rhythm and settled in and enjoyed the run," Flanagan said. "Wasn’t anything super special, just exactly what Jerry [Schumacher] wanted us to do.”

The two are fairly new training partners and have been working together in Flagstaff, Arizona the last month. Their side-by-side finish was good practice for February’s Trials.

“I practiced all these little things here today, what it’s gonna be like in LA so I’m really prepared,” Flanagan said.

Hoka One One NAZ Elite member Taylor finished fifth in 1:13:19. Taylor made her marathon debut in Houston last January in 2:28:40, making her the sixth-fastest American in 2015.