Running her first marathon since a dispiriting fourth-place finish at the U.S. Olympic marathon trials in February 2016, Kara Goucher on Sunday started strong in Houston.
Through 16 miles, the ex-Duluthian felt great and was on pace to get through 26.2 miles in about 2 hours and 35 minutes. However, "an old hamstring injury from 2015" flared up, and the 40-year-old Goucher dropped just after 19 miles.
After coming across fourth at the Olympic trials three years ago - only the top three qualified for the Summer Games - Goucher sounded as if she was done with the distance.
But her tune changed this past fall while tacking on more mileage during training. She announced in November her plans to run Houston, where she qualified for her second Olympic team seven years ago.
In a Twitter message Sunday, Goucher wrote: "For now I need to rest, recover, and give it a few days. But I think I'll be taking my running in a new direction. This hasn't ruined marathoning for me because I've always respected what a difficult and beautiful beast it can be. But this certainly will hurt for a while."
