Goucher takes on Defar

On Saturday in Birmingham, England Kara Goucher will line up next to three Ethiopians at the Norwich Union Indoor Grand Prix 2-mile. Meseret Defar, who set a new world indoor best of 9:10:50 on January 26 at the Reebok Invitational in Boston, will have two teammates and a pacer to help her attempt to break her own record. Goucher will be testing herself against runners she hopes to face later this year in the Olympic 10,000 meter final. In the process, however, she could also find herself challenging the American record.

That record, 9:23.28 by Regina Jacobs in 2002, which was the world best that Defar shattered, would be a bonus for Goucher, who targeted the race not based on running a fast time, but to test herself against the Ethiopians. New Zealand's Kim Smith, who finished behind Goucher in the IAAF World Championship 10K in Osaka and later on that summer in the post championship Grand Prix meets, ran 9:13.94 in Boston behind Defar. Smith will not be in the race at Birmingham, but she demonstrated in Boston that she could stick with Defar over the short distance, which should increase Goucher's confidence.

In Boston Defar went through 800 meters in 2:18, 1,000 meters in 2:52.2, the mile in 4:38.4, and 2K at 5:46. So Goucher will have to be able to be able to cope with both a fast second mile and Defar's formidable kick. Despite a pre-Christmas operation on her knee, Goucher has salvaged an indoor track season she feared she might not be able to complete. She initially had planned on doing a few mile races in January mostly "for fun," with the primary goal of the indoor season being the race in Birmingham.

Instead of multiple mile races leading up to Birmingham, however, Goucher pared her indoor season down to the Millrose Games mile and Birmingham. A win at Millrose was another unexpected bonus and made this weekend's race less of an experiment or pre-Beijing test. It could be transformed from merely a record attempt for the Ethiopian into a race between potential Beijing medal contenders. Records may fall, but perhaps more importantly, Goucher will learn more about herself and her competition in the first test of the year of her Olympic aspirations.

Photo by Victor Sailer http://www.photorun.net/.