Saturday, June 18, 2011

Great Sportsmanship....

I love a true race to the finish! At the Boston Marathon I didn’t get to see the top women runners at the finish line since I was awaiting my top daughters a little further back.

However, the women’s race was a thriller at the end. Up and coming American runner, Desiree Davila, was awesome (I watched the new’s coverage later).

Davila couldn’t quite close the gap and Kenyan runner, Caroline Kilel, won by 2 seconds in 2 hours, 22 minutes, 36 seconds. But it was exciting! We haven’t had an America women win Boston for over 25 years and Davila almost broke the spell!

Kara Goucher, had been touted as the top American female to watch before the race and she’s also a runner my girls and I admire. Goucher’s race didn’t go quite as planned and she ended up in 5th place, two and a half minutes behind the winners. But the week after the race Paige sent me the quote below by Kara Goucher. I think it shows a lot of class and great sportsmanship.

“I’m not going to lie: I want to be the woman who ends the American drought at the Boston Marathon. But I was so impressed by Desi’s self-belief, her guts, and her class, that I really forgot about what I wanted for myself and threw my support behind her as a fellow American. One thing is certain: Desiree showed that it’s only a matter of time before one of us pulls it off.” -Kara Goucher on Desiree Davila’s second place finish at the 2011 Boston Marathon