Kara Goucher “Obsessed” With Winning Boston

She says she will keep coming back until she gets her prized laurel wreath.

Taking fourth place at the prestigious Boston Marathon is an incredible achievement. But for Kara Goucher, it’s not enough. She wants to win the whole thing. It was at the 2009 edition where Goucher missed the podium by one place. It’s a race she will never forget. She led it in the early stages, but ended up fading in the final miles and losing out for third place in a footrace within sight of the finish line.

“Emotionally, I was a mess,” Goucher recalls. “I remember Adam [her husband] and I were checking out of the hotel, and I saw one of the laurel wreaths that the winners get lying in the garbage, and I started crying. Adam was like, ‘I’ll get it out of the garbage for you.’ And I was like, ‘No. I want my own laurel wreath.'”

Goucher now says she is “obsessed” with winning it–more so than London or New York. “It’s crazy that Boston’s had this effect on me,” she said. “Until I get it right, I will keep coming back.”

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