I believe that it is very important in any sport to have someone to idolize. Luckily, I have many idols. Cross Country/ Track is full of so many inspiring athletes. Some of my most favorite elite distance runners Kara Goucher and Mary Cain. They are insanely talented runners, who have gone represented the U.S. at World Championships.
Kara Goucher
Kara Goucher is amazing. She continues to have an incredibly successful career, here are a few highlights of her running. In her college career at the University of Colorado, she and her team claimed the individual and team titles at the NCAA Division I Championships in 2000. In 2007, she claimed the bronze medal at the World Championships in Osaka, Japan. She then continued that same year to set the American Record in the ½ Marathon in 1:06.57. In 2008 and 2012, Goucher represented the U.S. at the Beijing and London Olympics.
Why is Kara Goucher so inspiring?
Kara Goucher inspires me because of her sheer determination. Though she has been incredibly successful for most of her career, she has also experienced setbacks. Through having bad races and tough experiences with coaches, she has always found a way to get herself back on track. In my running, I like to learn from Kara’s strength and determination and channel it to my running.
Mary Cain
Mary Cain is one of the fastest middle distance (800m-1500m) runners in the country. She is also only 19 years old, which makes her one the youngest elite distance runners. Mary Cain has already had an impressive running career. She has broken multiple American Junior and World Junior Records and has attended World and World Junior Championships. Some of her most notable highlights are winning the 3000m at the IAAF World Junior Championships in July of 2014 and obtaining the world indoor junior record in the 1000m in 2:35.80. She was also the first American youth to break 2 minutes in the 800m and set the current high school and American youth record for the 800m in 1:59.51. In addition, she was the youngest athlete to ever run for team USA at the Moscow World T&F Championships in the 1500m in 2013 .
Mary Cain winning the 3000m at the World Junior Championships in Eugene, Oregon.
Why is Mary Cain so inspiring?
Mary Cain is inspiring because of all her accomplishments in running at such a young age. She is so fast, that she decided to forgo her college eligibility to run and pursue a professional running career (she runs for Nike Oregon Project). Mary Cain is incredibly humble athlete and encourages young runners like her to also strive to run her times. It is amazing to see how young runners can accomplish goals that older and veteran runners strive to accomplish.
