By DALE ROBERTSON
When the two top runners expected for the Chevron Houston Marathon were forced from the field because of visa problems, a changing of the guard seemed possible, if not imminent.
At the very least, a door opened for an American, Brett Gotcher, to have a chance to win, which last happened in 2002 when no elite foreign athletes participated because there was no prize money offered. Gotcher, in fact, was seeded first based on a brilliant showing in his debut marathon here last year.
Still, as long as any East African toes the starting line, an official bib pinned to his — or her — jersey, it figures to be an uphill slog, so Gotcher didn’t hit the road suffering from excessive delusions of grandeur.
“But I felt good early on, (for) about 15 miles,” he said. “I was focused. I did the same training as last year. Right now, it’s hard to pinpoint what went wrong.”
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