Making his way through the streets of New Haven with his gracefully powerful strides, Brett Gotcher could barely believe his good fortune as he moved tantalizingly closer to the biggest victory of his blossoming running career.
The pretenders to the crown were languishing behind, leaving Gotcher to battle it out with Mohamed Trafeh and Jason Lehmkuhle for the title at the 2009 New Haven Road Race, which doubles as the U.S. 20-kilometer national championship.
Content to let others set the pace, Gotcher bided his time before making the decisive move that not only made him a national champion, but also made him a major player in the road racing circuit. When he crossed the finish line in 58 minutes and 57 seconds, a mere 4 seconds ahead of Trafeh, the Stanford graduate could barely comprehend the magnitude of his achievement.
As Gotcher heads to New Haven to defend his title on Monday, the 12 months have allowed him to get a sense of perspective of what it was he accomplished on Labor Day 2009.
“It was huge, like my defining breakthrough last year,” Gotcher said. “It was a huge confidence boost for me. It was one of the best years I had in my running career, so it kind of has a special spot in my heart. I am hoping for a similar (experience) this year.
“It was a great feeling. I had yet to be in a position like that in a race as big as that 20K. I felt like it was going to come down to the very end, knowing that I had a shot and how good I felt at that time, I knew I had a real legitimate chance to take it. It is exciting and a feeling that I want to try to get back.”
Buoyed by his impressive performance and surprising win in New Haven, Gotcher made the leap into the world of marathons. In January, he finished seventh at the Houston Marathon with his time of 2:10.35 the fourth-best for an American in his first marathon.
“I wasn’t completely positive I was going to run a marathon, but after running so well in New Haven, it kind of told me I was ready for that,” Gotcher said.
It wasn’t long after the Houston Marathon that Gotcher received a sponsorship deal from adidas, which kept him from having to hold down a part-time job to make ends meet.
“I didn’t get a sponsorship deal after New Haven, but New Haven definitely played a huge role in getting me that sponsorship,” Gotcher said. “It was definitely the first step in kind of getting noticed, and I was on that level, and the run at Houston kind of
sealed the deal. It is definitely a good deal, and it is a good time to be a professional runner and live that lifestyle.”
Making the transition to becoming a world-class marathoner has been on Gotcher’s mind since he graduated from Stanford in 2007. Gotcher set his sights on representing the U.S. in the marathon at the 2012 Olympics and moved to Flagstaff, Ariz., to train under well-respected coach Greg McMillan.
“I sat down, talked to Greg and kind of mapped out the four years until 2012, and it has been going better than planned,” Gotcher said. “It’s been a long process, a lot of patience, a lot of ups and downs. But we are starting to get more ups than downs, and I think we are on the right track.”
As his performance in 2009 illustrated, Gotcher’s speed is invaluable even as he undertakes the grueling training runs necessary to be a top-flight marathoner. A race like Monday’s in New Haven provides an opportunity to show he is as much at ease running 12.4 miles as he is 26.2.
“It’s huge,” Gotcher said. “It is kind of an indicator as to what kind of shape you are in, and if you will be able to run a good marathon in the future.”
The 20K and 5K races will begin at 8:40 a.m. on Monday at the New Haven Green. Pre-registration runs from Friday through Sunday from noon to 6 p.m. at Trailblazer (296 Elm St.). Runners can register the day of the race beginning at 6:45 a.m. at the New Haven Green as long as all 6,000 spots have not been taken.
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