American long-distance runner, Olympian Kara Goucher is used to running 135 miles a week, but these days it’s about 20 miles, and that’s in a good week. A few years ago, after multiple falls — one of them into oncoming traffic — and a loss of sensation in her left foot, Kara was diagnosed with Repetitive Movement Dystonia, a neurological movement disorder.
ALTRA, Kara’s shoe sponsor, has just released the ALTRA Paradigm 7 in a special colorway, along with a $50,000 donation to Dystonia research. $5 from every pair sold of Kara’s signature “Hope” color edition will benefit the Bachmann-Strauss Fellowship in Dystonia Research, a part of The Michael J. Fox Foundation whose mission is to grow the global base of researchers studying the movement disorder dystonia and symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.
“I think when I see someone wearing the colorway I’ll probably freak out a little bit” said Kara. “It will be pretty cool to know someone cared enough to buy that color way and their money is going to go to help other people.”
Unafraid of a challenge, Kara is also the author of the recently published book, The Longest Race: Inside the Secret World of Abuse, Doping, and Deception on Nike’s Elite Running Team. Kara was the star witness who brought down Alberto Salazar, the now-disgraced Nike running coach who was the head of an elite team known as the Nike Oregon Project. What seemed like the opportunity of a lifetime, Kara revealed became for her and other female athletes, a culture of misogynistic abuse, and one that pushed the limits of anti-doping rules. Read More
