In a bit of a last minute surprise, Shalane Flanagan joins fellow [insert team name here]‘er Kara Goucher in the Stanford Invitational 10,000m.

Both Flanagan and Goucher will not only use this race as a springboard in their preparation for the upcoming Boston Marathon, but the two will try and get the Olympic “A” standard of 31:45. Or at least Shalane.

Getting back on the track Friday night at the Stanford invite! Shooting for a hard effort and 10k A qualifier for World champs.

— Shalane Flanagan (@ShalaneFlanagan) March 26, 2013

Racing the stanford 10k Friday night.It's gonna be ugly, but I can't lie- I'm excited to run on the track!First time since '11 Worlds.

— Kara Goucher (@karagoucher) March 27, 2013

The always swift Stanford 10,000m field already includes some of the top collegians making their return and debut at the distance.

Former NCAA 10,000m champion Juliet Bottorff (Duke) is coming off a huge indoor season, where they set a new 5000m personal best (15:49.45) by nearly 20-seconds.

Bottorff may be making her return, but there’s another national champion who’s looking to find some success at the distance.

Oregon’s Jordan Hasay makes her 10,000m debut, but don’t expect this one to be her last. Hasay thinks that her best shot at a national title lies in the 10k and if all goes well, expect a less conservative one in the future.

---

Editor’s Note: Here at Flocasts HQ, we’re not all track fans. It’s not common knowledge, but Flocasts runs three other websites that are dedicated to wrestling, gymnastics, and cyclocross. Add in the rest of the team, some of whom have no affiliation to any of the sports, and there’s usually some explaining we have to do when something historic happens.

So when one of our sales interns walked in on us watching The Rivalry: Shalane vs. Kara, we thought it’d be smart to let her write down her thoughts. Oh, and we told her that the video was serious. Enjoy.

Inspired by Rembert Explains the ‘80s over at Grantland.com.

The following is dialogue from our newest sales intern:

"I know that Shalane [Flanagan] and Kara [Goucher] are pretty big. She’s on Alex’s collage on his desk."


Yup.

Googles “Kara Goucher baby”
"They’re either laughing or her husband just punched her in the stomach."
Looks at more pictures
"I really like Kara’s pixie haircut for London. Pretty stylish."


Our laughs were pretty audible at this point.

"Oh... never mind. It was just really hot. Don’t include that part. Alright, let’s just play the video."



0:00: This is kind of bold. Like, Muhammad Ali kind of bold. Are you guys sure that they’re rivals?
0:00 - 0:04: Dramatic piano, nice touch.
0:05 - 0:17: Not going to lie, Shalane comes across as a little... ditsy.
0:18 - 0:23: Is this scripted? This is scripted.
0:24 - 0:40: I hate you guys... Still, this is marketing gold.
1:04 - 1:12: A Danica Patrick joke? I haven’t heard one of those since the last GoDaddy.com Superbowl commercial.
1:19: That settles it. I’m a Kara fan.


1:30: Just kidding. I’m definitely a Kara fan.


1:44 - 1:49: Man, I wish I was a bully... and in elementary school... and knew a girl named Shalane. This is the kind of thing Regina George would say. No, not the girl from Arkansas... Yes, I can hear you guys film Run Junkie. I can hear Alex yelling through the door.

---

Stanford 10,000m Entry List Highlights
via TFRRS.org

Name	School	Personal Best
Juli Accurso	Ohio U.	N/A (5k - 15:58.69)
Jen Bergman	Arizona	33:10.87
Juliet Bottoroff	Unattached	33:18.45
Sarah-Anne Brault	West Virginia	33:51.14
Katie Conlon	Oregon	N/A (15:53.73)
Lindsay Flanagan	Washington	33:42.50
Megan Goethals	Washington	N/A (15:46.82)
Kara Goucher	Nike	30:55.16
Jordan Hasay	Oregon	N/A (15:37.29)
Katie Kellner	Cornell	32:58.73
Risper Kimaiyo	UTEP	N/A (15:48.14)
Kelsey Lakowske	Duke	N/A (20th at NCAA XC)
Brianne Nelson	BRC / adidas	33:07 (road)
Florence Ngetich	Florida	33:44.64
Chelsea Oswald	Kentucky	N/A (37th at NCAA XC)
Kendra Schaaf	New Mexico	33.57.81
Semehar Tesfaye	Arkansas	33:55.95
Gina Valgoi	Loyola (Ill.)	33:53.81
Catherine White	Virginia	33:21.55
Tanya Zeferjahn	Unattached	33:09.47