She made one thing very clear in 2014: Steeplechase is mine.
"The goal [for the year] was just to be healthy, hopefully PR, and be under 9:20," says Emma Coburn, 24. She did all that, and more. She won her first race, in Shanghai in May, in 9:19.8—a PR. Later that month, she placed third in 9:17.84 in the Prefontaine Classic, then won the national championships in Sacramento in June. On July 5, she ran 9:14.12 in Paris for second. Seven days later in Glasgow, she again finished second, but her time of 9:11.42 was the third-fastest in the world for 2014—and an American record.
Coburn ran her first steeplechase as a high-school junior in Crested Butte, Colorado. She was scheduled to run the 800 meters at a meet in Albuquerque, but she says, "My dad didn't want to drive all that way to just watch me run two laps." So she signed up for a 2K steeplechase. She won, and qualified for nationals.
Her fourth-place performance at nationals helped net her a scholarship at the University of Colorado, where she made nationals as a freshman, placed second as a sophomore, and won both the NCAA and U.S. titles as a junior. She red-shirted her senior year to focus on the 2012 Olympics, where she finished ninth in the steeplechase. In 2013, she won her second NCAA title, running through a lower-back injury that ended her season early.
Coburn is known for her fearless, front-running style. The steeple is a grueling event—7.5 laps with four 30-inch barriers and one barrier-plus-water jump per lap. "My best chance of winning doesn't come in a sit-and-kick race," she says. "It's a bold move to run hard from the start, and often it leads to second place but a great time. But I prefer to run that way."
It's a gamble that's put the world on notice: Watch out for the Americans. "Running a full international schedule this year gave Emma that high level of competition to take her racing to the next level," says Jenny Simpson, owner of the previous American steeple record of 9:12.50 (set in 2009, before she switched to the 1500 meters). "I anticipate that the steeple will continue its steady rise—it's already happening with [three other American women] all breaking the 9:30 time barrier for the first time in 2014."
Coburn agrees, calling 2014 "one of the best years the women's steeple has ever had." But for this gutsy runner, it's just the start. "I haven't reached my potential yet."
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Read more inspiring stories from the runners who are changing the sport in theHeroes of Running: 2015.
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