Minutes and seconds often spelled success and failure for Adam Goucher, the greatest elite runner ever to come from Colorado Springs.

But he wasn't running on the day in 1991 when the clock forced him to make arguably the biggest decision of his life. He was a sophomore at Doherty High School and he was late for work.

"I was standing in line to sign up for football and I had to get to work," said Goucher. "Finally, I just left."

That night, his mother Lois Ott and sisters Cindy and Debbie begged him to try cross country. A quick discussion with Doherty cross country coach Judy Fellhauer - the kids called her 'Flower' - sealed the deal.

"Stories began to float about Adam wanting to play football rather than run," Fellhauer said. "On sign-up day, I saw Adam in the football line, so I was feeling very disappointed, but I knew he had to follow his heart, and I wouldn’t try to talk him out of it. Later that night, Adam called and asked if it was too late to sign up for cross country. I said 'nosiree!'"

Three months later Goucher won a high school state cross country championship.

Fellhauer remembers an athlete who possessed wisdowm beyond his years.

"Adam wasn't just about stats, records and winning meets," she siad. "He was a great kid, too.  He was focused, fearless, respectful, confident, talented, determined, very coachable and had a great work ethic."

"What I learned as a high school athlete developed me into the man I am today," he said.

From that point, Goucher gave everything he had to running. And running gave it back. He won five state championships in high school cross country and track. As a senior, he was the Footlocker National Champion. He won the NCAA Div. I national cross country title his senior year at the University of Colorado. He qualified to run in the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, placing 11th in the 5,000-meter run, eight seconds off the gold medal pace. Today, he and his wife Kara, one the country's top distance runners, have a 1-year-old son, Colt. The family lives in Portland, Ore.
Goucher is coming home on Friday. He'll visit the Boulder Running Company's annual "Black Friday" event (3659 Austin Bluffs Parkway) where he'll sign copies of his new book "Running The Edge" and shoot the breeze with anyone who stops by.

The day begins with a free 5K at 9 a.m. (The run will count toward your Jack Quinn's Running Club total.) There will be huge discounts, goodie bags  for the first 50 through the door, food, and a raffle to benefit the Empty Stocking Fund.

This holiday season will be one of reflection for Goucher. He recently made the decision to retire from competitive running. That's not always easy for elite athletes.

"It's a new beginning," he said. "I can look at myself in the mirror and there is no doubt that I gave it everything I could."

He'd hoped to compete in the Olympic Marathon Trials in Januray in Houston. But a nagging knee injury - torn meniscus and cartiledge damage - left him with only one decision: surgery, and the end of a brilliant racing career.

"It just wasn't in the cards for me," he said. "I couldn't go on struggling through one injury after another."

He realizes running is more than racing. He has many miles left in him, but the intent and the goals have changed.

"I love running," he said. "It will be something that I will always do. I love the way I feel, the clearity I get when I run. It's part of who I am. I will focus on what is next for me. But I'll always be a runner."

The next step: Marketing the book with Catalano and building the "Run the Edge" brand, including their popular blog and website runtheedge.com.

"Running the Edge" is unlike other running books. Readers won't find secret training plans, the next cool diet or new exercises within its pages. They will find the challenge of introspection.

"It's about looking at yourself and asking, 'Is this good enough?' We talk about the attributes that go into making a successful runner, inititaive, determination, all aspects that get you out the door. It's about how, by gaining awareness in those areas, you can apply those to other areas of your life. Honestly, by gaining awarenss, you become a more complete person, a more complete athlete. You're happier, and that makes you faster."