Kara Goucher says she never felt courageous — she was simply “doing the right thing.”

The two-time Olympian, podium finisher in the Boston and New York Marathons and now the voice of distance running for NBC Sports has become a crusader for female athletes with her explosive book “The Longest Race: Inside the Secret World of Abuse, Doping and Deception on Nike’s Elite Running Team.”

The book is an emotional memoir that details how she took back control of her life and career after 12 years of running for the Nike Oregon Project, coached by Alberto Salazar. Goucher was a key witness helping to get Salazar banned from coaching at the Olympic level.

Goucher, who lives in Boulder, Colorado, with her husband and 13-year-old son, will be in Bend next week to talk about her book along with Bend’s Lauren Fleshman, one of the most decorated American distance runners of all time and author of “Good for a Girl” — a moving memoir and also a call-to-action to fix the broken sports systems that continue to fail young women and girls.

The Roundabout Books event is set for Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Central Oregon, 61980 Skyline Ranch Road. Tickets are $25 and are available at roundaboutbookshop.com.

“My publisher asked if I would want to go to Bend and have a talk with Lauren, and I was like, ‘Um yeah, I would love to do that!’” Goucher said in a recent interview with The Bulletin. “It will be cool to be able to chat with her.”

Both Goucher’s and Fleshman’s books were instant New York Times Bestsellers when they were released a year ago, and both are now available in paperback.

Speaking out about abuse

Goucher’s father was killed by a drunk driver when she was 3, and she had a complicated relationship with her stepfather while growing up in Duluth, Minnesota. She attended the University of Colorado, where she was a three-time NCAA champion. In 2004, Goucher and her husband, Adam, were invited to join the Nike Oregon Project, a secretive, elite team based in Portland. Goucher went on to win a silver medal in the 10,000 meters at the 2007 World Championships and competed at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics.

Behind the scenes, Goucher claims Salazar demanded complete control over his runners and isolated them from friends and family. She details how he pushed the limits of anti-doping rules and created a culture of abuse.

“During the whole process of testifying and stuff, I feel like that was the right thing to do and to not do it would just actually enable the behavior to continue,” Goucher said.

She said at first the plan to write the book was a selfish endeavor, because people would write strong opinions about what happened at the Oregon Project without even talking to her. She wanted to tell her side of the story.

“As we started to write the book, I realized that this is not easy,” said Goucher, who wrote the book along with Mary Pilon. “There’s a lot of stuff I haven’t dealt with emotionally or mentally. It became much more of a challenge once we go into it. I feel like it was important to share my side of the story and then also to let other women know what happened to me so that they’re not ashamed and don’t feel like they did anything wrong if something similar happened to them.”

In the year since “The Longest Race” and “Good for a Girl” were released, Goucher believes the books have helped improve the culture for female runners, but she acknowledges that change is slow.

“I think we’re in basically phase 1 of 10,” Goucher said. “I still think there’s plenty of abuse and sexism and all sorts of stuff still going on.”

Goucher’s book details sexual abuse she suffered, and it also exposes misogynistic corporate practices. Goucher writes that she was unpaid when she did not compete during and after her pregnancy, and she was forced to race just three months after her son Colt was born.

A shift for elite runners who are also mothers

Goucher believes that the culture is changing, as companies like Oiselle (which has sponsored both Goucher and Fleshman) and New Balance offer full support to new mothers who want to continue to run at an Olympic level.

On March 2, a year after giving birth, New Balance athlete Elle St. Pierre became the first American to win the 3,000 meters at the World Indoor Championships. She did so a year after giving birth, and Goucher was on the call for NBC Sports.

“What Elle St. Pierre did is huge,” Goucher said. “It shows that if a company supports you through your pregnancy and allows you to come back on your own timeline … I had to race three months after I gave birth to Colt, and I had to race the Boston Marathon six months after he was born.

“New Balance allowing her to do that is really big. We’re seeing this acceptance of, if we give women time, they can come back and they’re healthier. I was constantly injured when I came back because I never was truly healed. I think the future is bright. I think what Elle did … there’s so many examples now, which is thrilling, because there weren’t many back when I was running.”

Another topic that Goucher touches on in her book and is highlighted more in Fleshman’s book is the sometimes-toxic running culture that has young girls obsessed with leanness, weight and how their bodies look. Being open to conversations about puberty, Goucher said, is a good start to avoiding eating disorders and weight obsession.

“I remember getting my period halfway through my junior year (of high school), and I was like, I have failed,” Goucher said. “Now I’m going to be fat and slow. I had people in my life that were awesome, but nobody talked to me about what puberty actually does for your body. No one told me that this will actually make you better in the long run, it’s going to make you stronger. The paces you think are fast for a 2-mile you’ll be able to do for a full marathon.

“This is not a little problem, but because it’s such a taboo topic, it keeps its claws in us. Until we really have those conversations it’s going to continue.”

Races that stand out

When Goucher reflects back on her running career, two races stand out: Her Olympic Trials victory in the 5,000 in 2008 in Eugene, and her victory in the Great North Run half-marathon in England in 2007.

“Winning the Olympic Trials in 2008 was a really, really special moment for me, where I had already qualified for the Olympics in the 10,000 so I relieved myself of some of that pressure, and I got to just race and react and zone everything else out. That really set me free and I ran one of the best races of my life.”

At the Great North Run in 2007, Goucher set a new American best time in the half-marathon of 1 hour, 6 minutes, 57 seconds, and defeated marathon world-record holder Paula Radcliffe.

“That was another time where I just let myself run and there was no expectation,” Goucher recalled. “I was never able to replicate that. I knew too much every other time I ran a half-marathon. Those are two races that stand out for me where I really just ran from my gut, never looked at my watch, never worried about anything, and those were two of my best races.”

A broadcaster and a podcaster

In addition to her broadcast work for NBC, Goucher co-hosts a podcast with competitor-turned-friend Des Linden called “Nobody Asked Us with Des & Kara.” Linden is a two-time Olympian who became the first American in 33 years to win the Boston Marathon in 2018.

“I’m really proud of the relationship that Des and I have formed and how we’ve worked together to elevate women’s voices in running,” Goucher said. “Going from competitors to close friends is not everyone’s path, but I’m proud of us and excited. We have some cool stuff coming up this year.”

Goucher said she is also loving her NBC job, through which she will call the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Trials in Eugene June 21-30 and the Paris Olympics, set for July 26 to Aug. 11. She said she was unsure about the job during the first two years because she missed her family so much.

“I’m very much a homebody,” Goucher said. “But last year I just really leaned into it, and I think the book being released and just feeling lighter as a person in general really helped my broadcasting last year. I was really able to relax and enjoy it more and love the sport again more.”

Goucher seems giddy with excitement when she talks about the American women in the mid-distance races and their potential in Paris.

“There’s just so much depth right now,” she said. “We have eight people who could make the 1,500-meter team. It’s going to be amazing. It’s good for the sport.”

As for her own running, Goucher said she is logging about 40 miles per week. Her goal is to break her son Colt’s personal best time of 18:57 in the 5K.

“I have good days and bad days,” Goucher said. “My goals are small, but I’m still running. At least I feel like I’m still challenging myself.”