They're joined at the hip, Kara Goucher and Shalane Flanagan. Since last October they've traveled hundreds of miles together on foot, within inches of each other, as training partners with a common goal of running in the 2012 Summer Olympics.

They'll be in the streets of London next Sunday in the women's marathon as part of the strongest three-person team in United States history, as ranked by American gold medalist Joan Benoit Samuelson.