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TCS NEW YORK CITY MARATHONNovember 2, 2014Kara GoucherDeena KastorMeb KeflezighiDesiree LindenNEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK THE MODERATOR:ﾃつ We'd like to welcome Desiree Linden and Deena Kastor.ﾃつ Desiree was fifth in today's race.ﾃつ Deena, 11th place.ﾃつ Please talk just a little bit about your race, individual races today. DESIREE LINDEN:ﾃつ I was pretty happy overall.ﾃつ Honestly, I wasn't really sure what place I was in at the end.ﾃつ I was like, honestly, this isn't going very well.ﾃつ Once I fell off that pack at 19, it got a lot more difficult. I had a few bodies strung out in front of me, and I was able to look up and just focus on one person at a time.ﾃつ I thought I'd close down respectably over the last few miles, and I definitely competed the whole day.ﾃつ Those were things I was proud of.ﾃつ When I saw I was fifth, I was a lot more happy with the overall performance. DEENA KASTOR:ﾃつ Desiree and I were chatting in the corner, discussing the start line and the wind on the Verrazano Bridge and how brutal it was, and knowing that was the worst of what the wind was going to deliver on that day. So I wanted to stay within the pack as long as I could so I wasn't running alone.ﾃつ That was kind of my goal.ﾃつ I went into this race with a time goal of 2:25 or 2:26.ﾃつ The fitness I thought that I was in.ﾃつ But once the weather reports started rolling in this week, I had some secondary goals of just getting out there and competing and trying to stay contact, and lost contact with the leaders, was by myself for quite a ways, but towards the end of the race, was able to clip off some runners. When you see stragglers in front of you, it tends to feed you and give you some motivation to charge on.ﾃつ So I felt very engaged the whole race, slightly disappointed with the time that I ran today, but despite the conditions, I feel that it was the best that I had.ﾃつ So I'm pretty proud of that performance. THE MODERATOR:ﾃつ One more American to bring up, Meb Keflezighi.ﾃつ Meb, please just talk about your race.ﾃつ You were in the front and center for a lot of the race.ﾃつ What was going through your mind?ﾃつ Tell us what it was like out there. MEB KEFLEZIGHI:ﾃつ It's great being back in New York.ﾃつ This is my ninth time running, and TCS New York City Marathon has been wonderful.ﾃつ The race, deep, strong, windy, challenging, tactical.ﾃつ You know, I just tried to mix it up.ﾃつ I knew it was going to be tactical. At one point, I was trying to change the speed because going out the 15th mile on First Avenue, they were moving quite a bit fast.ﾃつ So I was trying to lead and trying to slow it down a little bit.ﾃつ Those were the tactics I used, Fritz Larson and I discussed.ﾃつ Temperature was okay, but the wind you can't do anything about. Living in Mammoth, the cold you can bundle up, but the wind is kind of rough.ﾃつ So it was gutsy, and at times it was going back and forth.ﾃつ I was kind of, why did I put myself in this situation?ﾃつ But at the same time, you have to be able to take advantage. I wasn't in the lead when it was headwind, but when it's a little bit behind me.ﾃつ It was tactical, may the best man or woman win, and they did today. THE MODERATOR:ﾃつ Were you thinking of pulling a little Meb Magic out of your hat there, Meb Strong? MEB KEFLEZIGHI:ﾃつ It's always great to inspire people.ﾃつ I feel fortunate to be in the position I'm in.ﾃつ It was an amazing, amazing experience.ﾃつ I think the high from Boston is still going, and people saying, "Meb!ﾃつ Meb!ﾃつ USA!ﾃつ USA!" is just phenomenal, and that really helped me at the end. They had quite a bit of gap on me, and to be able to get Geoffrey Mutai at the end, it was just‑‑ as we all do, we fight for every spot and every time we can, and that's what I did. THE MODERATOR:ﾃつ We're joined now by Kara Goucher.ﾃつ Kara, your comeback race, can you talk just about the entire day, please. KARA GOUCHER:ﾃつ I was ready to run 2:28 on a good day, and we got what we got.ﾃつ Kind of decided with my coaches to kind of take a gamble and get as much protection from the wind as I could as long as possible, but it didn't slow the race down in front as much as I would have liked.ﾃつ I got a little in over my head, and it was just really windy. I was by myself and just really hit the wall for the first time in my career and really struggled.ﾃつ But I had some encouragement by people like Deena that went by. Q.ﾃつ Question to Meb:ﾃつ You took the lead early on in the race.ﾃつ You spent a lot of time at the front in pretty difficult winds.ﾃつ What was the thinking behind that strategy? MEB KEFLEZIGHI:ﾃつ You think when the gun goes off, I was thinking I try not to be in the lead as much as I can, but sometimes you just can't help it.ﾃつ It's windy for everybody.ﾃつ You say you draft, but it's not like straight lines when you draft.ﾃつ People trying to make left and right. I love being in the front.ﾃつ You always want to get to that finish line first, but at the same time, it's just to inspire others and be up in front and give the New Yorkers something to cheer for, and I felt I've done that. Q.ﾃつ Des, there were like a couple of early moves, the pack stayed together coming off the bridge, and then there were a couple moves on First Avenue that gap you a couple yards and fight back and gap you and come back.ﾃつ When did it finally really get away from you and you kind of changed the thought process to being, okay, I'll pick off the stragglers.ﾃつ Can you describe sort of maybe the last eight to ten miles of the race. DESIREE LINDEN:ﾃつ Sure, I think it was 19 that I was really broken from the pack.ﾃつ I figured if I ran 10, 15, 20 seconds a little quicker, it would be better to sit on back a bit and go with the group.ﾃつ So I definitely tried at that 19 to do that again.ﾃつ I knew it would be more beneficial.ﾃつ I don't know if they picked it up or if I was just really hurting, but they were gone. It changed the whole race because it was like racing to surviving in that wind, and you just felt like you were being blown backwards the rest of the race. I had some people to pick off, and there were some pretty respectable names in front of me.ﾃつ So it was fun.ﾃつ It was fun to do that. You do fight for every spot.ﾃつ A lot can happen in those last few miles.ﾃつ So I was happy to pick off people even right in that homestretch. Q.ﾃつ Was there any part of the course where the wind was consistently advantageous to you?ﾃつ I mean, I know it kept switching around.ﾃつ Was there any like two or three‑mile stretch where you consistently had it at your back? THE MODERATOR:ﾃつ Deena had an interesting expression on her face. Q.ﾃつ I guess the answer's ﾃや從oﾃや, right? DEENA KASTOR:ﾃつ I'll just say I think the wind, it wasn't like a constant in your face.ﾃつ It kind of swirled around and got you from the side and had it clipping your leg.ﾃつ So it was kind of an annoying wind in that regard.ﾃつ I think the difference was when we could get out of the buildings and the sun was on us.ﾃつ It actually felt a little bit warmer when the sun was coming out. So we had some moments where we could get warm, but I don't think any moments where the wind actually helped. Q.ﾃつ Deena, wondering, you sort of fell off the pack, and going backwards in terms of pace you were running.ﾃつ It looked like it would be a rough last few miles, but you sort of got it back together.ﾃつ Can you take me through your mind, what was happening in the middle of the race, and how you were able to get back to running on pace? DEENA KASTOR:ﾃつ Yeah, it seemed as if I fell asleep out there, but I was actually just digging down for all the inspiration we have in our pockets to try to rely on in race day, from my sister getting engaged this weekend to the fact that I wanted to represent the Mammoth Track Club so well, and my sponsor Asics, who's been with me for 14 years, and I'm very grateful for that. Everything, from people relying on me to relying on the work that I've done this summer, and nothing was getting me out of that rut.ﾃつ It took Annie going by me at about 22 miles and looking so beautiful in her stride that I thought, oh, my God, I've got to look like that.ﾃつ So I tried to emulate her for a few strides and got into a little faster rhythm and was able to cover the last, probably the last 5K a little better than what I was doing before then. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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