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TCS NEW YORK CITY MARATHONNovember 2, 2014Nick ArciniagaLelisa DesisaGebre GebremariamWilson KipsangRyan VailNEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK THE MODERATOR: Wilson Kipsang, Gebre Gebremariam, welcome to the podium. Wilson, it was a hard‑fought race. Gebre, we saw you in there. Two great champions. We'll be joined by Lelisa Desisa in just a moment. We'd like you to talk about your race day. We haven't been outside. Tell us about those conditions out there, Wilson, and congratulations on your World Marathon Majors victory as well for the 2013/2014 series. WILSON KIPSANG: First of all, I'm really very happy to have won this race, and being my first time in New York and running in such a tough conditions and winning, I'm really very happy. The race course is really very nice, and it was very windy, but it was more tactical because you find that all through, the guys, no one was really ready to take the lead because of the strong wind. But I think that because in such a race we really tried our best to keep the time, but it wasn't possible. On my side, from the start, I was really feeling very strong. I thought about taking off, but I saw it was too early for me. So I had to really exercise a lot of patience in this race. THE MODERATOR: Gebre, we'll let Lelisa warm up just a second. Gebre, you had a fantastic view from where you were as the pack was running around. Tell us about the race. GEBRE GEBREMARIAM: I would say thank you to New York Road Runners for having me here, and I would say thank you again to the New York City people because I love just like my country, and that's why I wanted to come here. I used all my tactics in this race. I was not in good shape. The course is very slow because of the wind, and I use it to stay behind, to listen to my body, and to see the distance, how much I have. So. I am really, really happy by my results. It's not my best result, I know, but I came from behind. Now I know where I am, and you will see me more maybe. So I'm really happy, and thank you. THE MODERATOR: When did you pass Mutai? GEBRE GEBREMARIAM: Well, I want to keep Mutai, to stay behind him, but little bit slow, the pace. When I saw the pace is really slow, so I have to pass him to be No. 3. I told you before I listen to my body, every kilometer, every mile. Where we were together with Mutai is around 37, 38 kilometers. I have to pass him, and I have to fight with my body, and I have to fight in Central Park. Q. Lelisa, you joined the field a little bit later, around early October. Today you were out there, your Lelisa arm warmers. You took them off. You had your cap. You took them off. And then had to battle with Wilson. Tell us about your race. LELISA DESISA: Thank you very much. The race is very nice. It's very good. It is very cold, you know, wind. At the 15K, I want the bathroom. My bladder is full. Maybe this is good to release, the bathroom. Because of that, I thought throughout. The race is nice, and I want to win. I keep myself better. Because my bladder is full, I'm not relaxed because of that. For number 2, I am very happy. Q. As you guys were heading toward the finish line, there was a little bit of a bump, and it looked like you said something to Lelisa, and I'm wondering what you said. And then right after that, you took off. Was there some connection between the bump and your surge? THE MODERATOR: In the park? WILSON KIPSANG: Yeah, I didn't see because he was coming from behind. So when he came from this other side, then he brushed on my shoulder this other side. Then I was telling him what happened, and there's a lot of space. Then I decided now to sprint because I saw the finish was very close, and the speed was very high, but he was running from behind, and then he came from this other side. So when he gave me more space, then I would sprint. But it was very tactical. So it was not easy. Q. Wilson, just curious, could you describe how much faith you have in your finishing kick, in your speed. THE MODERATOR: Wilson, it looked like you had a lot of energy at the end. WILSON KIPSANG: I think that for me, when I saw that Lelisa was running really close to me, I had to save energy for the closing kick. I was trying to check the distance and the amount of energy that was really left. So I was really very sure of that kind of sprint, even if it was 50 meters, I was ready for it. So I really trusted myself. Q. Wilson, it was a very different race with the wind in part for the first 20 miles. The last 10K, though, was 29:10, very fast running. How did you stay patient? And also, were you very confident that you could run fast over that final 10K? WILSON KIPSANG: I think for me I'm used to a fast race from the start, so when it comes to a race like this, you find that it was more tricky for me because no pace makers, there's a lot of wind, guys are not ready to really take the lead. So you have to assess that kind of patience. If you want to take off, it's a bit too hard. I had to really exercise some patience until I took off in the last 10K and found I would run faster. Right from the start, I was feeling very strong, but there was no way I could really take off at high speed because there was a lot of headwind and everybody was trying to run from behind. NICK ARCINIAGA: Went out today hoping to compete with these top guys and just kind of wheels came off around 19 or 20. Then they ran away from myself and Ryan. We kind of worked together a little bit going into Central Park, and then Ryan was able to pull away from me, and just got a TKO as we were coming around Central Park South. Ended up tenth place overall in my run today. THE MODERATOR: Ryan, give us a quick comment on how your race was, Ryan Vail. RYAN VAIL: My goal today was to be more aggressive this year and try to stick to the front group as much as possible. We were there from about 30K until they made the big move. It was a tremendous help having Wilson there trying to get us into Central Park. Once we were there, it was the homestretch. So it was really good to keep me rolling and keep me motivated. Q. I know there are a lot of improbable faces in the front group there, and at one point you were actually in the lead all by yourself. Can you explain that strategy a bit. Somebody suggested you were trying to help out Meb, but I'm sure you had another motive. NICK ARCINIAGA: There were a lot of motives. I figured out early on in the race with the surges going on with the wind and everything, I wasn't able to respond to the surges as much. So I was just kind of reeling back in when the pace would slow down. It ended up that I caught the group as we were making a right‑hand turn just after eight miles, turned off Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn. The wind was to our backs. I was feeling good. So just okay, kind of opened up my stride a little bit as we went up the hill, went by Meb, just "Hey, buddy, how's it going?" Just went by him. And I thought, okay, see how this goes. Just really relaxed. Didn't try to push or surge or anything, just kind of hold my momentum. Figured as long as the surges would go in and out, then I was going to maintain my pace as long as possible, and when they moved up just see if I could hang onto the pack again. Q. Nick, how long do you think you were in the lead? NICK ARCINIAGA: Maybe about a mile. Not too sure. I think Yuki made a surge to get by me, and then the group was there again. I just latched on once again and followed them for the rest of the race‑‑ or until I got dropped later on in the race. Q. Wilson, did it feel as easy as it looked? Because you seemed to be just floating along as if you were out for an easy Sunday morning run. WILSON KIPSANG: It wasn't easy because I think this race is really‑‑ the conditions was really not favorable. So I find that it became more tough. But I think my friends really did very well because they really gave me a very big challenge, and they're really very strong. They were able to adjust to run that kind of time. So I think it is not easy. This race is really more challenging. But with better conditions, we can run even faster time, yeah, even 2:04 is possible, yeah. Q. Lelisa, so you said you had to go to the bathroom at 15K. Was that right? LELISA DESISA: Yeah. Q. Did you have to stop on the side of the road? Did you keep running? LELISA DESISA: At the 15K. But if I stopped to go to the bathroom, I would have to wait to go. Then I don't do anything. Then after 21K, 30K, it change to my stomach is become big, because I have no relax. Q. Question for Wilson: How much were you thinking about the money difference between first and second place? Besides the $40,000 difference from first and second. If you won today, you got the $500,000 World Marathon Major bonus. If you were second, you did not. Were you thinking about that as you were coming to the final miles, thinking about the bonus? WILSON KIPSANG: Yes, of course, I was thinking because I know the only chance I had was to win. So I was really ready. My preparation was very good. I really know, if anything happens in this race, the only chance for me to win the jackpot was to win this race. That's why I was really feeling very strong, and I was trying to apply all the tactics to make sure that I win, yeah. Q. Ryan, so everyone's looking forward to the Olympic trials coming up. So you're probably continually judging how you hold up against the other runners. How did this race make you feel finishing ahead of Nick? Is this giving you confidence going into next year? RYAN VAIL: We had three of the contenders in the race today. Meb is obviously still in his best form. He's not getting any older. And Nick and I, we really, we had a battle until the last couple of miles. I'd say it still scares me, but it's going to be a battle at the trials, and I think it's going to come down to the end, not just with us, but with several other guys as well. So confidence, but patient confidence. Q. You guys spent about a month training together in Flagstaff. Those late stages at the race, you understand each other in the training, did that help in the late stages when you were trying to get to the finish? NICK ARCINIAGA: I think it helped a lot. We spent a lot of time training together for four weeks, basically just learning each other, learning what he prefers in terms of training, what I prefer in terms of training. When it comes to a race, it's pretty similar as well. Like, we shared the lead. I prefer to lead even though I can't maintain it as long as he probably could when we were exchanging. But we were definitely always going to be coming back on one another. In the back of my mind, I knew I was never going to drop Ryan. He was probably thinking the same thing. We train very similarly. We race very similarly. Like he said, it's going to be very scary 16 months from now. Q. Ryan, how specifically did the wind affect you guys today? What kind of thing did you do to kind of combat it? RYAN VAIL: It affected everyone. It was a lot of pace changes because the wind was coming and going. So just being in that pack helped a lot. You really noticed it once the pack dropped and it was just me and Nick. We tried to combat that by switching leads and getting ourselves to the Park. So that's all you can really do at that point. Q. It's been since 1982 since an American has won this race. It's a great sporting event‑‑ THE MODERATOR: Meb won in 2009. Q. I was thinking of Bill Rodgers, forgive me on that one. But it's been a long time. How important is it in the sport to have perhaps of an American presence at the winner's spot for your industry? RYAN VAIL: It's huge. I'm proud we had three Americans in the top ten today. Obviously, we're always going for the win. Meb went for the win today as well. I think having three in the top ten is a big story. Especially after last year, I was the first American at 13. So hopefully we've redeemed ourselves for this year and hopefully we're making a better showing for next year. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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