|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
UNITED AIRLINES NYC HALFMarch 15, 2015Joyce ChepkiruiMolly HuddleSally KipyegoNEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK THE MODERATOR: We have our ladies champions with us today. A few notes about today's women's race. Molly Huddle is the first American to win here. She was raised in Elmira, New York, so another New York sweep. How exciting. She trains in Providence. The 1:08:31 ties the course record. Joyce's time is the third fastest race in history, here for this race. So the ladies are going to make a comment about their race today, and we'll up for questions. Molly, you want to talk about your exciting day today. MOLLY HUDDLE: I felt good today. I had some experience from last year running the course for the first time. I feel like I learned a lot about where to push and where not to push. A little more prepared with my workouts, I did a few more half marathon type workouts this winter. I'm glad my strength work paid off. There's a great field with Sally and Joyce, Buzunesh and Desiree and a few other great Americans in the field. So to come out on top was a great day for me. I really wasn't expecting it. JOYCE CHEPKIRUI: First and foremost, I thank God. This is my first race this year, and I feel very happy. I run‑‑ I think this is my second best time. Thank you. SALLY KIPYEGO: For me, today was slightly disappointing because I wanted to come out and be able to defend that title. I was the returning champion, and I wasn't able to do that today. So a bit disappointed. Overall, I think I put a good effort and tried my best. That's just part of being an athlete. There's great days, and there's not so great days. Today was one of those not so great ones. But definitely salute the girls, the ladies with me and a lot of the great athletes that ran today. I think it was a good field. Just to be able to get a chance to run with such an amazing group of women is a privilege and an opportunity to compete and support and be ambassadors of a great sport. Q. Molly, it seemed like every mile you were checking your watch. It looked like you were running more of a workout than a race, checking the splits every mile. Can you just talk about your thoughts throughout the race. Did it feel like a workout? MOLLY HUDDLE: It was a little harder than a workout for sure, but I just wanted to make sure I kept track of my splits. It was pretty obvious, but I just was alone last year when I fell off the pack, and I thought, if it happened again, it would help me PR if I at least could keep my splits and know where I was. So I was preparing for anything kind of in the last three miles. I didn't know if I'd finish strong or if I'd fall off the pack. Fortunately, I was able to keep things even. I just think it helped me keep my race under control. Q. Molly, you took off at mile 10. Was that a plan all along, or did it just unfold that way? MOLLY HUDDLE: I just wanted a good time today. Whatever that led me to place‑wise, I was kind of going to re‑evaluate at ten miles. Ten miles is where last year, in the few half marathon and 20K distances I did, I would start to fade there. So I thought I'll push and hang on through ten miles, hoping to run around 5:10 pace on the highway and just treat that last 5K like a whole new 5K race basically. I knew it would be close and the girls would still be there and I'd be starting hurt. Fortunately, it was something I could keep that 5:10 pace going. I felt like I had a little kick if I had to use it, and that's not how I felt in the past. I felt like I was hanging on at that point. So I feel like that strength work is what helped me carry me through the last 5K well. Q. Molly, last year in the tunnel and the subsequent hill after 12 miles, I know you had a tough time with that last year. This year it's where you made your move and really broke it open. Can you just talk about that. Do you think experience was key, especially in that section? MOLLY HUDDLE: Definitely. Just knowing that the tunnel was‑‑ I think they said a K long roughly. Last year I remember thinking when will this tunnel end? You hit a K to the finish, I think. You hit 20K in the tunnel as well. So it was good to know how much I had left, and when I was starting to get tired, know that the hill isn't really that bad. Everything definitely felt a little better in that last mile than it did last year. Q. Just to follow up. Top American, what does it mean to you? MOLLY HUDDLE: It means a lot. I know some great women have run here. Kara has run here in the past. It wasn't really on my mind to win. I just thought if I‑‑ I just wanted to run as fast as I could today and see how the winter training is going to pay off. I kind of thought‑‑ you know, at ten miles you'll know if that option is there to try to run for the win or second place even. So fortunately, it played in my favor, and I felt really strong. It means a lot to me, and I'm excited for the track season. Q. Molly, does the win today make you any more convinced that a move to the marathon might be kind of in the offing in the next year or two? MOLLY HUDDLE: I mean, I'd still have to do that twice. I don't know‑‑ I still have a long way to go to prepare for a marathon. I would like to do one soon. We're just going to see how that plays into the track schedule this year. It would be great to be able to do a fall marathon, but we'll have to see just how the year goes. Q. Sally, what was the difference between this race this year versus last year for you? SALLY KIPYEGO: I was talking to a friend, and I was just saying it's very ironic because last year I felt like I wasn't as prepared, and this year I felt that everything was going fantastic coming into this race. So I felt physically prepared. I felt just as prepared, and somehow it just didn't fall together today. I just didn't have it today. I felt comfortable last year. I felt very relaxed last year, and this year I kind of struggled a bit to get my rhythm and to just be comfortable in that. Definitely, things have been very good in terms of my training up to today, and we're definitely going back and re‑evaluating and see what we need to do going into the track season. Q. Molly, just to follow up a little bit on the question about moving to the full marathon, what do you think it will take to do that? How long will it take you to make the transition? Would it be worth it, do you think? MOLLY HUDDLE: I feel like I've kind of inched up every year with volume of workouts and just how much mileage I run. I train with two other marathoners in my group. I see what they go through, and I kind of see what it takes. I just need to get a handle on long runs and fueling and taking gels and some of the longer type of workouts. So I'm not far off. I'm closer to marathon training than I was maybe three years ago. I just think the mentality of it and wrapping my head around the patience and kind of the grind of the marathon is what I need to start working on in the next year or so. I feel like it would be an exciting journey. I definitely feel like I'm at an age and point in my career where I feel like it's something I should do sooner rather than later. Q. This year? MOLLY HUDDLE: Maybe. I don't know. It depends on‑‑ the focus for me is the World Championships on the track. I'd love to do it this year, but we'll see. Q. Molly, looking at the Beijing, China, 5,000, 10,000, both? MOLLY HUDDLE: I would like to focus on the 10K this year and just see how that event is at the World Championship level. Q. Is it time for an American to make a breakthrough at that distance? Nobody since Lynn Jennings. MOLLY HUDDLE: We've had a good history there with Kara and Shalane and Lynn. I hope I can move up and finish higher than I have in the past at the other World Championships. That's my goal. Q. Can you make the podium in China? MOLLY HUDDLE: I think the opportunity is there. So it's just a lot has to go right and a little bit of luck too. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|