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TCS NEW YORK CITY MARATHONOctober 29, 2015Wilson KipsangNew York City, New York Q. You say you've been doing more things than last time. You were on the Times Square shuttle, things like that? WILSON KIPSANG: Yes. Q. Have you been getting around the city a lot, or was that just a one day thing? WILSON KIPSANG: A lot. Q. Wilson, how would you categorize your condition this year compared with last year? WILSON KIPSANG: I think, when I compare my condition last year and this year, I think this year I feel well prepared. I think I can run faster than last year. Q. Did you do anything different in your training to prepare for the race this year than you did last year? WILSON KIPSANG: I think last year it was my first time. So I had not really known how the course would be. This year I really knew how the course was, and I prepared very well, training for the course and doing much endurance and lots of speed. Q. Looking at my notes from last year, you said last year we really worked on speed last year, doing 20 times the mile 4:40 down to 4:20. Having done the World Championships, there's an extra marathon this year in the summertime, and you went 35K before you dropped out. How has that changed‑‑ you had to recover from that in order to start your buildup for New York City. How was that change managed by you? WILSON KIPSANG: I think, for me, if I try to look at the preparation for the World Championships, having not completed the race, I just counted it as a long run. If you try to see the speed of that 35 kilometers, it was just like a long run in training. So I just went and recovered a little bit and then proceeded to train. So it's like I've been training all the way through for this race. Q. What kind of speed work did you do for this race? WILSON KIPSANG: Much of the speed work I did for this race is Fartlek, which is mostly downhill and uphill and also the track sessions, more of the 1,000 sessions. Q. 1,000 meter sessions, how many? WILSON KIPSANG: Like 10, sometimes 12. Q. 10? WILSON KIPSANG: Yeah, 10 to 12. Q. What sort of speed? WILSON KIPSANG: Like 2:48 per K. 2.47, 2.45. Q. So 2:48? WILSON KIPSANG: Down to 2:45. Q. Do you think the course record is within your sights on Sunday? WILSON KIPSANG: It depends how the weather will be and how guys will cooperate. In weather like this, there are no problems. If guys cooperate, we'll have a good time. Q. You said last year you knew the race would not be fast? WILSON KIPSANG: Last year the weather was difficult. It was just a matter of going for a win. Q. What did you learn about yourself as a runner last year because the conditions were so hard and it was a slow time but still a very strong race by yourself. What did you learn about yourself as a runner that you were still able to win in those difficult conditions? WILSON KIPSANG: What I learned mostly about last year's race is that you are fully prepared for the race. I saw the potential to win a very difficult race because last year was very difficult, very windy. Nobody wanted to push. I saw that I really prepared myself very well, and I was able to pick up the pace towards the end. Q. Is there any part of the course that you want to improve on that you trained for specifically in any particular part of the course? WILSON KIPSANG: I think this course it's more easy to understand. So you have to make sure that you run fast at the start, but you make sure you save more energy for the last part. Q. What is the perfect temperature for a marathon? Perfect weather for a marathon? What would be perfect, do you think? WILSON KIPSANG: Perfect weather, I think it's between 10 to 18. Q. 10 to 18? WILSON KIPSANG: Yeah, 10 to 18 is good. Q. Wilson, what's your biggest memory last year coming down the stretch against Lelisa Desisa? WILSON KIPSANG: I think the biggest memory for me last year is the final sprint with Lelisa. When I saw in there that he had decided to drop, I think it was good for me. So I had an opportunity to win. Q. Was he bothering you through Central Park much of the way, running so closely to you, behind you, sometimes on your side, but always in your space. Did that bother you? Do you think he was doing that on purpose to try to rattle you? WILSON KIPSANG: I think that was part of his tactics to maybe try to show to me that he was very strong. So by running close to me, he wanted to make sure that he tries to run at my pace, because if he tried to run on the opposite side, he would lose my rhythm, and then he would drop off. So he was trying to catch up with the pace so that he can keep going. But for sure, you can really see that he was straining so much. Q. When you looked over at him in the last half mile or so, you looked over and then took off. Something about that particular moment, had he gotten even closer to you than usual? WILSON KIPSANG: It happened very quickly because my emotion, running, thinking of winning. You see somebody is very close to you, coming from this other side. So it was just a matter of trying to see if he was very strong like me or if he was‑‑ I was thinking that maybe he had used all his fuel. So I just started to sprint to see if he was still very strong. Q. Do you think it was borderline unfair what he was doing? Was it close to the edge of not being an honest competitor? WILSON KIPSANG: I think it's part of competition. Everybody has his own strategy. So I think if you see how many races he has been running in such a way, it's part of his style. Q. Did you want to hit him? WILSON KIPSANG: No, no. I don't hit him because I‑‑ (laughter). Q. Is this going to be your last marathon before the Olympics in the summer? WILSON KIPSANG: No, no, no. I think I still have to do one. Q. Is there a lot of pressure to place high in New York City? WILSON KIPSANG: It's a lot of pressure, but for me I think I'm in a position to handle that kind of pressure. Q. Wilson, Kenya changed its marathon rules for Rio, didn't they? Q. They changed them again. Q. They changed them again, right? They canceled the trials. Are you happy with that? WILSON KIPSANG: I think they tried to say that maybe the trial won't work. If you run fast, and maybe they can select it from there. Q. If the trials were in February, would you have run for that? WILSON KIPSANG: I wouldn't run because I have a marathon to run maybe. If those guys are running in Tokyo, it will be very close. Those who will be running in the spring marathons. It wouldn't have been convenient to run more than two months. Q. So you would have chosen a spring marathon over the trials? WILSON KIPSANG: Yes. Q. So you wouldn't have gone to the Olympics? WILSON KIPSANG: Yes. Q. The one person we haven't seen in the marathons much this year is Geoffrey Kamworor. He's a world half marathon champion and a silver medalist in the 10,000 Worlds. What kind of race do you think he'll run? Is he a guy that, if you meet him in the closing stages, he'll be a fast finisher? WILSON KIPSANG: Geoffrey Kamworor, he ran the marathon, and then it wasn't going well for him, and then he came back to half marathon and maybe the 10,000. So I think for now when he decided to come back again, it will be tough‑‑ how he prepared himself will determine how he performs in the marathon, how he's ready to approach the marathon mentally. Q. Does a guy with his kind of track speed worry you late in the race? You sort of ran up against that in London with Kipchoge. He had a little bit more at the end. Does that sort of track speed worry you? WILSON KIPSANG: For me, I think it doesn't worry me so much because I really believe that with my training I have that kind of speed. It depends now if he's prepared himself very well. You cannot compare Kipchoge and Geoffrey Kamworor. Q. Even though they train together? WILSON KIPSANG: Yes. Q. Do you think the only real problem in Beijing was it was too hot? Do you think otherwise, under normal conditions, you were ready for it? WILSON KIPSANG: I think if it had been normal temperatures, I would have run better. Q. Had you ever run a marathon in those conditions before? WILSON KIPSANG: Never. It was the first time. Q. So you didn't know how your body would respond? WILSON KIPSANG: Yes. Q. When did you realize, I don't like this? When did you know? WILSON KIPSANG: About 3 kilometers. Q. You started feeling it then? WILSON KIPSANG: Yeah, 30 kilometers. The body is really starting to strain so much with the heat. So I tried to handle it for the next 5K, and then I said it's not going to work. Q. What's the point? WILSON KIPSANG: Yeah. Q. Wilson, you said you did your Fartlek work up and downhill, was that specifically for the end of this race? WILSON KIPSANG: Yeah, specifically for the end of this race. Q. Where are you doing the runs? WILSON KIPSANG: No idea. Q. Do you still train with your general‑‑ people who are not top echelon guys, not name people, right? Is that who you normally train with, same crowd? WILSON KIPSANG: Yes. Q. For a race like this with a course that's the hills and different types of road, how much will it help that now you've run this course now a second time? I know you obviously did very well last year in your first time, but how much did you learn about the course that will help you even more the second time? WILSON KIPSANG: I think, when you run a race, when it's in your memory, it's very easy to run the second time because every session you can remember this is how it is. This is how it is. This type of hill is not very far. It's not high. Maybe we still have some hills remaining. It's in your mind because you want to save your energy to prepare, try to speed up so much, and you try to, if you know this is the last one, maybe you try now to break off from there. Q. Wilson, this course has five bridges, starting with the Verrazano Bridge, and where you made your break at the Madison Avenue Bridge, 34, 35K. The bridges are very quiet, and then different parts of the city very, very loud. So you emotionally go through highs and lows on this course as well. What were your favorite parts‑‑ just emotionally, what were your favorite parts of the New York City course? Because it's very different as you go 42 kilometers. Berlin is all the same. WILSON KIPSANG: For me, running last year, I didn't really get to know the real points. When you're running, you don't have time to really this is which place, this is which place. You're just on the course and the run. So where there's a lot of people cheering, I think you really feel good in that place. Q. Wilson, did you drop out of the London, in the Olympic Marathon, did you drop out as well, or did you finish? WILSON KIPSANG: I finished with the bronze. Q. Oh, that's right. So how important‑‑ I mean, are you looking forward to Rio? Is the gold medal still your‑‑ WILSON KIPSANG: Yeah, of course. In London I got a bronze, and I'm really looking forward to maybe go for the gold because Olympics is one of the biggest events. I would love to go compete and get a medal. Q. How do you think, when the Federation decides to pick the Olympic team, what do you think they should consider? There's so many different ways they can make that decision. WILSON KIPSANG: For now, I think it's too hard. From this year to next year, they'll try to have a way of doing the selection. But if you try to see the marathon it's very important for our selection to be done. It's very hard. Maybe in February they should be selecting. So that when you're running in April, you know I'm on the team. So you know how to run in the next race and try to prepare. But if you are confirmed late, it's not really very good because, to prepare mentally, time will catch up. Q. Will this race count as far as the determination? WILSON KIPSANG: No, no. Q. So you'll have to run‑‑ WILSON KIPSANG: From next year. Q. Are you going to run London? Do you know yet? WILSON KIPSANG: I don't. Q. Something in the spring? WILSON KIPSANG: Yes. Q. It was very political last time for London, the selection of the team. In the United States, it's very simple. We have the race in February in Los Angeles. The top three men go. There's so many great marathoners in Kenya. Do the athletes themselves feel like the process that selects the team is an honest one, or do you feel like no matter what I do, I could still not go because of the politics of the situation? WILSON KIPSANG: I think it's not very clear because there's no clear way of doing the selection. If there's a way of maybe to make it more clear, if you run this and this time, then you're in. But now it's not very clear. Maybe a list of ten, three of them are going to be confirmed. Maybe you won't be confirmed. So it's not clear. Q. Does it make it more difficult to be the best athlete when you finally do go? WILSON KIPSANG: Yes, it was the same for the World Championships. It was the last minute when it was confirmed, three of them. You cannot allow six guys to train and only three will be confirmed. Maybe three will be out, and they will be in. So he won't be in a position to prepare himself mentally. Q. It's not physically, it's mentally? WILSON KIPSANG: Yeah, mentally more. You might be training, but even in training, you know, there's a way you prepare yourself. In training, you know fully confirmed, fully signed. My goal is to maybe run a time of 2:05. So in training you have to prepare yourself mentally. Am I running at the pace of this? So for the World Championships, events like Kenya, always time catches up so much. Athletes are not really sure whether they'll be running or not running. So that is really what's costing so much. Q. If for some reason they said, Wilson Kipsang, you're the head of competition for AK, and you got to make the rule on how the selection would go for the marathon, what would be your advice? How would you do it if you were in charge? WILSON KIPSANG: My advice is I would try to list a number of athletes who are potential, like ten of them. Invite them in a meeting, talk to them personally, each and every one. What they see to represent their country. Then we have to be in full consensus, and then the athletes who are not confirmed should be ready to assist the others. So by February they should be confirmed so you're fully informed you will be running. Know that we are there, and you will be representing the country. And then also the Federation can offer support as early as possible when it comes to training, logistics, about the weather conditions, try to do that and assist them to go to training places where they can really assist them to perform very well. Q. Would that be contingent on anything that happens‑‑ if you make the choices in February and let's say somebody had a bad race in April, it wouldn't really affect it? WILSON KIPSANG: Of course, because in a marathon you might find you run poorly this time and the next time you run good. It's not an indication, if you run well in February, you're going to run well in August. No. Many times in training for marathons, you can run good. Somebody might run a bad race, but with full training, organized, good program, you can find by race time you can run very well. Q. Are there any examples of runners in the past who you think may have had bad races and were therefore unfairly penalized by not being named to the team because they maybe performed poorly at one marathon but were otherwise poor candidates? WILSON KIPSANG: It happens. In 2013 I competed in London. I was number five. But running in September, I won. If you were to analyze the performance in London, this guy has run very poorly, number five, running 2:07, maybe 2:10, he's not going to make it. But in the next four months, with good preparation, good approach, September did good. You cannot say by running poorly this time, you will run poorly. You might run poorly this time and next season very bad. Q. Is fifth place considered a poor performance? WILSON KIPSANG: Yes. It's a poor performance. Q. Do you feel like dropping out at 35K at the World Championships is going to hurt your chances being selected for the Olympic team given the politics and the selection of AK? WILSON KIPSANG: I think somebody like me I don't have much pressure. Whether I'm with the team or not, I will still have races to run. Q. Because you're older now. You've been on the Olympic team. You've got a medal. You're not a young man. WILSON KIPSANG: Yeah. Q. If you win here on Sunday, you don't think the AK officials will take that into account? WILSON KIPSANG: I don't know. Q. How are you feeling physically? You're 33. We did a list. You have six times under 2:05. That's twice as many as anyone in history. Most people only have three or four good marathons. You have six. Do you feel like your window is narrowing? Can you keep being good for‑‑ WILSON KIPSANG: I don't know. At the moment, I've done so many races under 2:05, but I think I still have chances to run faster than that. Q. Can you talk at all about how somebody like you, the $500,000 World Marathon Majors prize could sort of either change your life, or change some of the things that you might want to do in terms of charitable works, beneficial works, that kind of money? WILSON KIPSANG: Running is really good because it really changes my life so much. You go back to Kenya. You invest, and you see the benefits from the investment and it really sustain you half the time. Q. So are you a big property owner in Kenya? WILSON KIPSANG: I think, if you try to see maybe the income from the World Majors, you find out it's not in one big lump. You have to do something small this year, and next year continue. Q. Are these the shoes you're wearing on Sunday? WILSON KIPSANG: Oh, no. It's just for training. Q. How many miles have you put in the shoes you're running in on Sunday? Or will they be a new pair? WILSON KIPSANG: Just used in one race. Q. A marathon? WILSON KIPSANG: Yes. Q. Which one? WILSON KIPSANG: London. Q. How often do you change your training shoes? WILSON KIPSANG: I change the ones I use for racing, I might use them twice. Q. So you used one in London, and you used something else in Beijing? WILSON KIPSANG: Yeah. Q. What's the theory there? Q. They melted? Q. Was that it? Was it just warm weather? Or was it a choice? WILSON KIPSANG: Yeah. Q. Tell me about the pack, the athletes getting together. Is that something which is moving forward. We have this in the United States now with the athletes trying to come together and get a better union rather than being an individual by themselves and trying to create changes that are in the benefit of the athlete? Is that still ongoing with yourself and the other top athletes? Can we talk about that? It's very difficult to be an elite athlete where you have to concentrate on your training. It's very demanding, and yet the politics of the sports have not been in favor of the athlete and the athletes have to stand up for themselves. Is that a role you see yourself developing more and more as you go forward? WILSON KIPSANG: I think the sport of athletics, it's tricky because you try to see on the other side, and it's impossible to see. There are many times you have to beat yourself, wake up in the morning and get to training. To get that kind of morale in training, try to motivate the young ones, it all happens in a training group. You find in Kenya, you develop that kind of culture where good performances can only be achieved by group training, which can benefit everybody because guys at the top and the guys who are training with us can also get to run and see how we are preparing, how we are approaching these cases, how we are running this time. So something you find that training gives us unity among the athletes, and that can really give us opportunity to run fast. Q. But it would also improve your station politically. Is that also true? WILSON KIPSANG: Yes, it's true. We find that, as we retire, we're also in a position to change how things are done or to improve athletics for the country, because sometimes maybe those who are in the Federation and want to change the sport, they may not be in a position to realize. The way the sport is done these days, they change so much. So we have to address the issues to address the current level of competition. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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