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TCS NYC MARATHON

November 3, 2019

New York, New York

THE MODERATOR: We're going to talk to our top American finishers today. Top American finisher in the race with a time of 2:26:46, the fourth fastest time by an American ever run on this course, familiar face to everyone, Desiree Linden. Also placing sixth, top American on the men's side with a time of 2:10:45, Jared Ward.

You both look exhausted. Des, I'll start with you. You took it out hard. Did you plan to hold that pace the whole way through? Did you think you were going to run 2:22 today?

DESIREE LINDEN: I know the back half of the course is tough, but honestly, I was eyeing up the American course record here. It was a perfect day. We had a little bit of tailwind in those early miles, and I thought let's swing for it. It was a good day to take a crack at having a good one.

Paid for it late, absolutely, and Kara's course record lives on.

THE MODERATOR: The second half a little slower than the first half. How do you hold on mentally when you get to that space where it feels like you sort of hit the wall. When you ran 2:26:40, how do you hang on for that?

DESIREE LINDEN: Yeah, I was managing some things. By miles 18 and 19, I was having cramps in my calves and my feet. It was really just focusing on hitting the ground right and just stepping off a little bit and getting an actual, real cramp, little twinges here and there. It was managing yourself for a while and giving yourself little tasks along the way. The crowds out here are fantastic, and they help a ton. The course breaks itself up naturally, like get through this town, get through this bridge, whatever it may be.

THE MODERATOR: Both of you are getting used to that sixth place finish, Jared for your second year in a row as well but two minutes faster. You said you were in the best shape of your life. Did you feel that fitness today?

JARED WARD: Yeah, for a part of it. I don't know how much I felt for the last three or four miles, but, yeah, it was fun. I've been working on just being confident and being kind of brave going into these races and trying to put myself in that lead pack and compete. So I was glad to be able to run with those guys for two-thirds or three-quarters of the race.

Then it was tough. It's just like Desi says, when you swing for the fences, you set yourself up for a hard last few miles, and that's why it's scary to try. But you run the mile that you're in, to coin a Ryan Hall phrase, and you try to just chip off where you're at and hope that you still have something the next mile.

THE MODERATOR: You were closing in on fifth at the end. Were you trying to chase down Kitata? Could you see him in your sights?

JARED WARD: Yeah, I figured I was about six or seven seconds back, and with about 800 meters to go, maybe even 600 meters to go, I thought I'm going to try. But when he could feel me coming and I looked over his shoulder, he had enough in the tank to hold me off handily. So I did give it a go, but there wasn't a lot left in the tank.

THE MODERATOR: Des, you famously take things day by day. Six minutes ago, Carrie couldn't get you to talk about what's next. Can I change your mind six minutes later? Are you looking at 2020, or are you still reassessing?

DESIREE LINDEN: Now is not the time. Just based on how my calves feel and my feet feel, maybe like at 1:00 a.m. tonight I might have different opinions.

THE MODERATOR: Check Des's Twitter at 1:00 this morning. Questions?

Q. Des, congratulations. Tell us how you felt the first -- what were the conditions like?
THE MODERATOR: What were the conditions like the first half?

DESIREE LINDEN: Yeah, it was a super nice day. Even standing on the bridge, you could feel that it was light wind, and when we started, it was at our back. Walt always says, if you can't run fast on a day like this, you might as well go bowling, and that's the conditions we have. So it was a good day to take a big swing, and you weren't going to suffer too much with headwinds late. They were pretty minimal.

So I tried to just push early. There was often times where we had a little tailwind, and I thought, I don't care if I'm a little bit quick, like don't look at the watch, don't get too concerned with the splits, just go by feel. I obviously felt great early, so I think the conditions were good early.

Q. Question for Jared. Coming into the race, you said you were shooting for the podium. That was your big goal. Sixth place, same place as last year. Are you happy with your race?
JARED WARD: Good question. Yeah, I am happy with it. I'm going to keep shooting for that podium, and I hope one day things fall together for it, but the reality is, looking outside in, I'm a long shot for a podium in a field like this. I feel fortunate to have been able to run with those guys for so long, and maybe next time I hang on two miles longer and next time two miles longer.

But I'm happy with the race. I wanted something today that solidified the breakthrough that I had in Boston and establish to myself that I'm a different marathoner going into this Olympic Trial cycle, in this Olympic cycle, than I was in the last one. So I'm happy with my performance in that way. I think running a little bit faster and being in the race certainly longer validated that for me. So it was a validating performance. I'm going to keep that stretch goal, but I would say I was validated today.

Q. You haven't run a marathon like this in a while, where you start off in 1:11 something and then come back in 1:14. (No microphone).
THE MODERATOR: The question is Des usually runs even splits, didn't quite do that today. Did she learn anything from it in this race?

DESIREE LINDEN: Yeah, I've always run the other way, so it was about trying something new. Again, you're not going to have a breakthrough doing the same thing over and over, being really conservative and really cautious. It wasn't about running stupid or dumb, it was just going with the flow of the race. The conditions were great early are and taking the swing and hopefully having a little bit of a breakthrough.

I did learn a lot. I think go back and tweak some things in training. I think maybe we could do a few more long runs or go a little bit longer reps. I just felt like maybe around 18, 19 I started having leg cramping issues. So maybe a little more strength work would be good.

The really good thing was I held it together reasonably well. I held off Kellyn Taylor, who's running great right now, and I held off a pretty good field and was still able to compete and dig deep when it got hard. Even though I was going backwards to a degree, it was like, okay, I'm going to fight for one more spot and look up and close the gap, whatever it may be. It was good to just test mental toughness and to know that you're not going to die physically if you do it a different way. It might hurt a little bit more, but the upside could be fantastic.

Q. Hey, Desi, talk a little bit about how you led the first few miles and talk a little bit about Joyciline and Mary, and how it's like passing on the torch for Mary with a new champion from the same country. Talk about sort of the dynamics of the race.
DESIREE LINDEN: Yeah, it was really hard to know what they were doing because for a long time, where they were right behind me or a little bit behind me, and then when they went by, it was like they were way ahead of me. So we didn't actually really run together.

Obviously, both of them are fantastic. I think Mary's, what, 37? So at some point, it's going to be a changing of the guard, and Joyciline's been fantastic in the half. To step into her first marathon debut and knock it out of the park and be one of the greats, it sets her up really well. I think she'll be exciting to watch. So no shortage of stars here.

Q. Question for Jared. Jared, could you describe for us what it's like to be there in the pack late in the race when the 2:05 guys decide to get serious? What happens right in front of your eyes, and what are you thinking?
JARED WARD: Yeah, that's a fantastic question. I don't know what to think. I think, when you're in the pack, the pack -- the pace is kind of ebbing and flowing. So there's a mile where you think, oh, man, things are tiring and my legs don't feel so good, and then I hit my split, and we've run a 4:50 mile. Then there's a mile that feels good, and you hit your split, and it's over 5 minutes.

So it's an interesting feeling in that you go from feeling good to not feeling as good throughout the race multiple times. I think it takes a little faith sometimes when you're not feeling good to trust that maybe in a mile or two you will feel all right. But eventually, as it gets late in the race and those surges -- you know, I found that I could cover the surges less and less. So they would surge, and I would fall off a little bit and catch back up, and then eventually there's a surge, and they don't come back.

For me, it's just every mile is an opportunity to run with those guys one more mile, and it's an impressive group of guys and fun to run with them.

Q. Jared, congratulations. So New York is a pretty tough course, as you know. You've done it three times. Does it give you confidence thinking about the upcoming U.S. Trials?
JARED WARD: Yeah, absolutely. I think a lot of times in the elite world for marathoning, we find ourselves on flat, fast courses over and over again, and our Olympic Trial is certainly going to be very different than that. So when I looked at New York for a number of reasons, certainly, one of the reasons was that this course gives me one more chance to run a hilly, technical, tough course one more time before the Olympic Trials. I hope that that does set me up well.

I think I have some confidence. I'm a fairly good downhill runner, and I've always been confident at my downhill running ability, and I think my uphill running is getting better. I found that today a lot of times on these uphills, I was able to stick right on that pack and run with them and feel relatively relaxed. So I think it validated some of the training we've been doing ahead of the next Olympic cycle and certainly gets me excited.

But it's just fun to come to New York in general. The staff here and the crew here is unique. This is an amazing marathon, and I always feel welcome with my family here. So to pass up on a marathon that puts so much into supporting athletes financially and American athletes financially and an opportunity for my family to come out and have an experience with me, Olympic Trials aside, I wasn't willing to pass on that. As I get older, you realize more and more that the window is not always open. So when I'm healthy and I'm fit, I want to race. All those things factored into the decision to coming here to race.

And I've been thinking about this race. I think I now have the fortunate fresh opportunity to shift my focus to the Olympic Trials and begin to prepare for that race, but I think this one has been a great stepping stone towards that.

THE MODERATOR: I want to jump off that a little bit because it seems the more you run in New York City, the more New York City loves you, and you guys have been back time and time again, not just for this race, but for other races that end here in Central Park. Can you talk a little bit about the crowd support here and how that compares to other races you've run and how that helps you get through to the finish line.

JARED WARD: Yeah, it's amazing. Like I'm on the verge of -- honestly, when I'm running, feeling a little bit emotional at the support that I have out there. It seems like I can't go more than a few seconds without somebody yelling my name and hearing it, and it does, it motivates me. It keeps me going, and it makes me realize that maybe I am running for something more than myself, and that's powerful.

So to be able to draw on that energy is a huge blessing of New York, and I love it. I love it here.

DESIREE LINDEN: I think the New York Road Runners has just done a fantastic job of celebrating the elite athletes and putting them out in the community and getting people interested in just telling our stories. That started with Mary Wittenberg. Peter Ciaccia picked up the torch there, and Jim Heim and Chris Weiller and the crew now are doing a fantastic job.

And you come here, and there's events at the run center, and there's stuff going on all week, and you hear about the elites. So when you're on the course, it's not Go Linden, and they're reading your jersey. They know who you are. It's go Des, go Mary Keitany, go Sara Hall. It's cool to be on a course where there's not only tons of fans, but they're all really, really knowledgeable about what's going on. So hat's off to the Road Runners for that.

Q. Jared, the trials will be the opposite of today in that all eyes will be on you in the men's race because everyone will say you're the smart money. What's that going to be like for you?
JARED WARD: That's a good question. I don't know. It's going to be interesting to think about, to shift my focus and start thinking about the trials and see how we shake things up, but I think there's a lot of guys that the focus is on and a lot of good guys. American male distance running is starting to bridge the gap towards what our females are doing, what Desi and these guys are doing. So it's an exciting time, and it's an exciting time to be running with these guys and alongside these guys and against these guys.

You know, I don't know that I'll go into the race looking at myself as a favorite, but I will go into the race with some confidence that I can make the team. I'm a stats guy, so I wrote up this piece for myself before the 2016 trials, and I gave myself a 35 percent chance of making that Olympic team, and I felt fortunate to have ended up on that team. I don't know what my chances are this time. I think they're better, but I'm excited to transition and look towards Tokyo.

Q. Des, I won't dare ask you about the Olympic Trials, but is tonight a bourbon or a whiskey night?
DESIREE LINDEN: Bourbon is whiskey, Larry.

Q. Thank you for that. What will you celebrate with tonight?
DESIREE LINDEN: I've got to put a base layer down, so some kind of food. I should just have a big pancake or something, just stuff the stomach up, and it will be probably some bourbon. I don't know what yet, but it will happen. But I've got to be responsible because I want to recover quickly.

JARED WARD: Don't you eat a burger after a race sometimes? That's what I'm going to eat?

DESIREE LINDEN: Yeah, I don't know if I could stomach it right now.

JARED WARD: In a few hours.

THE MODERATOR: Your top Americans are Des Linden and Jared Ward in this year's 2019 TCS New York City Marathon.

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