TCS NYC MARATHON

November 6, 2022

Aliphine Tuliamuk

Scott Fauble

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Our final press conference of the day, our top American finishers. In the women's field finishing seventh with a time of 2:26:18, Aliphine Tuliamuk. And in the men's field finishing ninth with a time of 2:13:35, Scott Fauble.

Aliphine, we've been waiting for the comeback. We've heard about the comeback. Did we see the comeback today?

ALIPHINE TULIAMUK: It sure was. I had a hiccup like eight weeks ago, and I wasn't really sure if I was going to be here. So I was just grateful to be here, and I hoped that I would be able to cross the finish line. So I think it was a comeback.

But I also never left.

THE MODERATOR: I never left. I like that.

Scott, a top ten in a World Marathon Major. You've had a couple of these. Does that feeling ever wear off, finishing in the top ten in one of these six races?

SCOTT FAUBLE: No, not at all. Any time you can run well on a big stage, it's very gratifying. To be a top American is a big bonus as well.

Q. Aliphine, we heard about all the challenges you faced, plus New York is not a fast course, plus it was warm and humid today. How did you end up setting a personal best by so much?

ALIPHINE TULIAMUK: I think that I excel when the conditions are not perfect. I rise to the occasion, and I believe that today that was the case.

It's been a while since I finished a marathon. The last time I finished a marathon was 2020. So I was kind of scared a little bit that I wasn't going to be able to live up to the expectation, but I'm really grateful I was able to get to the line healthy, and I finished the race with a PR. I'll at least take that.

Q. Scott, I see you wearing the Nike kit. You just joined them as a sponsored athlete. Can you tell me when you signed the contract, when you agreed to the time, and was that a source of stress for you at all this week? Just walk me through the process.

SCOTT FAUBLE: Yeah, my agent Josh Cox is here right now. He's been working really hard on trying to get me a deal ever since my last deal ended January of last year.

It's tough out there. It's tough to get enough of the money that I'm looking for. Talks really progressed this week and this weekend. Josh was texting me some terms he'd agreed to at dinner last night. I was like, all right, we just need to get on the phone. Talked it out. Agreed to terms last night at dinner and Ubered over to get some trainers at the Nike store.

I'll tell you what, it's like quite a rush to get your singlet for the next day at like 10:00 p.m. the night before the race. So it's a big relief. I'm glad to have the deal done. I'm glad to be representing Nike.

Yeah, I'm very happy to have that behind us, and I'm very thankful to Josh as well.

Q. How was the heat on the course, and was there a moment when the heat kind of really started to hit you?

ALIPHINE TULIAMUK: To be honest with you, I don't think it was actually as bad as I expected. I think I always overdress because I grew up in Kenya, and ever since I started running, we always overdressed.

Then I think about a couple weeks ago I started kind of dressing down a little bit, and this week I had to pick it up again.

So I don't think I felt the heat as much as the fact that my fitness was not where, for example, the second group that ended up winning the race, like they were just fitter than me. So I think like the heat didn't really get to me as much.

And I was also on point with my hydration.

THE MODERATOR: Scott, what about you? When did you start to feel the heat?

SCOTT FAUBLE: I don't know that I felt -- I felt warm at the start line. Once we got going, I didn't feel too hot, but I knew -- like it's kind of that sticky, soupy feeling. I knew I needed to try to stay cool. So I was dumping water on myself, all that stuff.

Then I think just the effects of the heat and the humidity really kind of set in 20, 21, and I sort of got that like sleepy feeling, that low energy feeling, that like about to cramp like vision starting to come in a little bit.

Then this is the first marathon I've ever had to go to a med tent. So, yeah, I think the last five miles were pretty rough.

Q. Hi, Aliphine. Congratulations. If you think about all of the races of your career, especially your marathons, the trials is probably number one. But where does today's race rank in your mind?

ALIPHINE TULIAMUK: Actually, if we're being honest, I think today's race runs like one of the highest in my career just because it was an international field and it was a very -- it was an incredibly amazing field assembled by New York Road Runners.

So I remember going into the race thinking, if I could get top seven, that would be really good. I obviously wanted more. I think today was the first time I really had to concentrate on continuing to run my own race once I let the pack leave.

Actually, I pretended like I was winning, so I kept looking ahead and not feeling sorry for myself.

But, yes, it runs -- like it's one of the highest run places for me.

Q. Scott, it seemed like the pack sort of split into two fairly early on. I'm wondering did you ever consider going with the front one? Can you walk me through your decision-making to hang back a little bit and what your strategy was the second half of the race?

SCOTT FAUBLE: I knew with the conditions that if I could get to the finish line in 2:12, I'd probably be top five. I figured in talking to Joe, my coach, we felt like today was going to be three, maybe four minutes slow. So I felt like, if I can just run 2:12, that's going to be pretty good.

So when that first group went out -- 2:12 is 5:02s. So when that group went out and was pressing -- even a 10K in the second group, we were under five-minute pace. So there was no part of me that was like that's a good decision to go up with those guys.

I just kind of kept having faith that people would come back to me. Look, like obviously I would love to feel like I'm able to go with that front group, but it was going to be a horrible decision. It was going to be a horrible decision.

So I came through halfway in 66 minutes. I think I was probably on 2:12 pace until 21, and then it got pretty tough. But I kind of -- at 10K, I kind of rallied the group. It was mostly Americans. I think it was myself, Reed Fischer, Jonas Hampton, Jared Ward was there, Matt Llano.

I was like, hey, guys, we're not chasing. Those guys are coming to us. We're not going to them. If we run 5:02s, we are going to be in a really, really good spot.

We kind of helped each other out. We kind of worked together. And then I moved at like 12, and I was just solo from 12 in.

Q. Aliphine, I know you've been dealing with an injury for part of your buildup. Can you tell me when you think things turned around for you in your buildup and how those last few weeks went for you coming into the race?

ALIPHINE TULIAMUK: So at the beginning of September, I found out that I had an edema of one of my ankle bones, and I had to take a couple weeks off. Honestly, I only had five weeks of training before the last two weeks of taper.

The good thing I think is that I was beginning to come up at that point, like my fitness was beginning to come along. I think I was still gaining fitness.

In the back of my mind, I wished that I had a few more weeks, but I also decided to focus on gratitude because eight weeks ago I didn't know that I was going to be here. And the fact that I was able to put in like a solid training and had a chance to be competitive, I was just very grateful for that.

I think like it was that last week before taper, which is about three weeks ago, that I started feeling like, okay, I'm coming around. I think, even before then, like every workout I was beginning to feel like -- I felt like I was getting fitness. In fact, my coaches were like making a joke that like they can see a hurricane of Aliphine in every workout coming. I was like, well, that's good.

And even yesterday I asked Coach Ben Rosario, I said, do you think like what you've seen in practice, do you think it's good enough to be competitive tomorrow? And he said yes, because even though like I knew that I was running some of the fastest times that I've ever run before, I didn't, for example, have the consistency I had going into the trials, and I just wasn't sure where my fitness was exactly.

THE MODERATOR: Aliphine, is this your first family visit to New York City?

ALIPHINE TULIAMUK: Actually, we were here last year for the TCS New York City Marathon just to spectate.

THE MODERATOR: What do you do as a family in New York City after such a great race?

ALIPHINE TULIAMUK: This is going to be the first time that I have raced as a mom, so I think we are just going to go out and try to get something good to eat although I don't feel like eating right now.

I don't know, we might just hang out in Central Park a little bit and just enjoy the fact that it's a blessing. I'm really grateful that I'm able to do all of it. I'm able to run at the very highest level of our sport and be a mom at the same time.

So I want to do a couple of things that, when my daughter looks like ten years from now, she'll be like I was at New York City Marathon and I was able to check out a couple of things. So any suggestions would be good.

THE MODERATOR: Scott, where do you get New York City's best burrito?

SCOTT FAUBLE: There's a place, I think it's La Esquina I've been to before. I don't know where it is. I'm not great with geography in this city, but I remember it being very good.

There's a food cart also near our hotel that looks like pretty good. It's like pictures on the burritos on the thing, like that's a good sign.

We'll be on the hunt tonight. We'll see what comes up. Might keep everyone apprised of that situation. We're monitoring it.

THE MODERATOR: Follow Scott on Twitter and Instagram for updates on that.

Congratulations, Aliphine and Scott, and thanks to everyone for coming out today.