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ING NEW YORK CITY MARATHON

November 4, 2007

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK

THE MODERATOR: We have in the news conference room the top American who placed 6th, Elva Dryer, and the reining Boston champion Lidiya Grigoryeva, who finished fourth. I'm going to ask both of the ladies to make a brief comment about today's race, and then we'll open to up for any questions. Elva?
ELVA DRYER: I'm new to the marathon, but already the New York City Marathon holds a special place for many of us. I only wish I could have run as well as the spectators cheered. But thank you to ING and the New York Road Runners for giving me the opportunity to be here.
THE MODERATOR: Lidiya, a comment about today's race?
LIDIYA GRIGORYEVA: I basically ran a good race, but at the very end of it I just didn't make up for what I lost at the beginning.
THE MODERATOR: We'll open it up for questions.

Q. Question for Lidiya. Have you ever been in a race where the two leaders were so far ahead after the first three miles?
LIDIYA GRIGORYEVA: It was the same in New York last year. I was in the first three, and I was fighting for the third place, but eventually I was fifth. This year I have done better, I've placed fourth, and I'm happy about it.

Q. Elva, it looked like you were on sub-2:30 pace through halfway, but it also looked like you were running a solo time trial the whole way. Can you kind of described what happened, and where did sort of the wheels come off?
ELVA DRYER: That was a scenario that I knew could likely happen, finding myself -- I was running myself probably the entire race, from probably a half mile already going up the bridge to the finish line. And I was feeling pretty good through halfway and had my eyes just on -- I could still see in the distance the other women, and then at about 16 miles, 17 miles, after that I just felt like I was going through the motions and had a hard time really pushing. I could move, but it wasn't very fast.

Q. Elva, is this something that puts you -- teaches you something for the Olympic marathon trials next spring?
ELVA DRYER: Oh, definitely. This is another marathon under my belt. I've gone the distance now a second time, and I've gained a lot I think just from the strength of the preparation and the race itself to prepare me for next year. And even running solo today, that could be a situation I will find myself in again. You know, I still think there's a lot of value in being here today.

Q. Elva, would you have preferred to have been running in a mixed race today? Do you think that would have been your preference?
ELVA DRYER: I would have preferred running with a pack, regardless. I think it was important for me today to just gain that experience of running in an all-women's field. You know, that is one thing that I wanted the opportunity to do before the Olympic trials next year. But it certainly I think would have been better if I would have had even just a couple runners out there within 50 meters maybe.

Q. I think you've run two marathons now, neither one of them has probably been -- first one was pretty good. What do you think you still need to do to run a little better in the marathon?
ELVA DRYER: I think that it'll take me some time to kind of, you know, go over today, whether it be work on my energy stores or my stamina and strength still. So yeah, it's hard to say right now at this moment. I'll have to take some time and kind of go over my preparation coming into this race and running the race itself and my recovery, and then we'll see what else I can work on for next time around.

Q. Elva, did it look like it was Paula's desire just to break everybody immediately from the beginning? I mean, she just went right to the front and didn't stop. Did that seem to be her intent right from the beginning?
ELVA DRYER: You know, if that's the way she ran, it doesn't surprise me. She is really a phenomenal runner with a lot of experience behind her, and she's run from the front so many times and won that way. So to see her go from the getgo, I knew that was probably going to happen and that that would change the race.

Q. Lidiya, what would you say was the biggest difference between this race today and the race you ran in Boston in the spring?
LIDIYA GRIGORYEVA: The last seven K were very hard. It was very difficult to fight through the last portion of it.

Q. I'd like to hear you also respond, Lidiya, so when Paula and Gete took off so quickly at the start, did that surprise you? Did you think you had to let them go and you hoped to catch them later? What was going through your mind?
LIDIYA GRIGORYEVA: In principal it did not surprise me when she took off right away. I guess I was a little bit afraid of catching up, of going ahead and joining them. If I had done that, I would have placed third because I felt pretty good.

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