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ING NEW YORK CITY MARATHON

October 28, 2009

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK

THE MODERATOR: It's time to talk about who is here right now, and with us right now today, we have two of our leading women athletes who will look to challenge three-time champion, Paula Radcliffe, on Sunday. We're very excited to have both of them here.
Making her New York City Marathon debut, we're very excited to have one of Japan's leading athletes and runners, Yuri Kano. Interesting enough, Japanese men and women have won many titles around the world, including Olympic gold, World Championships, other world marathon major championships, but no Japanese man or woman has ever won here in New York, and possibly that could change on Sunday. We wish Yuri the best of luck.
Next to Yuri is Salina Kosgei from Kenya. She's returning to New York. She was fifth here in 2005, and won one of the most thrilling Boston Marathons in recent years in April this year. A down-to-the-wire victory that came down to, literally, the last few steps of that race.
Only a handful of women have won both Boston and New York in their careers, and we certainly are looking for Salina to give that a great try on Sunday.
Jaouad Gharib is on the way here from the hotel. We do apologize that he's stuck in traffic. As we all know in New York traffic on a rainy day it can be pretty bad. So we apologize. He should be here in a few minutes.
We'll we wait for Jaouad. I'd like to run the video and show more of the highlight of our athletes.
[Video playing]
THE MODERATOR: I forgot to mention that Christelle Daunay, as you saw her here, France's top woman's runner was also scheduled to be here. Again, travel issues. She's on her way, and she'll be here later in this week. So if anybody would like to talk to Christelle, we can certainly make those arrangements.
Again, I'd like to open it up and have Yuri, you know, give us just a couple comments about coming back to New York. She's been here for the Half Marathon. But now stepping up to the marathon distance, how is her training and preparation been, and her excitement about running Sunday?
YURI KANO: In August when I run in the World Championship Series, I only had two months to prepare for this race and the New York City Marathon. I've been wanting to participate in this marathon for a long time. I only have a short period of preparation. But I think that I will do my best for this marathon.
THE MODERATOR: What would it mean for Yuri to be the first Japanese woman if she was to win here in New York?
YURI KANO: There aren't many Japanese runners that participate in the world competition. If I could make a mark on the history to win this race, I will encourage younger runners and also motivate them to participate in the world class race.
So that would be a great opportunity for me to encourage younger people.
THE MODERATOR: Salina, a breakthrough victory at Boston. What did that mean to you? And do you carry over that kind of result here into New York and into Sunday's race?
SALINA KOSGEI: Thank you very much. And I would like to thank all the organizers of this race for having invite me once more, and I say thank you.
So first it has changed my life very much. I have been well known all over the world, and in my country they celebrate a lot, especially my family, especially all my fans. So I'm very happy about it.
THE MODERATOR: When you say it's changed your life, has it made you a better runner? Are you more confident now?
SALINA KOSGEI: Yeah, it gives me a lot of confidence and it makes me well known.
THE MODERATOR: I believe we have Jaouad here. Welcome. Jaouad has done a lot of things in his career. At age 37, he's had a long run. And one thing that he's never done is won the New York City Marathon the ING New York City Marathon. So we welcome him and would like to know how he's feeling and his excitement about being here in New York.
JAOUAD GHARIB: In 2005 I was planning to come here and participate in the marathon. And I participated in the Championship in 2005, and I won.
I was really tired, really tired to come here and participate again here. And I'm really pleased to come here today and participate because as you know the New York Marathon is one of the biggest and most famous. And I wish I'm going to do my best and give the best results. I'm going to do my best to give the best of what I have.
THE MODERATOR: Any thoughts about the course? Do you know anything about the course and how you will hope to run on Sunday?
JAOUAD GHARIB: I know I have an idea that it's going to be a hard one and it has some problems. And the assistants that are supposed to be here are not going to be with me. But despite the fact that I think it's going to be hard, but hopefully, I'm going to do my best. And I'm going to do my best to bring the best in me.
THE MODERATOR: Another interesting note before we open it up, we believe this is the first time that Jaouad has ever run here in the United States; is that correct?
JAOUAD GHARIB: Yes, that is right, it's my first time running here in New York.
THE MODERATOR: In the United States?
JAOUAD GHARIB: I participated in Chicago Marathon, and I won the second place.

Q. Jaouad, you just said you're going to try your best even though there is no assistance, does he mean no pacers? Or is there something else that he means by assistant?
JAOUAD GHARIB: Yes, the absence of pacemakers makes it a little bit hard, but I'm going to do my best.
THE MODERATOR: I would like to just point out, again, we will have no pacemakers here in New York for neither the women or the men's field. Just to point out, Jaouad's career results when there are no pace makers has been pretty darn good, winning both the World Championships in 2005, and 2003, and finishing second at the Beijing Olympic games, again, where there are no pacers.

Q. Yuri, there are so many major marathons in Japan, and I know there's one in Yokohama on November 15th. We don't see the Japanese runners coming up and leaving Japan to run marathons very often. I'm just wondering what made you decide that you wanted to do that?
YURI KANO: This is the third year that I've been going to a Second Win AC, and before I was belonging to the Japanese company team. And I was running the race called Ekiden, that's a Japanese marathon race. And that's happening in October. So I couldn't participate in the New York Marathon before.
And after I switched to Second Wind AC, I had to be more -- I have been more focused on the individual race. So, the team enabled me to participate in this race.

Q. Same question for both women, please. Do you think you can beat Paula Radcliffe?
SALINA KOSGEI: We are going to try our best.

Q. But do you think you can?
SALINA KOSGEI: Maybe I can (smiling).

Q. Maybe you can?
SALINA KOSGEI: Yeah.
THE MODERATOR: You can or you cannot?
SALINA KOSGEI: I don't know. It depends on how we are going to run (smiling).
THE MODERATOR: Salina, what makes Paula such a great runner?
SALINA KOSGEI: Paula is confident in her running. She is faster, faster in running.
THE MODERATOR: Yuri?
YURI KANO: She's a big hero since I was a student. And this will be the first time we run together, run in the same marathon. And I don't care much about winning or not. I'd rather see her run in close distance.

Q. Do you think that the absence of the pacemakers will be an advantage to you? Like Richard has been pointing out that you have been very successful exactly in these races where there are no pacemakers.
JAOUAD GHARIB: I don't think this will be any problem at all. And I participated in the World Championships and there was no pacemakers, and that was no problem at all.

Q. But will it be an advantage for him?
JAOUAD GHARIB: I have no problem with that at all.
THE MODERATOR: Will it help him? Does he think that it will help him?
JAOUAD GHARIB: I'm going to run as I always do whether without it or with it. It makes no difference for me.

Q. The question was asked whether or not you felt you could beat Paula. We know how she runs. She runs from the front and she runs a strong pace. Will you go out on with her if she runs a very strong pace, perhaps a course record pace? Will you be with her or will you run from behind?
THE MODERATOR: Salina, do you have a strategy where you try to stay with Paula right from the start, or do you have a strategy in mind?
SALINA KOSGEI: I will try to stay with her and maybe if the pace is too high for me I will run behind.
THE MODERATOR: So if it's too fast, you'll stay back a little bit?
SALINA KOSGEI: Yeah, because she's very fast (smiling).
YURI KANO: I would love to run close enough that I can see her running (smiling).

Q. Paula's had a very close finishes at the end, even though she's very fast, she's had a couple of close races like you had in Boston. I was just wondering in the closing mile of that race, did you believe that you were always going to be the winner, because obviously you didn't emerge until the very last strides? But were you confident that you were going to win in Boston?
SALINA KOSGEI: You know, when I was in 40 kilometers, I was trying to run. I didn't know that I was going to win. I was trying to force it a bit. So after 500 meters, it wasn't easy for me, but I tried my best and I won.

Q. Did you have like one last faster gear, as it were, in the last couple hundred meters?
THE MODERATOR: Where did you find that little extra that was able for you to pull away and win that race? Did you find something extra?
SALINA KOSGEI: Yeah. I, you know, I knew she was faster. I was trying to tell her, so I started from two kilometers. So she tried to pass, I tried to pass, so we were both running at the same speed, and after I won it.

Q. You actually started out running the 800 on the track, right? So you have some pretty good speed, I guess?
SALINA KOSGEI: Yeah. And it was finishing, I was very good. But I was trying. I was not confident that I was going to win, but I was trying my best.

Q. You said earlier that your victory in Boston gave you extra confidence. I'm just wondering whether your confidence is now at the level that you feel you can challenge Paula? I know you said that you hoped to go with her, but if the pace is too quick then you'll hang back. But with that extra confidence do you feel that maybe this is the time that you could, maybe take her down?
SALINA KOSGEI: Yeah. It's my time, but you know in marathon you have to feel the kind of pace you are going with. Because if the best is too high for you, you might stop and try the kind of pace you can.
THE MODERATOR: I would like to point out that Salina and Paula have ran against eave other once in their careers. And interestingly enough, Salina won. Finishing 10th in the Beijing Olympics when Paula finished 23rd. So Salina has beaten Paula in the past. But we'll see what happens on Sunday. Is there a final question from the floor?

Q. You said twice that you did not have enough preparation time for New York. Why did you not have enough preparation time?
YURI KANO: I didn't participate in the New York race in the last five years. And I scored fourth place in the first year I participated in the Half Marathon. I scored third place a few years ago. Probably thinking happening this June is the one that I didn't have much preparation for. And I ran the London Marathon in April. And I didn't recover from the marathon in April. That's probably the reason.
THE MODERATOR: All three athletes will be here in the back room at the round table.

Q. Are you capable of running 2:23.
YURI KANO: No, I didn't prepare for that.

Q. So she does not think she's going to be in shape to break the record?
YURI KANO: I don't think I have the energy. I'd love to see myself how far I can go with this perfect conditions to give myself a try.

Q. Who influenced her the most, famous Japanese runners or Paula Radcliffe?
YURI KANO: Japanese runners.

Q. She admires her more?
YURI KANO: Yes. They're different. They're just different. They're different types. I admire her as a human being. You can see that she's running with heart.

Q. I'm curious, did you watch the Chicago Marathon, and what did you think about Goumri? He ran by himself the whole time. What did you think?
JAOUAD GHARIB: I didn't watch that, but I have an idea about the results.

Q. Goumri was second or third and fourth?
JAOUAD GHARIB: He was a very good runner, and he's a strong guy.

Q. They just announced today Martin Lel will not be here.
JAOUAD GHARIB: I did a lot of practice back home in Morocco. And I have an idea that the marathon in New York is going to be hard a little bit. I'm here to participate, hopefully, and to win.

Q. Have you seen the whole course? Do you know what the course looks like?
JAOUAD GHARIB: I took a look at the course, and I watched that on a video, so I have an idea about how it is.

Q. Has he watched any video of the races of the others?
JAOUAD GHARIB: New York.

Q. Last year's race? Two years ago race?
JAOUAD GHARIB: Yes, I took a lot of that.

Q. Does he feel New York suits him or does he feel flat that Chicago suits him?
JAOUAD GHARIB: I think it's going to be suitable for me.

Q. Did he train a lot in order to prepare for the bridges?
JAOUAD GHARIB: I did a lot of practice on similar courses, so hopefully it's going to be good.

Q. So did you adjust your training when watching the videos?
JAOUAD GHARIB: It's not new for me. This course is familiar to me because I participated in other places in the world on similar courses. So it's not going to be new for me.

Q. What course does it remind him of?
JAOUAD GHARIB: It reminds me of the World Championship in Helsinki and in Paris, 2003, and 2005 in Helsinki, because the course was pretty much the same. It has some difficulties.

Q. I have run Paris myself, and I can tell him that Paris is much easier to run than New York, so...
JAOUAD GHARIB: In the World Championships in Paris it's not the same course that was in Paris. It's different. It's a different course.

Q. It's different than the normal marathon course?
JAOUAD GHARIB: Yeah, it's different.

Q. As a veteran marathoner, had how do you feel about the younger generation of new marathoners in their early 20's, like Sammy Wanjiru?
JAOUAD GHARIB: He's a tough guy. He's a strong guy.

Q. But your times are close. You're getting faster?
JAOUAD GHARIB: Thank God this year I run in London and I did a great job. Two hours and 5 minutes and 27 seconds. And he ran his speed was two hours, 5 minutes, 10 seconds.
And the two times I racing close to each other, and hopefully we're going to work harder to improve that result.

Q. When I met him some years ago in London I remember he was not as thin as he is now. So it seems that he has lost some weight. Do you think that is a reason why he also got quicker?
JAOUAD GHARIB: Yeah, because I practice a lot, so that's the reason why I lost lots of weight.

Q. So he has increased his training in the last several years?
JAOUAD GHARIB: That's right.

Q. Is it more mileage or is it something else?
JAOUAD GHARIB: You mean in the practice?

Q. Yes.
JAOUAD GHARIB: I did a lot of training on the long courses for a long time, and the weather was really hot.

Q. The weather was hot where you trained?
JAOUAD GHARIB: Yes, so when I training the weather was really hot.

Q. Where, the Atlas Mountains?
JAOUAD GHARIB: Yes, Atlas Mountains and I was on a diet, too. So all of these things helped me to lose lots of weight.

Q. Has he changed his training at all, besides something like that, or has he been pretty much the same training for the last years? Has he changed anything for New York City or is it the same tried and true methods?
JAOUAD GHARIB: It's pretty much the same. I didn't change.

Q. Average kilometers per week?
JAOUAD GHARIB: Nearly 200 kilometers per week.

Q. How much did he train, when he had for lack of a better word, lesser workout?
JAOUAD GHARIB: Is something between like 150 kilometers per week.

Q. That's the last two years?
JAOUAD GHARIB: Around two years.

Q. What is the hardest part of the New York City Marathon?
SALINA KOSGEI: The hardest part is the central part.

Q. When you come here, how much in advance to the marathon are you in New York? When did you come to New York City for the marathon?
SALINA KOSGEI: My first time?

Q. No, like this time. What day did you come here?
SALINA KOSGEI: I came on Monday. I was here Tuesday.

Q. So do you train in the park then? Do you run in the park?
SALINA KOSGEI: Yeah, I run in the park. I practice.

Q. It was wet, huh?
SALINA KOSGEI: Yeah, it was wet.

Q. How often, how many loops do you make of the park?
SALINA KOSGEI: I just make one because it was raining.

Q. I noticed. I was running, too. What time do you go on out? Do you have a time that you go out?
SALINA KOSGEI: Something like one hour. Make one loop in one hour.

Q. In the morning?
SALINA KOSGEI: Yeah, in the morning.

Q. And do you run with other people?
SALINA KOSGEI: Yes, I was running with one guy, this guy.

Q. So you just caught it just for fun?
SALINA KOSGEI: Yeah, for fun.

Q. I'll look for you tomorrow, maybe the next day. In two days it won't be raining.
SALINA KOSGEI: Okay.

Q. What is the best temperature for you? If you had your ideal day?
SALINA KOSGEI: My ideal day. My best day is it's like -- it's not raining. It is warm weather.

Q. Warm weather? Like how warm?
SALINA KOSGEI: Like very warm or very cold. Something in the middle.

Q. So, New York often is a little too cold for you?
SALINA KOSGEI: Today's not too cold.

Q. Was last year too cold or just right?
SALINA KOSGEI: Last year I was here 2005, it was somewhat cold.

Q. Do you have a favorite marathon?
SALINA KOSGEI: What?

Q. A favorite marathon?
SALINA KOSGEI: Yeah, my favorite marathon is Paris.

Q. Why?
SALINA KOSGEI: Not Paris, it is in Boston.

Q. Favorite marathon is Boston?
SALINA KOSGEI: Yeah.

Q. Why that one?
SALINA KOSGEI: Because Boston was funny, and I was not expecting to win and I win.

Q. But you said it was the hardest, too.
SALINA KOSGEI: Yeah, it was.

Q. Are you married? Do you live in an apartment? Do you live with your family? How does she spend her day when she's not training?
YURI KANO: She goes out to the town. She likes dressing up.

Q. Like shopping?
YURI KANO: Right, on the town.

Q. Do you read? Do you like film? Do you like theater?
YURI KANO: She doesn't watch much movies.

Q. Does she like books? Does she read?
YURI KANO: She reads magazines.

Q. How about brothers or sisters?
YURI KANO: A brother. He used to run. Her brother used to run.

Q. Professionally or just college?
YURI KANO: Not professional. Just the club and with school.

Q. How was she discovered as a runner?
YURI KANO: She started out as a marathon runner. And the more she participated in the race, the more fans she got. And she started like running. She feels great when the people like, you know, give her applause and cheer her on.

Q. Did Shiseido Team see her performances and ask her to join Shiseido Team, or did she have somebody that represented her?
YURI KANO: She loves cosmetics. That's why. So the Shiseido, she actually applied to join Shiseido by herself. And the company seemed to like to give her liberty to leave it in the way she wants and also running style in many ways. So that was appealing to her.

Q. She wants to hear about the race in Berlin and how she spent time after the race in Berlin?
YURI KANO: She drove herself. She had a bit of a fainting before the race. Like light-headed, like not serious fainting, but like light-headed. So she couldn't run in a way that she usually could. She kind of pulled herself from the moment that she's supposed to, you know, put her energy into running.

Q. Why'd she pull herself?
YURI KANO: If she couldn't have the best competition, she couldn't recover from the London race. So she had a hard time to bring herself to the best she could.

Q. She's been speaking about, some of the challenges just in a season of competition, recovery time and some of the of physical and mental and even logistical challenges. If she could speak to those any in particular that were obstacles she had to overcome to be here today.
YURI KANO: I'm sorry?

Q. Are there any physical challenges that you had to overcome to be here today? Any concerns?
YURI KANO: I be don't have any injuries. But I feel that I'm not in the best condition. It's worse than the Berlin race. She feels it's not as good as the race in Berlin.

Q. She doesn't feel as ready as she was for the race in Berlin for any particular reason?
YURI KANO: She can't speak that much about it. She can talk about it after the race.

Q. If you don't mind me asking just one more. The women's competition has been described as depleted. Though, obviously, there are some incredible names and incredible competitors like herself who are still running. Would she have any words for those athletes who have had to drop out of the race?
YURI KANO: She thinks if you can run this race not well, next time should be good. So she would like to say the same thing.

Q. You've watched videos, I assume, of the course?
SALINA KOSGEI: Yeah.

Q. But you haven't been out on part of it?
SALINA KOSGEI: Yes.

Q. No, she's run here, and also this morning? Boston is very slow to start.
SALINA KOSGEI: Yeah.

Q. Do you like that kind of race?
SALINA KOSGEI: I don't like, but you get to spend the same.

Q. Did you think in Boston of pushing the pace or were you just happy to be there?
SALINA KOSGEI: No, no, no. I was not thinking about anything.

Q. So do you let the other people do the thinking then? Or do you just follow other people?
SALINA KOSGEI: I sometimes run by myself. Sometimes.

Q. How well do you know -- who have you run against in this field? You've run with Paula at the Olympics?
SALINA KOSGEI: I would say Paula was sick in the Olympics.

Q. That was also a slow race when it started?
SALINA KOSGEI: Yeah. And also in the Olympics I was not well prepared. I did not prepare it.

Q. The women's field in the last couple days there have been a number of athletes who have had to drop on out of the competition. It's even been describe as depleted. There are still some amazing athletes, yourself included in Paula Radcliffe. When you hear about athletes and other competitors dropping on out of the race, does that affect your strategy or mental approach to the race at all?
SALINA KOSGEI: No, no. That's not affect so much because I am myself. I am confident because you have to run a race and there is winning and there is losing. It's normal in the race (smiling).

Q. Who are your role models? Which runners before you when you were young? Did you see some Kenyan runners who you wanted to be like?
SALINA KOSGEI: Well, Tegla Laroupe. She was a fast runner, because she was the first Kenyan woman run the marathon, I think, so...

Q. You've met Tegla, I'm sure?
SALINA KOSGEI: Yeah, several times.

Q. Has she given you any advice?
SALINA KOSGEI: Yeah. She gives us advice before, because when she was running marathon she used to come and run track in Kenya. So she used to encourage us to run marathon. At that time she was running 2:21, 2:20 at that time. So she used to encourage us to run marathon on the track.

Q. Who do you train with? Do you train with a training group and who is in that group?
SALINA KOSGEI: I'm training alone with my own trainer.

Q. Have there been any particular challenges that you've had to overcome to get here to the New York Marathon? Any particular things that happened this year? Any injuries you had to overcome or any logistical complications in getting to New York?
SALINA KOSGEI: No, no. Everything was fine for New York.

Q. Your training, what sort of mileage you do? Where you typically train? What type of training?
SALINA KOSGEI: I normally train in the morning and in the evening, and sometimes middle of the day, like 10:00 o'clock. So I sometimes go for a long run. I go for a speed walk, and sometimes I go for an easy run.

Q. What kind of mileage do you do typically on a weekly basis?
SALINA KOSGEI: Weekly basis maybe like 250 kilometers.

Q. When did you decide that you were going to run the New York Marathon?
SALINA KOSGEI: After when the manager told me that I could run this race. So I prepared for that.

Q. So has it been a long preparation?
SALINA KOSGEI: Yeah, yeah.

End of FastScripts

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