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ING NEW YORK CITY MARATHONNovember 3, 2011Jennie FinchMark MessierApolo OhnoNEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK DAVID HIRSCH: Welcome, everybody. We especially welcome our special guests to this ING New York City Marathon news conference. Always my pleasure to introduce the president and CEO of Road Runners, Mary Wittenberg. MARY WITTENBERG: Thank you, Richard. As we like to say at New York Road Runners, the ING New York City Marathon is something much more than a foot race. It's all about the triumph of the human spirit. It's about overcoming odds, overcoming challenges. And I think these three athletes know that experience and what that's all about very well from their sports. Three athletes who have had great success on their playing fields and now will look to translate that success to our playing field and our course that weaves through all of New York City. So it's my great privilege on behalf of our team to introduce them. They really need no introduction. We'll start with Jennie. Ladies first, in New York, Jennie. Two-time Olympic softball player, inspiration I know to lots of girls. We all enjoyed watching you during the Olympic games. Mom of two, and her second child Diesel was just born June 19th, which is pretty remarkable, and Jennie is stepping up to our plate to work with Timex, following in the footsteps of Amani Toomer, as last year he started dead last, as Jennie will, after all three waves go. Jennie will start, and for every person that she passes, Timex will donate a dollar to our youth running programs, so we welcome you, Jennie. JENNIE FINCH: Thank you. Q. Apolo Ohno, the most decorated winter sport Olympian, eight medals in short-track speed skating. As Apolo transitioned from world class speed skater to distance runner, he's already set a pretty impressive mark at the half marathon running in Chicago this summer at 1:40. Apolo runs for Subway, having taken the baton from Jared last year, and taking the quest to a whole other level by having obviously an Olympic athlete out here running. We congratulate Subway and thank them for their support. Apolo, I don't know if you know this, we have had another speed skater, U.S. Olympian Dan Jansen has run this event in a pretty impressive 3:41:43? APOLO OHNO: I know, he texted me. MARY WITTENBERG: You can tell it's more about that and Jennie can talk to you about what she knows about Amani's run as well. Finally, a man certainly New York City needs no introduction, one of the greatest leaders sports has ever seen, Mark Messier. Six-time Stanley Cup champion, Hockey Hall of Famer, captain, of course, of the 1994 New York Rangers championship team. Mark joins past hockey legends. We've got a good tradition here that have run the ING New York City Marathon, including teammates, former Ranger player, 1994 Stanley Cup championship team member Adam Graves who ran 4:27, you'll be happy to know in 2006; former Rangers goalie, 1994 teammate Mike Richter ran a really impressive 3:54:34 in 2007 when he ran for ING; and National Hockey Hall of Famer, former Buffalo Sabre, I will add, Pat LaFontaine ran 4:27. What I want to add is every runner understands what this is all about at some point. For many, it happens on marathon day. I've got to say just spending a few minutes with Mark a few weeks ago, he already get it's. He gets that this is something way more than running. This is something I think that all of these athletes hopefully will remember for the rest of their lives and benefit for for the rest of their lives. So it's with big congratulations that the training is behind you, that you've committed. It's hard to commit when you're stars like you. It's a lot easier when other people don't know who you are. You guys have committed to put yourselves out there on a big stage, get out of your comfort zone, and that is the kind of spirit that we like to celebrate here in New York. So welcome. DAVID HIRSCH: You've had so much success as champions on other playing fields, where does this challenge sort of stand with your athletic accomplishments? Are you scared? Are you nervous, are you excited about what's going to happen on Sunday running 26.2 miles? Apolo, if you could start and we'll go down to Jennie and then Mark. APOLO OHNO: I'm really excited about this race. I mean, I think Mary said it best, this race is about the people, about the people of New York and people coming out and supporting it. I'm blessed to be able to even run the marathon. It will be my first marathon ever. I'm really excited about it. It's a total different transitioning stage for me being a short track speed skating athlete that glides on ice to now running. On the ice, at least if I slow down, I can tuck behind somebody, draft and coast for a couple of laps. If I slow down in running, it turns into a walk. So it's pretty apparent what's going on. But this is an amazing process for me. Just mentally, and physically changing my body, and just appreciate this. Endurance running as been absolutely incredibly. Like I said, I'm super excited. Excited for the team, Subway, and the Special Olympics which I'm running on behalf of. And look, the bottom line is we want to gain more awareness for people to put running into their life in some way shape or form, and just get America more healthy. DAVID HIRSCH: Thank you. Jennie. JENNIE FINCH: I am extremely honored, like Apolo said, to be running in the marathon. Not only a marathon, but the New York City Marathon. It is in a class of its own. I am extremely excited, nervous, all of those things combined for race day. It's been a long preparation, having my son only four months ago, it's been a long-but-short preparation building up to this. But I'm extremely honored to be running on behalf of Timex, and for the New York Youth Runner programs. I go back to being a young girl, and there is nothing like running. Going outside and running, being active, and empowering the youth. I'm blessed. I just met a young girl that came up here today who designed a T-shirt designed for me which I'll be wearing. She's on behalf of the New York Road Runners Club, and just to see her be inspired and love running. She just ran a mile this morning, and that's what it's truly all about. I can't wait to experience the New York City Marathon. DAVID HIRSCH: Mark? MARK MESSIER: Yeah, I'm right along the same lines as Jennie and Apolo. I think for me personally, it really gets down to supporting the two charities I have since I've come to New York, especially Tomorrow's Children Fund, and also the wives and widows of 9/11 and all the first responders. Turning 50 this year also gave me a reason to shoot for something, and do something that was constructive, and something that perhaps I would have to stretch not only physically but mentally. I guess more importantly, having the relationship with New York and being in an opportunity to run the New York Marathon, and for what New York has meant to me as a professional and as a person. I'm excited about it. I'm nervous about it. I felt a month ago I was pretty confident. A couple days before the race I was saying to Jennie I'm a little less confident now, but I think those are all the things that make the race, and hopefully will make the race as memorable as the preparations leading up to it. For me running, what I didn't expect, was the meditative, if that's a word, the meditation part of the running has been very therapeutic for me in a lot of different ways. I didn't expect that. It really gave me a chance to reflect on my own life, and the things that have transpired in the last ten years since 9/11. We all have our own stories about where we were that day and what were the circumstances that kept our 60-man roster from training camp out of the Marriott Hotel at the World Trade Center that fatal morning and for all the people that weren't so lucky. So it's a great opportunity to bring awareness, and really kind of do something for those people so that we never forget. Q. Have you gotten any input from your two former teammates? Is this at all competitive? Do you want to beat those marks? MARK MESSIER: Well, I've got a lot of advice from a lot of different people. What I really realized is that running is so individual, how you hydrate, nutrition, all those different things. I don't think two people are all the same, so you really have to go through the process yourself of figuring out what works for you to do something of this endurance. I have talked to those guys. I don't think I -- I am obviously very competitive. I wish I was 35 or 40 years old running it, not 50. But I think it's really, in the end, it's challenging yourself to do something, and get outside your comfort zone as someone said earlier today in the opening address. Getting outside of your comfort zone that really kind of keeps you alive and keeps you moving. So I think from that regard, I'm really challenging myself, I guess, first and foremost to do the best I can personally. I think that's what running really is. It's about your own personal journey from what I've found over the last year. Q. You always hear in the playoffs people talk about how it's a marathon. The regular season's a grind and a marathon. Has that word as you've been training taken on a different feel? MARK MESSIER: Well, the comparison is definitely there, because I think the endurance that you have to play an 82-game schedule and then go through four playoff rounds to win a Stanley Cup, it is a marathon. You have to have the discipline to remain focused, the mental capacity to stay focused. You have to take care of yourself both physically and mentally in order to be at the best you can for that duration of time. I think to run 26 miles and prepare for it the best you can, you have to do those same things. I know myself, and I'm sure Jennie and Apolo can attest to it, I didn't know anything about running before I started this. So I did a 30-week program that ramped my miles up each and every week. Then the last few weeks has been to basically rest a little bit more. I think there are some parallels there, but running is about an individual sport. Of course, the beautiful thing about team sports is you're relying on everybody else to put on the same amount of work that you have in order to be the best that you can be. So that's why support is such a beautiful thing when it comes together for a championship, that you're relying on 20 other people to have as much passion and commitment as you do in order to be successful. Q. You've come from a team sport such as Mark. Is there a big difference now that you're out there by yourself running here compared to what your athletic career was for so many years? JENNIE FINCH: Definitely. I would much rather 14 women to the left and right of me pushing me along the way. But like Mark said, you find this deep down inner strength, and I think you have to have that to be a part of a time and to do your part. But when it is solely you, you can't look to your left or to the right; you can only look in the mirror. Like Mark said, you have to figure out for yourself what makes you tick, and what your body needs. It's been a great challenge. I think, too, it's great just to get out and run and learn about yourself mentally, emotionally, physically, all of the above. It's been a fascinating progress, and a great experience for me and something that I think I'll continue even after this race. Q. I understand that you're considering the next Olympics. Has training for the marathon kind of gotten you to that point? Is that what's been driving that process at this point? APOLO OHNO: I don't think it's driving the process. But it definitely helps to know this is another accomplishment hopefully that I can have. Endurance training is totally different than anything we've done in my sport before, but it definitely brings a different dynamic in terms of the mental capacity and the mind frame that I need in order to run some of these longer distance miles that I never thought were actually possible pre-marathon training. Does it play a role a little bit? I've lost quite a bit of size in my legs which has been actually kind of nice because I can buy jeans now that actually fit. But overall it's been phenomenal, and I'll probably make a decision in the near future about 2014. Q. Mark, understanding that everybody's body is different and forgetting about what Graves and Richter ran, do you have a guarantee as to what kind of time you might put in? MARK MESSIER: I would have absolutely no idea what I'm going to be able to accomplish at 26 miles. I did try to time myself during the training. If I was able to do it anywhere around four-and-a-half hours, that would be probably, I guess, a success. I guess a success would be finishing it at this point. But I don't really know. I guess when you get in there and you get running and you feel the spirit of the crowd and the competition day comes along, I'm sure that's going to add a few or take off a few seconds of your time. So I'm looking forward to seeing how well I can do. Of course, I'll try to do the best I can, you can be assured of that. I'll run the fastest time I can. Q. A follow-up for Jennie and Apolo: Any times in your mind, Jennie and Apolo, any thoughts about your time? JENNIE FINCH: Yes, Amani did it last year for Timex and for the New York Road Runners youth programs, and he ran it in 4:13, and I believe passed over 25,000 people. So I'm hoping to -- 4:10 would be great, under 4:00 would be absolutely phenomenal and I'd be excited. But like Mark said, when it started it was okay. I just have to run a marathon. And it was like wait a minute. I have a number that I need to get under. It's been a progress. But it's amazing how you gain that confidence and you're like, okay, I can do this. I'm pushing myself. I'm watching. I'm going for a pace. I love to be under 4:00. Q. Is there something with Jared too that's going on; is there a little contest? APOLO OHNO: Yeah, more of a challenge. I would like to -- my personal goal is to get as close to 3:30 as possible, which is going to be a challenge, but it's why I'm here. I know the last 6.2 miles are going to be brutal. There are going to be a lot of people on the streets having a lot more fun than I will be. But hopefully I can suck some of that energy, and get that energy to continue on and finish. I'm excited regardless of whatever time we all end up, I think the bigger picture is that we're here, we've done some work, and we're here to run. DAVID HIRSCH: Well, we have something here that we think that everybody that crosses the finish line is a winner. And that is going to be in the inscription on the back of our medal from Grete Weiss, "In New York We Consider Everybody a Winner," especially you three right now. Q. I've seen your likeness next to all the foot-long sizes here in town. I have to ask you is this part of your promotional contractual obligation to run this race for Doctors Associates? APOLO OHNO: To be honest with you, this was not part of the contract whatsoever. This came along as an option and a challenge. They said Apolo, what do you think? Do you want to do this thing? And Jared literally challenged all the famous fans at Subway, all the athletes and those who have relationships with Subway and said, okay, guys, who wants to take a torch and run this year's New York City Marathon since Jared ran it last year. I was like, okay, I'll take the challenge. That doesn't sound like a bad idea. Not really knowing what I was getting myself into. Now, here I am a little over 600 miles logged in to date, over like 250 Subway sandwiches in my stomach, and I'm having fun. To answer your question, no. I've always wanted to run a marathon, but I thought I would do it much later in my career, but this is fantastic. I'm still only 29 years old, and I get to run with some of the greatest runners in the world. It's going to be pretty awesome. MARY WITTENBERG: I'll add of note that apparently now the pipeline of other Subway athletes, there are a few raising their hands for next year, so it's working. Q. For each of you, if you could, you've talked about the challenge of this, but there are a lot of ways to challenge yourself. What was it about this in particular that you wanted to do this race, run a marathon and this race specifically? APOLO OHNO: Well, if there's one race that I would choose, it would be the New York City Marathon. Obviously, for my love of this city, the significance of this race, and to me this is one of the greatest cities in the world, one of my personal favorite cities. It's not every day you get to run through all five boroughs. The city essentially shuts down, and you have the support of millions of people and 40,000 runners who are actually running this race, and many more who actually wanted to run the race. So it's a very exclusive event. It's awesome. There are kind of no words to describe. This would be and always is my first choice. JENNIE FINCH: Like Apolo said, I've heard nothing but New York City is the best. If you're going to run a marathon, run the New York City Marathon. Me being a softball player, I'm not counting on running more than one at this point, so I figure I might as well start with the best, and that I've done the best if I don't return back to the marathon circuit. But like Apolo said, I'm extremely honored to be running with Timex, and it was kind of a great challenge for me. I told myself, yes, I would love to run a marathon one day. I didn't imagine it would be four months after the birth of my second son, but it's been a great way for me to get back in shape. It's been a great way for me to learn about my body in a new way. Put goals back in my life after retiring from softball, and most importantly, for a great cause. So I'm excited to feel the energy, and I just heard this term today, "pound pavement." So that's my favorite slogan so far. I'm excited to pound the pavement of New York. MARK MESSIER: Well, I can identify with pounding the pavement for sure. I think for me it was the leading up to the 10th anniversary of 9/11. I think that's where it all started and figuring out a way to try to do something to gain more awareness of the charity, how I could do that. I tried to do some things where I was looking out for support from other people. It didn't go through, and it was very disappointing. So then I really kind of turned to myself, and I said, I've got to do something for myself. What could that be? Of course, I was doing a little bit of running at the time, and someone suggested maybe the marathon might be something that you could get attention for it. I really think it's for that. I didn't see myself running a marathon two years ago or even a year ago, but I'm sure glad it's turned into this because it's been quite a journey, as Jennie said, both physically and emotionally, and I'm really glad I'm doing it. I think it's for a great cause. DAVID HIRSCH: A reminder we've raised more than 30 million last year in official charities at the ING New York City Marathon. So we applaud all three of you for raising awareness and funds for your respective charities. Q. Jennie, you're the one who has a four-month-old. Can you speak to us particularly about the challenges training for this marathon, especially regarding time. And for those who don't have a four-month-old, what was the biggest challenge in the training? JENNIE FINCH: The biggest challenge was the time commitment. For softball there were different things that I had to do, but to be able to go out and run for three hours, that's wild. It's crazy. I would never have imagined I'd be doing that, and here I am checking it off, running for three hours at a time. So I think the time commitment of having a newborn baby, and most of all, I think sleep deprivation. Because like last night I probably got maybe four and a half hours of sleep. He's starting to teeth. So I think getting my body the rest it needs to be able to physically get the miles out of my body that I need, it's a good challenge. But I think about those kids every single day I'm on the street. Like Apolo said, we're able to run, and that's a huge blessing in itself. I'm able to run. Who cares if I'm tired or not. I'm able to put one foot in front of the other, and it's a great challenge. It's been a great 12 weeks. I think being for me too, being a mother, you get into mommy mode, which I should be in. But it was nice to have some time to myself and train and get my body back in shape after having my son. Q. Mark, do you see yourself doing this again after this year or is the program too time consuming? MARK MESSIER: Well, I did have the time to do it. For me, I was lucky that the Rangers were very supportive of this, so I did have the time to do it. I could run when the kids were in school, so time wasn't a real issue for me. I guess the biggest challenge for me was just retraining my body. I'm not that young anymore, so there were some painful days of first starting out. But one of the things that really inspired me was reading that article on Frank Shorter in the runners magazine not long ago about his childhood challenges with his father and all of that, and what running meant to him and how it gave him an escape there. I think running can really be that for a lot of different people, obviously. That was very inspiring to read that article and take that and translate that into my own running and keep going when the days were tough or something. So you always need to be inspired by something. You're looking for sources of inspiration as you move through any endeavor, and certainly reading that article was a real wake-up call for me. Q. Can you share with us the texting that you did with Dan Jansen, what he was asking about? APOLO OHNO: Oh, Dan just reached out and said, hi. He heard I was going to be running the race, wished me good luck, and asked me how my body was holding up. Asked me if I was excited. Dan's awesome. The guy's an All-American. He's one of the greatest long track speed skaters of all time. He was an idol of mine when I was growing up in long track speed skating. For him being a real sprinter -- this guy dedicated his life for 30 seconds on the ice -- for him to run under four hours is pretty crazy. He ran 3:41, I think I heard, which is remarkable. Dan's a freak of nature. We always looked at him like that, as one of those guys. But it inspires me. I know we have guys on our team that can destroy me in this marathon, but luckily they're still training right now. They're not here to be next to me and texting me while they're running. Q. You have great fans out there. My son wears the M11 hockey helmet, loves your history. We want to know as fans, we'll be watching, are you going out there to run as the Messier or the Moose? MARK MESSIER: I wish I could run like a Moose, that would make things easier. I don't really think either. I think it's definitely a personal challenge for me to run the race, there is no question about that. I think it's important for everybody. As Jennie mentioned earlier, when you retire, you always have challenges when you're playing, but when you retire, those challenges aren't so readily available. But I think it's also important and healthy to have long-term goals and short-term goals and challenges for yourself. This was a real challenge for me. I can say that playing 26 years professionally in hockey my whole life, my body was not conditioned to run. So having to take a year and recondition your body and your muscles in order to run this length has been a real challenge. But I just keep saying for me, the motivation has been for the charities. For the kids with the Tomorrow's Children Fund. Since 1991, I've been with them. And the kids with cancer, ended up building a wing of a hospital where the kids and the families can go in between treatments. To the people of 9/11, the first responders, and that horrific day on 9/11. So as New Yorkers, we all, like I said, we all have our stories, we all have to continue to remember and continue to help. We're all brothers and sisters, and we need to figure out and continue to support and help these children that have been orphaned in any way we can. So that is the real challenge for me. DAVID HIRSCH: After hearing our three guests, we've realized this is more than a foot race. Mary, a closing remark? MARY WITTENBERG: I think I'll just close by looking at the wall over there. Some of our manifesto of New York Road Runners, and some thoughts to share with you. Run today like there is no tomorrow. Run for the rush. All three of you are running for the kids. And last but not least, we hope this experience now gives each of you the chance to run for life. DAVID HIRSCH: Thank you, and we wish you the best of luck on Sunday. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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