ATF Newswire, Vol. 6, No. 40 --
ING New York Marathon Notes

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November 7, 2004

If one were interested in gauging the health our sport, spend a few weekends at Fall marathons. This is my fourth marathon weekend this fall and I can tell you, our sport is having one of its best falls ever after Akron, LaSalle Bank Chicago, Columbus and now, the ING New York City Marathon.

We knew that ING New York would be special when Olympic silver medalist Meb Keflezighi and Olympic bronze medalist Deena Kastor announced their entries. Then, less than two weeks ago, Paula Radcliffe, the world record holder for the marathon, announced that she would run New York as well.

The marathon is a serious event. It is one thing to focus on finishing, which is a task in itself. It is another to race at a world class level on one of the toughest courses of elite marathons. New York is not to be underestimated. How would runners who ran in the Olympic marathon fare, less than seventy days after for the men and eighty days for the women?

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One of the ways that I determinte the health of our sport is by checking out Expos at the various races. The best in the sport is The LaSalle Bank Chicago, with the room at McCormick Place and the size and space, it has become a huge sales bonanza for the footwear companies and it shows constant innovation. In 04, they offered a lounge for customers of The LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon, a nice place to get off their feet.

In 04, ING New York, in its second or third year at Jacob Javitts Center has really improved their Expo. We were there on Thursday and it took about an hour and a half to visit all of the booths. Most of the runners there on Thursday were foreign runners. Nearly half of the field of ING New York is from outside the U.S. and the color of French, German and Italian, among others give warmth to the expo.

The ASICS apparel area is well organized and gives the marathon sponsor a wonderful space to complement the quality and variety of the ASICS offerings.

Asking booth managers how the show was going gave us a good view into the success of the event even on the two early days, when traffic is slow, sales and distribution of materials had been good.

The other place to see the health of the sport is to workout in Central Park. From my vantage point at the NYAC, my walks in the part, at 6:30 Thursday and Friday were greeted by large groups of German, French, Italian runners and elites.

Kenyans and South American athletes cranking around the various loops in the park. The fall foliage was in full color, and New Yorkers walking their dogs, bike clubs working out, roller bladers, and runners and walkers all did their thing. My thought was that Fred Lebow was looking upon this from heaven with a bright smile.

The late Fred Lebow was the man who brought city marathons into world culture. Way back in 1977, the late John Jerome wrote an article about Frank Shorter and how, with 26 back-to-back five minute miles, he invented running. Well, if Shorter invented running, then Fred Lebow invented the modern marathon.

In his first attempt at a five-borough race, a young Bill Rodgers, fresh from his 40th place at Montreal, and silver medalist Frank Shorter, went 1-2 in the first city wide marathon. Fred had been telling companies around New York what he wanted to do for years, but the Romanian apparel salesman was right---it was time to show off the city of New York and the city marathon---the destination marathon was started. It all started in New York.

This is no way to denigrate Boston Marathon or any other. Boston is an elite marathon unto itself. The qualification times give us the best in each age category. New York is a lottery race, yet, it is open to all runners and walkers, and it known as a good first marathon.

With Lebow gone, Allan Steinfeld, his number two, is the man of the marathon. Allan is everywhere on marathon weekend. Allan, like the other great race directors, does not sleep much over his event weekend.

We saw him most at the Fred Lebow Award Breakfast in honor of Cary Pinkowski, The LaSalle Bank Chicago marathon race director. Allan told stories about how Fred Lebow knew that races like New York and Chicago could encourage each other and make the sport better. The breakfast has become an important point in the week before ING New York where the sports' power brokers meet to honor the years' award recipient and to honor Fred Lebow. The breakfast is put on by the National Distance Running Hall of Fame.

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Rosy O'Grady's is the Irish pub across from the Sheraton where most of the footwear company reps and race directors get together. Wednesday and Thursday nights are fun nights, as the local are there and most companies have set up their booths and so the Guinness flows. On Thursday night, London race director Dave Bedford was there. I asked him what he thought of Paula Radcliffe's plan to run ING New York. Dave, former 10k world record holder, and keen observer of the sport, put it short and sweet--"She has made a heroic decision." He did not know if she would win, but he liked it that she was putting her career on the line, like the great ones before her.

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Before my visit to Rosie's, I went to Niketown for a press conference. The interviews were done by John Capriotti, Nike's Director of Global Athletics. Capriotti started with Paula Radcliffe, who seemed relaxed and happy to be in New York.

JC: Paula, you have raced from the mile to the marathon. What is your favorite distance?
PR: I like the mile, but I don't think I have enough speed for that!

JC: How often have you raced in New York?
PR: I have run the Fifth Avenue Mile three times and the Mini marathon once. I am looking forward to the marathon here...the crowd here is really good. I have to concentrate so that I do not go too fast.

JC: How has your training been going?
PR: Well, we have been at Albequerque for the past four weeks. Training is going very well. I decided to run in New York about three weeks ago (ATF note - a reported $400k might have helped as well). I have fun running the mile, but my favorite event to race is the marathon. The marathon is an event where you test yourself...I enjoy the event because I like to test myself.

JC: Are we going to see you in track events or cross country anymore?
PR: I will definitely run more marathons and I will also race on the track next year. I would like to run the World XC in France. I like racing cross country, especially in France.

The next interview was with Meb Keflizeghi, who had just taken second in the Athens Olympics.

JC: You have had a long journey from Eritrea, to Italy to the United States. How are you feeling after Athens?
MK: It has been a long journey, from Eritrea, to Italy, to the United States. My medal in Athens was the work of not just me, but my friends, coaches and family. I want youngsters in the U.S. to learn from me, and I hope that it encourages others...

JC: You were pretty good in high school, where you ran 4.05. Did you think that you would run the marathon? Or make an Olympic team?
MK: I ran 4.05 in high school, then went to UCLA. My coach, Bob Larsen, encouraged me to stay with the sport. Coach told me that if I stayed with the sport, I would make the Olympic team in 2000, and then in 2004 and 2008.

JC: You have raced the 10k very well, with the American record at 27.13. So many of the runners who do well in the marathon race well on the track. Is speed important?
MK: Speed is important, and running the 10k has helped the marathon. Seeing Deena do well the week before me gave me some real confidence. She ran from behind like me. That was our plan.

JC: Two years ago, you ran NY marathon and had rough last three miles, did that play a role at Athens?
MK: I felt great in New York. I took the lead and then I felt bad. I learned a lot from that race. When I planned for my race in Athens, my goal was to run in the top three. For New York, I recovered pretty quick. I felt that my training for Athens helped me in my training for New York. I made the commitment in July and wanted to live up to it. I have had a great year so far, and I hope to end the year with a good run here..

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The Race

The women's race turned out to be one of the classic marathons of all times. A pack of 10, including Deena Kastor hit 10k in 33.27, and then Deena Kastor, the Athen's bronze medalist, dropped off the back and withdrew from the competition at 16 miles.

The lead pack of women, with Paual Radcliffe and Susan Chepkemei, plus Margaret Okayo hit the half marathon in 1.10.51. A pack of four were in contention in the warm (77 degrees) conditions, until 22 miles, when it became a womeno a womeno-as Radcliffe, head bobbing and Susan Chepkemei, running together, threw surge after surge, which broke the rest of the field, putting two minutes on the next competitor.

As the crowd screamed, with five hundred meters to go, Paula Radcliffe gathered something from within, and made a bold charge. At first it was only a foot, then two feet, then ten feet, and in the end, Paula Radcliffe had reached redemption, or at least the win at the 2004 ING New York City marathon. Running a time of 2.23.10 in these conditions, with only five seconds separating Radcliffe from Chepkemei, the British runner becomes the first non-Kenyan to win since 2000.

On the men's side, it was a similar story--a non finisher from Athens would win. But in the men's race, an Athen's medalist would add to his already excellent year.

The early lead was worked by Abdi Abdirahman and Meb Keflezighi, who ran 15.34, 30.29 for 10k and hit the half in 1.04.15. A pack of 12 was in attendance.

Between 17-18 miles Enos Ketter threw in a 4.32 mile, which was covered by Hendrik Ramaala of South Africa, 04 Boston champ Timothy Cherigat, with Meb Keflezighi in the next pack. Meb Keflezighi took a few minutes to reel them back in.

The early race pace took it toll, and by 22 miles, it was down to three. Hendrik Ramaala, the South African 10k champion, who had DNF'd at Athens, Timothy Cherigat and Meb Keflezighi, the 04 Athens silver medalist.

The pace was tough, and the weather did not help. Ramaala made a move when Cherigat and Keflezighi were in a bad patch, and that was all it took. Hendrik Ramaala ran 2.09.24 to win the 2004 ING New York City marathon.

The race was much closer for Meb and Timothy. Meb made a move with 600 meters to go, taking an eight second lead, and setting a personal best of 2.09.52, with Cherigat at 2.10.00 in third.

Not only was this the end of an amazing year for Meb Keflezighi, who has run three tough marathons in 04--Olympic Trials (2nd), Athens (2nd) and ING NYC (2nd)--but it was the best US performance since Bob Kempainen and Arturo Barrios went 2, 3 in 1993.

Ryan Shay from the U.S. was ninth in 2.14.08, also a personal best.

In the end, over 35,000 runners started the 2004 ING New York City Marathon, and each has his or her own story, but the stories upfront, with Paula Radcliffe and Hendrik Ramaala will be all over the media in hours.

And Meb Keflezighi 's coach was right. But then, Coach Bob Larsen has a pretty good track record with his athletes.

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