Interview with Claudia Camargo
by Cecil Harris

Claudia Camargo running in the 2005 Circle of Friends New York Mini 10K.
Photo by: Alison Wade
New York Road Runners

Claudia Camargo, 35, has been one of the most consistent runners on the East Coast since her arrival from Argentina in 2004. Representing the West Side Runners, she won the Mother’s Day Half-Marathon in Central Park on May 9, 2004. Repeating as champion in 2005 and 2006 holds special significance for Camargo, because she is a mother herself.

Despite a curious decision to break in a new pair of running shoes on race day, Camargo ran a 1:13:39 at the inaugural NYC Half-Marathon Presented by NIKE on August 27, a personal-best and the second-fastest time ever by an Argentine woman. She has overcome injuries and surgery to continue posting fast times. Her marathon PR of 2:36:06 was set in La Pampa, a province of Argentina, in 2003. Her list of marathon victories includes Little Rock and the Poconos this year, and Buenos Aires in 2002.

Camargo won national championships in Argentina in 2002 in the 5000 meters and the 3000-meter steeplechase (in a record time of 9:56). She earned a silver medal in the steeplechase at the 2001 South American Championships.

Competing for Argentina in next year’s Pan American Games and the 2008 Beijing Olympics are among her major goals. But as the soft-spoken Camargo, a Danbury, Connecticut resident, prepares for an important arrival later this year, she is gearing up for her second ING New York City Marathon on November 5. Her first attempt ended in disappointment and a strange coincidence, as she told fast-women.com with the help of her Brazilian-born coach/boyfriend/interpreter Orlando Souza.

Fast-Women.com: You ran the ING New York City Marathon last year, but you didn’t finish. What happened?
Claudia Camargo: I had not really recovered from the surgery. I had a colostomy. From the end of 2004, I had the problem. It took three to four months to recover. I came out of the hospital and I started training. But I was running with the [colostomy] bag, it could not hold the liquid, you know? I felt dehydrated all the time. I lost a lot of weight.
Orlando Souza: Before [last year’s] marathon, I said, “Let’s do a test, like a 5K, to see how you do.” She won a race in Connecticut with the bag. But in the marathon, she couldn’t do anything. After she crossed the bridge, 16 miles, she had to drop out.

FW: The Queensboro Bridge?
CC: Yes. I had to drop out because the bag, it would not hold anything. I could not put anything in my body. How was I going to train? How was I going to compete? But now I’m feeling better. This year I’m getting better results.

FW: Your personal best in a marathon occurred three years ago. Do you think you can better that time in New York?
CC: I think I can do it. But I don’t talk about time. I want to complete the race. You know, something funny happened to me in New York City at the marathon.

FW: What happened?
CC: When Deena [Kastor] did the marathon in 2004 after she got the [bronze] medal at the Olympics, she dropped out of the race and stopped right in front of where I was standing. I had a sign: LET’S GO, DEENA. I was watching with Orlando when she stopped right in front of us. And that’s the same spot where I dropped out in 2005. But Deena was not there [laughing]. I took a taxi back to the hotel.
OS: Yeah. I was waiting for her and then I went looking for her. When I went back to the hotel, she was there.

FW: How have you been running lately?
CC: Remember the half [the NYC Half-Marathon Presented by NIKE]? I hurt my Achilles tendon in that race. Then for two weeks, I didn’t train after that. I’m not sure if it was the sneakers. I tried a new pair in that race. I’m not sure if the Mizuno is right for me. The store around here gave me two, three pairs. But when you get something from the store it’s not for competition. I didn’t train for two weeks. I’m wearing adidas now.

FW: You had an excellent result at the NYC Half-Marathon Presented by NIKE—the second-fastest ever by an Argentine woman at that distance. And you were injured?
CC: Yes. I was hurt, but I did pretty well.

FW: How many miles per week are you running to prepare for the marathon?
CC: About 100 miles. Today [October 22], I ran 10 miles on flat ground. And I’ll do shorter runs—five times running a mile-and-a-half for the speed. I like to do a lot of exercising—push-ups and stretching; I do an hour of stretching every day. Training is harder now because we used to wake up before 5 a.m. and now we cannot because it’s too dark. Now we have to wake up after 6 a.m. because at 6 a.m. it’s too dark. The days now are too short.
OS: You know what we also do? I go out in my car and follow her with the lights on and she runs on the back roads at 5 a.m.

FW: The ING New York City Marathon is fast approaching. Are you excited?
CC: Oh, yes. I know I’m quiet, but I’m excited about the race. It’s the main competition of the year. It’s very important. It’s the main race for everybody. New York City is the race everybody wants to come to.

FW: Two million people will be along the course watching the race. How do you feel about that?
CC: That gives me power. So many people from the club I belong to [West Side Runners] will watch, so many Spanish people will watch. All the people who know me will watch. You know, the first race I won when I came here was the Mother’s Day [half-marathon]. I won in 2004, 2005, 2006. I do that race every year because it was the first race I did when I came here.

FW: Why do you live in Danbury, Connecticut?
CC: Because he lives here [laughing].
OS: I don’t think she has a choice because I live here [laughing].
CC: It looks like my country. Some of the hills remind me of Argentina. And I’m close to New York. I can get any kind of food there.

FW: What do you like to eat?
CC: No meat. Soy or pasta. No meat.

FW: You’ve had some impressive results this year within the tri-state area and outside.
CC: Yes. This year has been good. I went to Tennessee to do the Crazy 8’s [an 8K race on July 15], and I won the race there. I’m a marathon runner. I look for the speed when I do the short race. I won a short race in New Britain, Connecticut. I came here as a professional, but I did not compete at first. Now I compete. I ran in the 10K in Atlanta, Georgia, and I came in fourth place there. I came behind two Russians and one Kenyan.

FW: Are you popular among sports fans in Argentina?
CC: Yes. They know me. It’s time for me to run for Argentina in the [2007] Pan American Games and the next Olympics. Maybe the 5000 or the 10,000. I think I can do something there.

FW: Do you have family members in Argentina?
CC: Yes. I’m bringing my son here this year. He’s going to be here for the last race of the year in Central Park.

FW: Really? Tell me about him.
CC: His name is Juan Carlos. He’s 13. He’s with his father now. My son runs, too. He’s a champion in his age group. He changes [sports] a lot. He wants to run; he wants to do judo; he wants to do karate; he wants to do [inline] skating. He’s a skating champion, too. I’ll be very happy to see him.

FW: Is the ING New York City Marathon your favorite marathon?
CC: I like it very much. I also like the Poconos Marathon in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania.

FW: What other marathons do you plan to compete in?
CC: Next year, I’m going to run the marathons in Chicago and Boston. I’ve run a lot of races in Boston, but not the Boston Marathon yet.

FW: Who do you see as the women to beat in this year’s ING New York City Marathon?
CC: Deena, [Jelena] Prokopcuka, Catherine Ndereba, and Tatiana Hladyr. Tatiana is my friend from the Ukraine. We’ve done a lot of races together.

FW: How old were you when you started running in professional races?
CC: 19. I used to run in the races and steeplechases. Running and jumping. It made me a stronger runner.

FW: After your unfortunate experience with running shoes at the NYC Half, what brand will you be wearing in the marathon?
CC: Asics. That’s what I’ll try.

FW: Good luck to you.
CC: Thank you so much. I’m training very hard. I hope to have my best time in the marathon.

Interview conducted on October 22, 2006, and posted on October 26, 2006.

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