About
this site | Email
Interview:
Deena Drossin
(This
interview is a compilation of material collected during a May 14th press
conference in New York, held to announce that Drossin will be making
her marathon debut at the 2001 New York City Marathon.)
Deena
Drossin has been the top cross country runner in the United States for
several years and has been among the best on the roads and the track
as well. In February 2001, she won the U.S. 8k Cross Country title for
the fourth straight year. She became the first woman ever to win both
the U.S. 4k and 8k titles in the same year when she did so in 2000.
Drossin has finished 12th in the World Cross Country Championships in
each of the past two years. On the track, she ran PRs of 8:42.59 (3k),
14:45.62 (5k, 2nd at Olympic Trials) 31:51.05 (10k, 1st at Olympic Trials)
in 2000 and set a U.S. road record of 15:08 in winning the Carlsbad
5,000. Drossin, 28, will make her much-anticipated marathon debut at
the 2001 New York City Marathon.
Why
are you running a marathon?
I never admitted to ever wanting to do one, but in the past year, my
body has felt strong enough to go the distance and I'm really curious
to do it.
Is
this something that you've wanted to do for a long time? Why now?
In the last year or two, longer runs -- 15-18 mile long runs on Sundays
-- have become easier and my body feels stronger, I recover quickly
from them and in the past I've never felt that before. I just last year
for the very first time got the notion in my mind that I might
want to run a marathon someday and the opportunity arose to come to
New York and I am just ecstatic about it.
When
you decided you wanted to do a marathon, was it hard to pick this one?
It was a relatively easy choice. That it's the U.S. National Championships
makes it incredibly exciting, I'm very happy that New York has picked
that up. Between that and the timing -- being 3 months after the World
Championships on the track -- and also the fact that ASICS is not only
my personal sponsor but also a sponsor of the New York City Marathon
also had a lot to do with it.
On a more
emotional and personal level, when I was 13 years old my dad and I watched
the race on the television... The two winners were getting the keys
to the car that they had won and my dad said, "You see that, one
of these days you're going to win me a car at that race," and I
said, "I'm never going to run a marathon." He said
"Nope, I want you to make me a promise right now that you'll win
me a car at the New York City Marathon." And I said "Okaaay,
I'll win you a car." So I'm going to go for that, uphold my promise
(laughs). So if I don't do it this year, I'll be back again next year.
What
is the intrigue for you about the New York City Marathon?
Gosh,
I guess just the energy that the city offers on an average day and multiplied
by about 1,000 on the day of the Marathon. Even from the television
[coverage] I can see that -- that New York is just an electrifying run.
Structurally the course is not a fast course with the hills... I think
it's the energy of the crowds that makes the winners post such great
times there.
I'm just
so excited to be part of the tradition of New York, I think that's one
of the biggest things that lured me here, that it has such a great tradition
and I guess it's mostly because of the media that it's such a spectacular
event -- everyone around the world can see it.
Did somebody urge you to do New York?
No, the timing was perfect, the race itself is very magnetizing, enticing
and I'm really excited to do it.
Have
you ever done a race in New York before?
No, this is going to be my first one. I'm usually just a visitor and
a tourist when I come here. In November when I come, I'll definitely
have a mission in my mind.
It
seems like some U.S. runners have waited a little too long to make the
jump to marathoning -- it's good to see that you're doing it while you're
still in your prime. Are you at all worried about losing track speed
like some runners seem to be?
Coach Vigil is very precise and I've never really had a lot of raw speed
so I've sort of survived off of strength and running the distance. I
think we're just going to build on that and still do the speed workouts,
like running downhill repeats once a week to keep up my leg speed. I'm
sure it will diminish quite a bit in marathon training but I also think
that you can get it back in the track season as well.
On
the timing of the race:
I didn't want to be at the end of my career forcing one last race in
or doing it too early in a way that would be detrimental to my career.
I feel like this was just perfect timing. All of the situations felt
perfect from the start -- the timing after the World Championships...
I do have a track season ahead of me though to think about but I
am going to be focusing on my long runs on Sundays to prepare me
for New York and it's always going to be in the back of my mind now
that I've made that commitment.
What
do you think will be the most difficult about making the jump from the
cross country distance to the marathon?
From
the training perspective, the most challenging part is going to be the
resting in between. It's going to be an exhausting program, running
three times a day and sleeping like a rock at night... and constantly
being hungry. I guess that's just a marathoner's way. Eating, sleeping
and training is really all they have time to do.
From a
racing perspective, I really don't have too much to go on except for
what my training partners have told me, to have patience. I've always
been the type of runner who goes out hard from the beginning and keeps
pushing the pace, hoping to [decrease] people's speed at the end of
the race. And in a marathon, you have to have the patience. Even at
the 10 or 12 mile mark, if you're feeling great, you can't go with the
surge or go with your instincts to want to push and hurt a little more
at such an early stage of the race, you have to wait a little longer.
Who
are you training with that's going to help you with this?
Right now I'm training with Peter De La Cerda (2nd in the 2000 U.S.
Olympic Marathon Trials) in Alamosa, and my boyfriend Andrew who's been
helping me in training a lot. Peter, being a marathoner, has given me
a lot of tips and that is one of them -- have patience... And practicing
drinking on the runs, which isn't very hard but I keep choking, gagging
on the water. That's probably going to be one of the most challenging
parts of pursuing this (laughs). I'm trying to grab information everywhere
I can because I do want to do this right, I do want to make everything
come together perfectly on that day and in the weeks leading up to it.
Some
of the greatest runners in New York City Marathon history were also
great cross country runners ("And great track runners," interjects
Allan Steinfeld.) Do you get any inspiration from those people?
I didn't necessarily make the correlation between them being great cross
country runners and being successful in the marathon... My coach, Joe
Vigil, says that cross country strength is the strength that carries
over into the longer distances and helps people out with longer road
races -- half-marathons, marathons. So I knew eventually that if I could
feel comfortable running (long) distances that the marathon would be
my distance eventually.
Do
you view this as a step up in your career or is the marathon something
you want to just try once and then go back to the shorter distances?
I definitely feel like it's a step up in my career, I truly love cross
country and the track. I guess I can always go back to running track
and cross country, but the marathon, I'd love to throw one in once a
year... But it does take a lot of training so it can't be something
that is just sporadic because I feel like a lot of training has
to go into it -- and hopefully it will be a leap in my career. I'm preparing
for it to do that. I want to plan it perfectly so that it can be a step
up in training and in my racing.
Are
you envisioning trying to make the 2004 Olympic team as a marathoner?
I don't necessarily think so. I think I'd like to stay on the track
for championships like that (World Championships and Olympic Games)
but as far as the marathon is concerned, I would still like to do one
or two of them a year.
You
ran the last 10 miles of the New York City Marathon course yesterday
(from the Queensboro Bridge to the finish line) what did you think of
it?
It was fabulous... It was exciting. As we were running along, David
Monti (the new NYC Marathon elite athlete coordinator) was giving the
commentary as to how many people would be lining the streets and I was
visualizing it, it was all terribly exciting. It was the quickest 10
miles I've ever run, probably not time-wise but just the feeling of
it, it seemed like it went by in a flash because it was so exciting
to be on the course and to be running on the streets that so many great
names have run on before.
Could
you talk about the importance of visualization in your training and
how having seen the last ten miles will help you?
I think it's especially important in the longer distances to really
prepare for everything. I've (now) seen the last 10 miles of rolling
hills, going through the Bronx and back into Manhattan, knowing that
First Avenue is lined with people... just a lot of things that I can
add into my preparation for the race, so that nothing takes me by surprise.
It's hard enough to prepare for the race as far as your competitors
are concerned but if I can have a picture of what it will be like on
the sidelines and on the course itself, I think it will help me focus
on the race rather than any conditions outside of that.
Do
you have any track races planned between now and (USATF) Nationals?
No, just Nationals and after Nationals, I'm going over to do three races
in Europe, and the World Championships after that.
What
races will you run in Europe?
I'll run a 1,500 in Nice, a 3,000 in Paris and a 5,000 in Stockholm.
I always keep that Stockholm race in there because I usually get a personal
best in the 5k.
Do
you plan to not only contend for the national championship but also
the overall championship in this race?
I know I'm going to have my work cut out for me out there. New York
always attracts some of the top marathoners in the world so I know the
competition is going to be intense out there. In the next five or six
months that's what I'm going to prepare for -- to go up against the
world's best. Not only on the national level but on the international
level, I hope to be competitive in the race.
So
if there's a group that goes through the first 10k quickly, do you expect
to be in that pack?
Yes, I'd like to be in that lead pack.
Could
you comment on the 2:21:21 American Record by Joan Benoit? Is that something
that you think about?
There's no doubt that Joan stands far above any other marathoner that
the United States has produced. The record is going to be extremely
challenging for any American to try and conquer. I haven't thought about
it on a personal level, I've just considered running the marathon and
what paces I'd like to run. I haven't thought about breaking any records
at this distance yet and I haven't really trained for it yet. (Allan
Steinfeld adds: A friend of mine once said, "The only thing that's
certain about marathons is that nothing is certain.") Drossin continues:
At this distance I think you see the greatest amount of upsets and triumphs.
So much can go wrong and so much can go right in that span of time.
I
don't know if everyone can go out in their first marathon and set a
world record like she did but I was wondering if you have a personal
goal for yourself in your first marathon?
My training is going to be geared to be on American Record pace by the
time I get to the starting line -- that's what my training is going
to be structured towards. But as we mentioned, anything can happen within
26 miles. But if my training is set up to be running that pace and I
keep that for the majority of the race, then even if I have fallen off
for 5 or 6 miles, I'll still be running a pretty good time.
When
you say American Record pace, do you mean Benoit's 2:21:21?
Yes.
What's
the longest training run you've ever done?
18 miles.
Was
that recently?
Last year and this year.
Do
you know how long your longest run will be?
Three hours, I don't know how many miles that will be.
Did
your run at the [Old Kent River Bank Run in Grand Rapids, MI] this past
weekend make you any less eager or confident about running a marathon?
(She finished 5th in 1:28:19.)
No, I had a terrible weekend in Michigan. They're going to come every
now and then and it was unfortunate that it came in a race that was
so important to me in preparing for the New York City Marathon, but
I was running very tense because I was putting that pressure on myself
and that had a lot to do with it.
What
exactly happened during the race?
I was feeling very comfortable with the pace through about the nine
mile mark. Svetlana and Teresa from Russia and Kenya, respectively made
a move at about the nine mile mark. I was a little late in reacting
but I eventually did react to them and I caught Teresa. I think making
that move just put me in the hole and I couldn't recover from it. For
some reason, I'd been running really stressed out. I don't feel stressed
in my mind but my back was really tight, my shoulders were up near my
ears. I was trying to relax and then finally during the race, I got
a huge cramp in my back, then my hamstrings cramped up, my calves cramped
up... I wasn't dehydrated at all. The conditions were perfect for a
25k. I finished, but I think the last few miles were at about 6:30 pace,
when I had been running 5:25s...
What
did your coach say?
He was disappointed because my workouts have been going great and I
should have really run well. I was supposed to run the exact pace that
the girl who won ran.
What
do you do when a race like that goes nightmarishly wrong?
I don't even know. I didn't really process much in those last few miles.
I just thought just go to the finish line and all these girls were blowing
past me and I just let them go, there was no reaction at all. I couldn't
wait for that finish line to come because everything on me hurt so badly.
How
do you feel now?
I feel fine. I felt fine the next day but every time I walked off a
curb or something, I felt my back tighten up. But I went and flew out
that night and then the next morning ran the ten miles here on the course
and felt fine. I ran (8 or 9 miles in Central Park) this morning and
felt fine.
Was
it a mental error, do you think?
I think it was a mental error in terms of the pressure I was putting
on myself for the 25k race, the high expectations I had and the strong
pace that I wanted to run it in. Svetlana from Russia, who won, ran
the EXACT pace that I was planning on running so if I was having a good
day it would have been a great race for both of us. But I was just running
tense and my back cramped and when your back cramps up, because it's
the middle of your system, it throws everything off... it was a bad
day out there altogether.
What
lesson did you take away from that?
I think, if anything, just getting back to the basics of running and
enjoying it. For the two weeks leading up to it I just put way too much
pressure on myself and I think now I'm going to sit back and relax and
enjoy the runs -- like my run I had in Central Park today and the last
10 miles of the New York City Marathon that I was able to run yesterday.
Do
you plan on doing any more races longer than 10k before the Marathon?
I'm most likely going to do a half marathon but I'm not sure -- I'm
thinking the Virginia Beach Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon because I'm
one of the founders of it -- but it might be really hot there...
I get a lot of confidence from my training because I train the same
runs year in and year out, I have a lot of training partners who are
marathoners and I've seen the work they've done, so I can gain a lot
of confidence from that rather than just traveling around and racing.
Traveling does take a lot out of you.
Will
you have enough long races in you to run a marathon?
I won't have as many long races in but definitely a lot of hard tempo
runs, and I run with a lot of men so a tempo run for me with my training
group is just as good as any race I could get into.
Could you tell us about your training group?
I'm
running with Running USA in Chula Vista, California for our low-altitude
training and Mammoth Lakes, California for our high-altitude training.
In that group there's Meb Keflezighi who just recently broke the 10k
American Record, Milena Glusac who just won the National Championship
in the 25k, Jen Rhines who was an Olympian in the 10k, Abdi Abdirahman
who was an Olympian in the 10k, so our training group is just a fabulous
group of people.
Do
the men and women run together?
Yeah.
So
Milena's win at the 25k National Championships this past weekend couldn't
have been a total surprise to you.
No, not at all. She's in fabulous shape.
How
much time have you all spent training together, it seems like you've
all been traveling a lot.
Yeah, I actually have been up in Colorado, where my home is, for the
past month so I haven't been with the Running USA group. All of us are
going to be together starting in September up in Mammoth (Lakes). Next
month, in June, we'll be down at the training center together so that's
when we'll all be together. We've been in and out, not as a whole
group but three or four people at a time training together at various
times of the year.
What's
the altitude at Mammoth Lakes?
7,500
feet. It's a big skiing resort in the wintertime and in the summertime,
the trails open up and we have endless miles of trails to train on.
Is
anyone else that you train with going to train for a fall marathon with
you?
Peter De La Cerda, who was second in the Olympic Trials in the marathon,
will be training for a fall marathon also.
Tell
us about winter runs in Alamosa.
(Laughs) Winter runs are probably what will best prepare me for what
it's going to feel like in the last ten miles of that marathon. There's
like negative 20 degree weather and high winds -- very extreme conditions.
So to get out there everyday and persist in training will definitely
carry over into a marathon and marathon training, the mental toughness
that's required for it.
Could you tell us about the achilles problem
you had last year?
I injured it last track season right before the (Olympic) Trials...
I was down at the Olympic Training Center and instead of doing workouts
at the park in my training shoes (as she normally would have done back
in Alamosa) I was doing all of my workouts on the track. So three times
a week I was on the track in spikes and my feet just couldn't handle
the instability that comes with wearing spikes for so many miles. So
it was too many miles in unstable spikes that injured (my achilles).
I ran in the Trials with my achilles bothering me considerably and after
that went over to Europe, still working out twice a week on the track,
racing on the weekends. I just wasn't giving it a rest, so I was forced
to give it a rest right before the Olympic Games, which is not an optimal
time to be taking a break. After competing poorly in the Olympic Games
from being out of shape, I took a couple of months off completely. To
be able to be training and running and hard as I am right now, I am
extremely grateful, to have come back from it. A lot of people have
had recurring problems with their achilles and I feel like we just treated
it perfectly.
Which
achilles was it?
Both of them.
Were
you disappointed with the Olympics?
I was disappointed with the injury but the experience itself was the
most spectacular thing I've ever been a part of. It was a little disappointing
not to be in peak shape and to have to take three weeks off before the
race, but other than that it was a tremendous experience.
What
was the best part of the Olympics?
I'd have to say that it's one of the same things that's driving me to
New York, and that's the tradition of it. It's ultimate dream of any
athlete to compete at that level and the fact that I was finally there
-- not there in the best of forms, but there and I was a part of it
and I had earned a spot, it was really exciting.
What's
it like when you walk into the Olympic Stadium?
I have to say extremely emotional because it wasn't just one race that
got me there, it wasn't just the Trials that got me there, it wasn't
just that one year of training that got me there. It was the beginning
of running when I was 11 years old and seeing Joan Benoit win the Olympic
Marathon and just having people to look up to and other athletes that
have been there, the glory that they've gotten and the pride that they've
had in competing for their country. The fact that I was now in the spot
where my idols were years and years ago was very exciting.
How
about the World Cross Country Championships this year - how did that
go for you?
I was sick. Andrew (Kastor, her boyfriend) said that it may be the same
thing (that she has right now) that I just haven't shaken yet. I've
had a cough for a good month and a half now. I don't know how it happened...
I never get sick. I haven't been sick since 1992 and I've got this cold
now that I can't shake.
Do
you feel like you have unfinished business at the World Cross Country
Championships?
Yeah. In Portugal (2000), I felt like I was in the best shape, like
I was really ready to run well and I was stung by a bee. This past [World
Cross Country Championships] in Belgium I still felt from my injury
that I was making up time and never getting on top of things fully.
And having a cold, I wasn't able to perform well. I'm still waiting
for my cross country championships to be a success... Training for the
marathon will be a great base, I think, for going in to cross country
season, I probably won't have to run as many miles next cross country
season and I'll be able to concentrate on improving my turnover.
Where were you born?
Boston, but when I was a week old, I moved out to California, so I was
raised in Agoura Hills, California, a suburb of Los Angeles.
You
had a very good high school program that produced other stars such as
Amy Skieresz and Ryan Wilson. Were you there at the same time of either
of them?
I was there at the same time that Ryan Wilson was, and Brian Dameworth
who was a Foot Locker (then Kinney) Cross Country Champion. We had a
great team but it was by no mistake, our coach (Bill Duley) was fabulous.
He also instilled in us an extreme playfulness in training and I feel
like I've kept that with me over the years. There were a couple of years
that I was battling it but for the most part I always come back to it
being playful kind of being my playground.
Andrew
(addressing Drossin's boyfriend Andrew Kastor who was also in attendance)
do you run also?
I do.
Competitively?
I used to, in college.
So
how did you guys meet?
Andrew: We kind of knew each other -- we got to Alamosa around the same
time, I went there for school, to Adams State and about 3-1/2 weeks
before I graduated, I finally knocked on her door -- after 2-1/2 years
of knowing her -- and we had a nice conversation in the kitchen for
about five hours...
Do
you train with Deena?
Andrew: I don't do quite the volume she does...
Deena:
If I'm running five mile repeats, he'll do the last 800 of each of them
with me. He helps me keep on pace. It's very motivating in those last
repeats when I'm huffing and puffing and grabbing onto the back of his
shirt because I can't keep up (laughs).
Do
you do marathons at all, Andrew?
No, I was a miler in college.
So
you're not going to come run New York too?
Actually, I am.
Deena,
do you like racing in Europe?
I do, for the same reason that I choose the races that I choose now
-- there's so much energy there and they draw such a fabulous crowd.
I think that's why people run so fast and so well over there, the energy
of the people in the stands, (the runners) feel the excitement. It's
the same thing with New York, the same thing with other races that draw
large crowds, the runners can't help but feed off that positive energy.
David
Monti: Tell them about your first trip to Europe.
(Laughs) I was in this little Finnish village, this farming community
outside of Helsinki. It was probably the best experience of my running
career as far as growing as a person and growing as a runner that I've
ever experienced. But it was a nightmare. I was lonely, I had no one
around me, the people I lived with didn't speak English. We lived off
the farm so I was taking milk from the cow and picking vegetables so
that I could have a meal at the end of the day -- it was tough. It was
in 1997. The first race went terribly so I called and asked [Coach Vigil]
if I could come home and he wouldn't let me come home, so I told him
that I hated him and hung up on him (laughs).
I just
came to the realization that I'd better make the most of my time there
so I trained, I put in my first 100 mile weeks, I was training two or
three times a day it didn't matter, (it was) just something to do. I
was there for a month. I took up boxing. I can't even believe that that
was me. I just made the best of the opportunity and I finally got a
connection to get in to the Grand Prix race in Stockholm and I PR'ed
by 50 seconds in the 5k. That was my very first breakthrough race on
the track. It was definitely worth it but I wasn't thinking so at the
time.
It
sounds like you're well balanced, like you have other things going on
in your life.
Yeah, last year was by far my best year and I was deeply in to
remodeling my house, tearing up carpets and scraping down walls and
putting up cabinets -- a lot of construction stuff, kind of my boxing
ego at work there.
Do
you still do a lot of writing?
No, not so much anymore, I haven't in probably two years. Last year
it was remodeling the house and this year it's been traveling around
and packing up the house.
Do
you think you'll pick it up again?
Absolutely.
Do
you plan on publishing any of your writing?
My book that I was writing -- that's on hold right now -- is based around
a fictional cafe in New York City.
Does
it have any running in it?
No... well at one point a jogger runs in front of the cafe (laughs).
It's the Green Leaf Cafe. Voices of the Green Leaf Cafe is the
title -- I have a title but I don't have it finished. It's eight short
stories. It's all different characters but they all have connections
to this cafe.
Can
you tell us a little about your experience at Arkansas -- you've mentioned
losing your passion for running -- what happened and how did you get
it back?
I just got too caught up in competing for the wrong reasons, competing
for the team and earning a point. I think the college season is so taxing,
just going from race to race week in and week out and never really tapering
but just constantly having to be on top of your game. It was just very
exhausting to me. It was mentally exhausting and physically exhausting.
I got to the point where I wasn't competing as well as the previous
year and I always feel like I have so many goals and I want to accomplish
so many things. My mind started wandering to "Gosh, I want to open
up a cafe." I don't know, I just felt like I was cheating myself
out of doing a lot of other things because I was so wrapped up in running
and training and schoolwork that I just started feeling bitter towards
it -- I felt like it was taking away from other aspects of myself that
I wanted to pursue. I was really in to creative writing at that time
and in those classes they were meeting at certain times outside of class
and little cafes to do little writer blocks, and I couldn't make it
because I was at practice. Just little things that I felt running was
taking away a part of me.
Once I
graduated and got thrown out into the real world, I decided that I hadn't
gotten the best of myself in running and I wanted to pursue it. (I realized)
that there was time to open up the cafe and I could still do that some
day, and if I just focused on running that I could still write in between.
I got it back, definitely, but Coach Vigil had a tremendous amount to
do with that, he was very inspirational. It helped moving to a place
that I was moving to specifically for running. So as soon as I got there,
my life revolved around training and what it took to be a good athlete...
sleeping well and eating well.
You
did very well in your transition to post-collegiate running, some of
the runners that were beating you in college didn't transition quite
as well. Do you think the smooth transition was because of Coach Vigil?
Yeah, I think it was the environment that I was in, and everything that
we did was very progressive. I got to Alamosa and I basically got there
feeling like I was a new athlete, and I was just starting running, that
it was something that was all new to me and I was opened up to any advice
that he was going to give me. I was just so impressionable at the time.
I absorbed every bit of information he gave me -- it's kind of the same
thing now leading up into the marathon, I feel like a new athlete because
it's something that I've never done before... I'm just absorbing every
piece of information [Coach Vigil] is giving me as far as rest and recovery
and diet and training modes, different phases of training leading up
to it -- it's exciting again to dive into something new.
How
did you choose Coach Vigil?
He was suggested to me by an assistant coach at Arkansas, it was when
I was still undecided, "Do I want to run? Do I not want to run?"
I gave him a call and I hadn't run in probably a month at all. I hadn't
run one step. I gave him a call to see if he would even take me if I
moved there. I was so inspired by him from that first phone call. He
instantly wanted to know what my goals were and when I told him what
they were, he said "These are pretty lofty goals, but I think that
we can get you there if you do everything I tell you to do and revolve
your lifestyle around this, I think we can get there. After about 20
minutes of phone conversation, I hung up the phone and went on a real
leisurely, slow 10-mile run and it felt so good. I just felt that freedom
again and that rawness of running, that just got me right back into
it. [I felt] that euphoric feeling that you feel on a good day and everything
just came together and I just thought it was the right decision.
I'm
surprised that more runners haven't hopped on board and decided to train
with him.
I think that people would if it wasn't in Alamosa, Colorado (laughs).
Now that he's down in San Diego, a lot of people are going down to San
Diego to train down there... It seems like everyone that's a part of
[the newly-formed Team USA Southern California group] is such a team
player and everyone is so supportive we really have a great group. It's
amazing that one bad apple can come into the group and spoil it, but
right now the chemistry of it is just fabulous and hopefully we can
keep it that way.
It
was great watching the Trials last summer and seeing you and Regina
going at it, Regina and Suzy going at it -- it seems like it's a really
good time for women's running in the United States. Everyone has been
saying that distance running in the U.S. is dead and that we need to
revive it, but it seems like they're thinking more about men's running
rather than the women.
I think distance running is at it's best right now in the U.S. as far
as men and women go. As far as our appearance on a world level,
the world is advancing -- world records are being broken every year,
they keep making so many leaps and bounds and so are American runners,
it's just that we're overshadowed because the world has gotten so strong,
whether it's naturally or unnaturally that they're doing it. I mean
Meb breaking the American Record, Bob Kennedy is still a fabulous runner,
Abdi had a great showing in the 10,000 in the Olympic Games... I don't
really feel that the men or the women deserve to hear talk like
that because I don't think that it's suffering at all. I think that
it's getting stronger and becoming more glorified in our country, so
I think that everyone is doing a great job and the training groups are
probably going to help elevate that even more. But in the last several
years I've been very impressed with men's and women's distance running
in our country.
Nothing
contained herein may be reproduced online in any form without the express
written permission of the New
York Road Runners Club, Inc.