2016 TCS New York City Marathon – Daily Roundup – By Barbara Huebner

Friday, November 4 – TCS Run with Champions and TCS New York City Marathon Athlete Availability – International Men and Women

Fun at Run With Champions

Sometimes it was hard to tell who was having the most fun: the kids getting to run with the champions, or the champions getting to run with the kids.
At Friday morning's TCS Run With Champions, featuring 1,000 New York City students from NYRR's Mighty Milers and Young Runners programs, dozens of professional runners took a break from preparing for the TCS New York City Marathon to cheer, high five, hand out medals, and even "compete" in a series of 400-meter races that ended at the marathon's Central Park finish line.

"They were fast," said Kim Conley, who will make her marathon debut on Sunday. "I think I had to settle for fifth place."

New Twist for Grand Marshals

Among the athletes who came out in support of Run With Champions were Amy Cragg and Meb Keflezighi, among the members of the 2016 U.S. Olympic Marathon Team who will serve as Grand Marshals on Sunday, riding in the lead vehicle and taking part in the live race broadcast on WABC-TV, Channel 7 and ESPN2.
They will be joined by Shalane Flanagan, Des Linden, and Jared Ward.

Often, NYRR invites potential pro marathoners to ride in the lead vehicle, giving them a chance to scout the course and get a feel for the race. Keflezighi breaks the mold, to say the least: The four-time Olympian has competed in the marathon here 10 times, winning in 2009.

"I like to do things backwards," he said.

A two-time Olympian, Cragg competed here in 2013, toughing out a bad day in 2:42:50. Her new perspective on Sunday will give her … well, new perspective. "I need to reassess and figure out a better plan," she said, with a huge smile.

For Deba, Sunday is Mother's Day

Buzunesh Deba, who has lived in the Bronx for the past decade, hadn't gone home to Ethiopia in 11 years, so she decided to train at altitude in her native country for this year's TCS New York City Marathon.

"I missed my family," she said at Friday's media availability. "I didn't see them in a long time."

When she returned on Tuesday, she brought with her a very special guest from Arsi Assela-her mother, who has never seen her race. Wedere Fikre will likely be at the finish line on Sunday when Deba crosses it for the sixth time since 2009. "I'm excited and happy, and I'm scared, you know?" said Deba, who has twice been runner-up here. "I tell her to not be nervous, and to pray."

Fearnley: "They've Got to Catch Me First"

The best professional marathon runners face each other maybe a half dozen times in their careers. The top pro wheelchair athletes might face each other that many times in a year and given that wheelchair athletes can stay at the top of the game for well over a decade, they get to know each other's strengths, weaknesses and tactics as well as they know their own.

So what's the deciding factor in winning a marathon?

"The course," said Kurt Fearnley, who's won here five times and owns the event record. "You've got less chance to utilize either your strength or capitalize on their weaknesses depending on the course. My strength is uphills, this gives me uphills, and there aren't many marathons that give me that."

But if everyone knows that, Fearnley was asked why don't they do something to outwit you?

"They've got to catch me first," he said. "They've got to try to hold on up that first uphill. This race is as unpredictable as it gets. Since 2010 I don't think there's been a repeat winner in this race."

He's right: the last repeat winner was Fearnley himself, when he won his fourth straight in 2009.

From Streets of Rio to NYC

Three of the pro runners at Friday's media availability-Stanley Biwott of Kenya, Ghirmay Ghebreslassie of Eritrea, and Lanni Marchant of Canada-also competed in the Olympic marathon less than three months ago.

For Biwott, the outcome was disappointing. Among the race favorites, he was forced to drop out just past 35K after a fluid mix-up left him with a stomach upset.
The 2015 TCS New York City Marathon champion was asked yesterday if he would have been able to come back and defend his title had he finished the entire race. "Yes, of course," he replied.

Ghebreslassie, who finished fourth in the Olympics, more or less said that he's raring to go. The 20-year-old reigning IAAF World Champion insisted "in Rio, the pace was not so strong. It was what we like to do in a long run, so I didn't spend too much energy." Ghebreslassie, whose personal best is 2:07:46, finished in 2:11:04.

Marchant comes to New York after double duty in Rio, having competed in the marathon just two days after running the 10,000 meters.

"I do well having goals, and I've always wanted to do New York," said the 32-year-old Canadian record-holder. "There's no guarantee what I can do next year. Why not?"
 

Thursday, November 3 – TCS New York City Marathon Athlete Availability – U.S. Men and Women

Inspiring the next generation

For the first time, six young wheelchair athletes will participate in Friday morning's TCS Run WithChampions, part of the new NYRR Youth Wheelchair Program that was launched this fall to teach youth and young adults ages 7-21 the fundamentals of wheelchair racing.

They will be led by NYRR Team for Kids Ambassador Tatyana McFadden, a 17-time Paralympic medalist and four-time winner of the TCS New York City Marathon, who not only has been involved in developing the program but through her foundation has even donated several racing chairs.

"It's the first year that we've launched the youth wheelchair division through the Team for Kids, and it's an amazing turnout," said McFadden at the TCS New York City Marathon Opening Press Conference.  "It's so important to move for the future. We have kids who never knew about wheelchair racing, and we're providing the help that they need."

Old friends, new challenge

Kim Conley and Sara Hall are each guaranteed to see at least one old friend along the way on Sunday morning: each other.

Conley, 30, was a freshman at Montgomery High School in Santa Rosa, CA, when Sara Hall, 33, was a senior, in 2000-2001. Together, they led their team to a state cross country title, with Hall winning and Conley finishing fourth. Both will be running their first TCS New York City Marathon; for Conley, it's her debut at the distance.

"I didn't even really aspire to accomplish the things that she was accomplishing at that time," said Conley. "But she taught me a lot about how to work hard and how to be disciplined and setting goals and all those kind of like fundamental things that it takes a long time for an athlete to really understand."

Marylanders making their mark

Matt Llano, who will be making his TCS New York City Marathon debut, had a pretty famous high school teammate of his own: Matthew Centrowitz, the 2012 Fifth Avenue Mile winner who captured an Olympic gold medal at 1500 meters in Rio. Together, the pair won state cross country titles in 2004 and 2005 for Broadneck High School in Annapolis, MD.
"It was huge for me," said Llano. "He grew up in a running family. I didn't have that in my background. We actually both played soccer together before we were running together and then we made the decision in his sophomore year, my junior year to switch over to cross country. It was just good to see someone else who was starting to form those lifelong habits that were going to lead to a great running career and to have that at a young age is pretty rare."
 
TCS New York City Marathon Debuts

Advice is cheap, they say. But sometimes it's also good. Some nuggets received by several pro athletes who are making their TCS New York City Marathon debuts:

• Kim Conley, running her first career marathon: "I've asked people, ‘what's the hardest part of New York?' And I'm expecting to hear the bridges or, man, when you get into the park, those little hills. A lot of people have said it's actually the energy, and it's trying to control yourself early before you're supposed to make that move."
• Neely Gracey: "Respect the bridges. On the taxi ride with Kara Goucher last night to the hotel I was trying to get some advice from her. Her first mile (in 2008) was 6:30. She said she panicked.  I thought that was really helpful information, to not panic for that first mile." (Goucher ran what was then the fastest debut ever by an American woman, 2:25:53).
• Sara Hall: "I've heard from numerous people it's similar to cross country. I don't know if it's just the varying terrain and maybe unevenness at times. But people said it had that kind of feel. So I'm excited for that kind of vibe because I like cross country a lot."
• Molly Huddle, running her first career marathon: "I think I just have to dive in at this point. (Manager Ray Flynn) told me to stop taking any advice at this point and just race."

10 years later

Ten years after making his marathon debut in New York, three-time Olympian Dathan Ritzenhein will run his 10^th career marathon on Sunday. Asked about the No. 1 thing he has learned: "It never gets any easier. Sometimes you surprise yourself, too. I think that's the biggest thing. I had a few times where I've gone in and wasn't quite sure, and I had great marathons. I had a few times where I went in and was very confident, and it went horrible. It never gets any easier, though."
 

Wednesday, November 2 – Faces of 1976 Media Availability and Faces of 2016 Media Availability

Faces of 1976 Media Availability

Back one day in the fall of 1976, Fred Abramowitz was jogging around a track in Brooklyn when someone handed him a leaflet about a 26.2-mile race that would be happening on Oct. 24.

"People do this?" he remembers thinking. "You had to have a couple of screws loose. I'll try it."

And so Abramowitz, now 64, trained for three whole weeks and made his marathon debut in the first five-borough New York City Marathon. He is one of eight runners from 1976-out of 2,002 starters that year-who will be out there again on Sunday, 40 years later. Three of them, along with 1976 champion Bill Rodgers and several other luminaries from the anniversary race, spoke with the media on Wednesday.

"I thought I would go up to (Rodgers) and get a few last-minute pointers, since I didn't know what the hell I was doing," said Abramowitz.  "I remember talking to Bill at the start and he was telling me that people were worried the bridges were going to break."

After the race, two of Abramowitz's friends carried him to the subway. He threw his shoes into the trash and swore he would never do anything like that again.

He has since run more than 150 marathons and ultramarathons.

"It was a life-changing experience," he says of that five-borough baptism.

Faces of 2016 Media Availability

At a Wednesday media briefing, more than a dozen runners-the Faces of the 2016 TCS New York City Marathon-were introduced.

Among them were what is believed to be the first quadruplets to run the race; four cadets representing the Army's exclusive West Point Marathon Team; two renowned chefs; the brother of a United Flight 93 hero running to raise funds for a monument to that 9-11 tragedy; and Marion Bartoli, the retired French tennis star who will be running for NYRR's Team for Kids.

If Bartoli, 32, is able to finish the race, it may go down as an even-bigger triumph than her 2013 Wimbledon victory.

While on an extended international trip earlier this year, Bartoli contracted a nasty virus through food poisoning. By July, she had dropped to 100 pounds and was hospitalized for what would drag on to six weeks.

"When I was there in my bed, lying down with drapes all over my body, I thought I'd better set myself a goal to keep me alive, because my mind had started to lose a little bit of faith for the future," she said.

Recalling that Caroline Wozniacki had competed in the TCS New York City Marathon in 2014, Bartoli improbably set her sights on November 6.

"Obviously back then it was just a dream," she recalled, "because there would be no way my health would allow me to even go out of the bed and walk."

But the deadline and the cause gave her focus and hope. By the first week of October, Bartoli was able to take her first run, and she has worked her way up to 15 miles-despite living mostly on fruit because she is still unable to digest proteins or starches. She is counting on her family, which is flying over from France, and the cheering crowds to push her through those last miles.

Bartoli has regained some of the lost weight, but she doesn't know how much. Regaining her life is of more importance.

"I threw every single scale out," she said. "I know I feel good. I feel better, but I'm still in the recovery process and hopefully this event will help me to know that if I can run a marathon through this, then I can go through every single day. Hopefully I will be able to look back on this as a whole nightmare that is gone."

Tuesday, November 1 – Trust for Public Land Ceremonial Groundbreaking and Gwen Jorgensen Media Teleconference

 

Trust for Public Land Ceremonial Groundbreaking
Under sunny skies on Tuesday morning, a crowd of dignitaries, educators, and students looked toward a brighter future for the cracked-asphalt schoolyard of CS 154 in Harlem.
Thanks to a new partnership announced between The Trust for Public Land and New York Road Runners, three schools in New York City will see their schoolyards transformed into state-of-the-art, green, community playgrounds by the end of 2017-designed in part by students.

"Finally, if anybody wants to play a sport they won't get interrupted" by kids doing overlapping activities, explained one of the fifth graders on the design committee as he pointed to a schematic that separates a basketball court from a new synthetic playing surface, urban forest, benches, and running track.

The track was of special interest to Meb Keflezighi, an NYRR Team for Kids Ambassador who was coincidentally celebrating the seventh anniversary of his New York City Marathon victory in 2009, and Michael Capiraso, president and CEO of NYRR.

Keflezighi, a 2004 Olympic silver medalist, can relate: "It started with a one-mile run in seventh grade," he said of his career.

CS 154 is already one of approximately 900 schools or community centers nationwide participating in NYRR's Mighty Milers free youth running program.

"To be able to add to the school a playground that provides a track to give these kids an opportunity to run is just spectacular," said Capiraso.

New York Road Runners has contributed an initial $1 million to help fund the design and construction of playgrounds at three schools, with PS 120 in Queens and the Piagentini and Jones Educational Complex in the Bronx joining the Harlem campus. Over the next few years, NYRR plans to fund playground development in Brooklyn and Staten Island, as well, reflecting their commitment to the five boroughs. The playgrounds will be open to the community as well as the school's students.

"Having places where kids can get exercise is so important," said Adrian Benepe, senior vice president and director of city park development for The Trust for Public Land. "We have found through studies that most vigorous exercise takes place in a nearby park. Our major goal is that every child and every adult in every city should have a park within a 10-minute walk, and this will help make that happen."

Gwen Jorgensen Media Teleconference
It may not be the first time that a superstar athlete at the height of her career in another sport has run the TCS New York City Marathon, but it is certainly the first time that one is competing as part of the professional field, challenging some of the top marathon runners in the world, seven days after winning a major international event.

Jorgensen, the Rio 2016 Olympic gold medalist in triathlon and two-time World Triathlon Series champion, will make be making her 26.2-mile debut in the TCS New York City Marathon on Sunday. Intrigued by the marathon since her 5000-meter days at the University of Wisconsin, she was hooked on the idea after winning the 2014 NYRR Dash to the Finish 5K and then seeing the marathon up close the next day.

So, less than three months after winning a gold medal by swimming 0.93 miles, biking 24.8 miles and running 6.2 miles, it's time for a new-if still mysterious-challenge.
Asked on a media teleconference Tuesday what her goal is for the race, Jorgensen replied: "I have no idea. I just have so much respect for not only the course but the marathon distance that I'm not setting any goals or expectations."

Although she's largely stuck with her regular triathlon training and coach since Rio, she has lengthened her long run from 12 to 16 miles and corresponded on social media with Olympic marathoners Shalane Flanagan and Kara Goucher, both of whom ran well in their New York debuts.

One piece of advice: Don't drink too much coffee on race morning, and make sure you fuel properly. Addressing the latter, Jorgensen said that she's practiced grabbing and drinking from a water bottle during workouts, something she's never had to do before.

Jorgensen has also done the longest race in her life, the Medtronic TC 10 Mile, in which she said she was shocked to finish third, in 53:13.

As if diving into pro race isn't challenge enough, just last weekend the 30-year her 5000-meter days at the University of Wisconsin, she was hooked on the idea after winning the 2014 NYRR Dash to the Finish 5K and then seeing the marathon up close the next day.

So, less than three months after winning a gold medal by swimming 0.93 miles, biking 24.8 miles and running 6.2 miles, it's time for a new-if still mysterious-challenge.
Asked on a media teleconference Tuesday what her goal is for the race, Jorgensen replied: "I have no idea. I just have so much respect for not only the course but the marathon distance that I'm not setting any goals or expectations."

Although she's largely stuck with her regular triathlon training and coach since Rio, she has lengthened her long run from 12 to 16 miles and corresponded on social media with Olympic marathoners Shalane Flanagan and Kara Goucher, both of whom ran well in their New York debuts.

One piece of advice: Don't drink too much coffee on race morning, and make sure you fuel properly. Addressing the latter, Jorgensen said that she's practiced grabbing and drinking from a water bottle during workouts, something she's never had to do before.

Jorgensen has also done the longest race in her life, the Medtronic TC 10 Mile, in which she said she was shocked to finish third, in 53:13.

As if diving into pro race isn't challenge enough, just last weekend the 30-year-old Jorgensen competed in the Island House Triathlon in the Bahamas, a three-day event in which the distances added up to approximately a half Ironman. She won.

"It can be quite fatiguing, but at the same time, for me, it's what I'm used to," said Jorgensen, speaking with her feet up from her home in St. Paul, MN. "I'm used to swimming, biking, and running. So I think it was maybe unconventional, but I think it was the best thing for me."

Sunday, however, will be different.

"For me, I just want to be able to go out there, have fun, do what I love to do, which is running, and to be able to do it in New York is something that's really exciting," she said.

Monday, October 31 – Chatting with the TCS New York City Marathon Leadership Team

It's still 26.2 miles, but other than that, the TCS New York City Marathon of 2016 won't look much like the first five-borough race of 40 years ago.
 
Instead of 2,090 entrants, there are more than 50,000. Instead of 100 or so women, there will be tens of thousands. Thousands of charity runners will likely raise millions; in 1976, running for charity wasn't even a concept. Ten runners will even be wearing biometric sensors to track their performance in real time for a TV broadcast that will be seen in 175 countries and territories.
 
And runners won't have to climb any steps.
 
Which they didn't have to climb in 1976, either, but just try telling them that.
 
The urban legend of the steps was a highlight at a luncheon on Monday, hosted by New York Road Runners to kick off the 40th running of the New York City Marathon through all five boroughs of the city, after six years of being conducted as four laps around Central Park. The city-wide race was originally planned as a one-and-done celebration of the nation's Bicentennial, but 40 years later is hailed as the birth of the big-city marathon.
 
"It's a special year for us," said Peter Ciaccia, president of events for NYRR and race director of the TCS New York City Marathon. "I could sit here all day and listen to George tell stories."
 
So George Hirsch, now chairman of NYRR's board of directors and a runner in that first five-borough race, told the story about the steps.
 
Although much of the course that runners will tackle on Sunday is the same as that of October 24, 1976, one significant stretch is not: in that first five-borough race, First Avenue wasn't available. When runners came off the 59th Street Bridge they headed uptown on a path between FDR Drive and the East River–a path that ended in steep steps going up to Carl Schurz Park.
 
"People really were convinced that they ran up those stairs," recalled Hirsch, who said that only a few years ago Bill Rodgers – who won the 1976 race – asked him "Why did we have a course where we had to run up those stairs?"
 
Even a book on the 25th running of the New York City Marathon referred to them.
 
In reality, the course used a nearby ramp. But given the audacity of hosting a foot race through the streets of a crime-ridden, nearly bankrupt New York City of 40 years ago, requiring runners to climb stairs mid-race doesn't seem so far-fetched.
 
In 1976, few New Yorkers were aware of the race even while it was happening. Now, said Michael Capiraso, president and CEO of NYRR who will be running for the 25th consecutive year, "It is an incredibly inspiring day in New York City and, I think, around the world."

Source:  TCS New York City Marathon – By Barbara Huebner