When you are going to war, you don’t give out your secrets’

Chicago, USA – The pre-race press conference is a familiar feature of most major road races, and the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon (7 Oct) is no exception.
In recent years the race have held a kick-off press briefing on Thursdays featuring prominent athletes, often the defending champions, Chicago Mayor Richard M Daley, and representatives of the sponsors. Friday (5 Oct) is the elite athlete introduction where the top athletes are seated in the front rows and introduced to the media.

These affairs generally don’t yield much in the way of substantive news items as the athletes don’t want to say anything that will provide useful information for their competition or a quote that will be used as motivation by another athlete. „When you are going to war,“ said 2005 Chicago Marathon champ Felix Limo at this year’s press conference, „You don’t want to share your secrets.“ That quote brought laughter from the crowd, but reveals little about the athlete, his state of mind, condition, or race plans.