New York, USA - Deena Kastor makes no bones about it: she is here to win the ING New York City Marathon (6 November 2006).

“In every marathon I enter, I have a goal. I need a goal to get out there and train hard.”

When Kastor ran her first marathon – here in New York in 2001 – her goal was to explore the dimensions of the 42.185-kilometre race and to run it as well as she could.

She finished seventh in 2:26:58, and although she says, “I didn’t think of myself as a marathon runner then,” it was the fastest marathon run by an American that year.

Two years later in 2003 she established herself not just as “a marathon runner,” but as one of the best in the world. She finished third in London in 2:21:16, achieving her goal of setting a new national record.

Since then, her goal for each race is either to achieve a certain time goal or to win the race.

In 2004, after winning the bronze medal in the Olympic marathon in Athens, she tried to come back 10 weeks later in New York. It was part of her plan for the year, the goal being to run two quality marathons with a short interval. But the experiment didn’t work out; she dropped out in her only DNF in a marathon.

“Last year, in Chicago, my goal was a time goal - to break 2:20 - and I missed it,” she said. “I ran 2:21:25. But I ended up winning the race,” she grinned.

“And last April, in London, my goal was to break 2:20, and I did (she ran 2:19:36, improving her own national record), and I also won the race. In both cases, the time was the primary goal.

“But here, the goal is to win. The time doesn’t matter.

“In 2004, between Athens and New York, I had my best and worst ever performances 70 days apart. But this year I’m concentrating on the New York Marathon.”

She adds, “It’s an extraordinary race. The race has a history. Even just being at the start is exciting.”

She certainly has been putting in the work. Since her London victory six months ago, she has been averaging 130-135 miles per week (210 km) – and remarkably, most of that mileage has been at altitudes of 8000 feet or higher (well over 2 km above sea level).

And as she runs, she visualizes parts of New York’s somewhat difficult terrain. “When I’m climbing mountains,” she says, “I visualize them as New York’s bridges.”

The 33-year-old Kastor believes this year’s deep, strong women’s field will produce “by far the most competitive race I’ve ever run, including the Olympics. We respect each other and we’re all friends – but not for 2 1/2 hours on Sunday.”

She expects the race will be tactical, rather than fast.

“I expect we’ll be running together for at least the first half of the race – maybe until the last 10,000 metres or so.”

But because she’ll be focused on winning, not time, that’s fine with her.

“I’m not going to be checking my watch every mile,” she says. Instead, she adds, “I’ll be watching the others for little signs. A slight shift in mechanics - or a head tilting to one side - can be indications of discomfort or fatigue.”

And this week, having cut her training sharply, she is getting
edgy and even feeling a little guilty about not running enough.

“But that’s good,” she says with a dazzling smile, “We want it to be a severe hoarding of energy.”

Which, or course, she expects to unleash on Sunday (6 Nov).

James Dunaway for the IAAF