WEBVTT - 2024 Abbott Dash to the Finish Line 5K / USATF 5K Championships: Champion Interviews 0:00:03.990 --> 0:00:08.340 Thank you, New York. Today, we're reminded of the power 0:00:08.340 --> 0:00:13.170 of community and the power of coming together. Athletes, on 0:00:13.170 --> 0:00:13.770 your mark. 0:00:15.870 --> 0:00:19.440 The first woman to finish for the second straight year 0:00:19.440 --> 0:00:23.040 here in the New York City Marathon is Miki Gorman, a smiling 0:00:23.040 --> 0:00:27.001 Miki Gorman. And why not? 2: 29:30 the time for (inaudible) 0:00:27.001 --> 0:00:30.600 Look at the emotion of Shalane Flanagan as she comes to 0:00:30.600 --> 0:00:34.620 the line. Pointing to his chest, pointing to the USA he 0:00:34.620 --> 0:00:41.339 so proudly wears across his chest. A great day for Meb Keflezighi. 0:00:41.340 --> 0:00:48.000 All right, Annie, another title right here in New York 0:00:48.000 --> 0:00:49.620 City. Let's talk about it. Tell me a little bit 0:00:49.620 --> 0:00:50.250 about the race. 0:00:50.400 --> 0:00:53.640 Yeah. It went out quick, but I was kind of 0:00:53.640 --> 0:00:55.320 hoping that would happen. I felt like there's a lot 0:00:55.320 --> 0:00:58.140 of people who had heavy legs training for marathons, just 0:00:58.140 --> 0:01:02.160 coming from marathons and I thought, okay, 5K on the roads. 0:01:02.520 --> 0:01:04.920 There's no one in this field that I feel like 0:01:04.920 --> 0:01:07.319 is more suited for this than me. And obviously that 0:01:07.319 --> 0:01:09.630 doesn't mean you're going to win. People can be in 0:01:09.630 --> 0:01:12.870 really good shape, but I was like, this is my 0:01:12.870 --> 0:01:16.530 strength right here. And so I tried to really capitalize 0:01:16.530 --> 0:01:17.940 on that. I knew I needed the race to be 0:01:17.940 --> 0:01:20.160 fast in the beginning to burn people's legs up a 0:01:20.160 --> 0:01:23.040 little bit and to scare people a little bit into 0:01:23.040 --> 0:01:27.600 not going with us. And then Emma Grace pushed at 0:01:27.600 --> 0:01:30.030 mile two. And I didn't feel super great, but I 0:01:30.030 --> 0:01:32.220 tried to rely on a lot of the times in middle 0:01:32.220 --> 0:01:34.020 of the races, I don't feel good, and so I 0:01:34.020 --> 0:01:35.910 just have to kind of keep believing in my strength 0:01:35.910 --> 0:01:39.209 and keep pushing. And then yeah, kind of just made 0:01:39.209 --> 0:01:42.000 a move and tried to push, not look back. 0:01:42.060 --> 0:01:43.470 That was a big move, though. It was on the 0:01:43.470 --> 0:01:46.080 turn, so you kind of cut in on the inside. 0:01:46.319 --> 0:01:47.880 Tell me a little bit about that. Because then it 0:01:47.880 --> 0:01:50.250 wasn't just the move. There was a surge after that 0:01:51.390 --> 0:01:52.170 really broke it apart. 0:01:52.200 --> 0:01:54.810 Yeah. Well, I feel strongly that in races, if you're 0:01:54.810 --> 0:01:57.360 going to take the lead, not in the first half, 0:01:57.360 --> 0:01:59.160 because you can't do anything, but if you're going to 0:01:59.160 --> 0:02:01.800 take the lead, you need to make an actual move, 0:02:03.000 --> 0:02:05.040 especially on the roads. On the track, maybe there's a reason 0:02:05.040 --> 0:02:06.420 for it. But on the roads, if you're going to 0:02:06.450 --> 0:02:08.940 make a move, you better let go. So I wanted 0:02:08.940 --> 0:02:10.950 to kind of... Yeah, if people went with me that 0:02:10.950 --> 0:02:12.600 was fine, but I wanted to test where they were 0:02:12.600 --> 0:02:15.300 at, and you can kind of tell how people respond. 0:02:15.540 --> 0:02:17.490 And I think for a while, I don't know, but 0:02:17.490 --> 0:02:19.830 it sounded like they were still kind of with me. 0:02:20.190 --> 0:02:22.200 And so I was a little nervous that it was 0:02:22.200 --> 0:02:25.320 a little early, especially with the hill, but I just 0:02:25.500 --> 0:02:29.310 kept trying to push and I could tell. About 400 0:02:29.310 --> 0:02:31.020 meters, I could tell that they had dropped off enough 0:02:31.020 --> 0:02:32.940 that I know that if I was in their position, 0:02:32.940 --> 0:02:34.410 it'd be very hard to come back. 0:02:34.440 --> 0:02:36.510 There's confidence right now. I can feel it and I 0:02:36.510 --> 0:02:38.970 can hear it, but I know that there's been change 0:02:38.970 --> 0:02:43.260 for you. You are now coaching yourself. So let's talk 0:02:43.260 --> 0:02:46.830 about that. Where does this confidence come from. And it's 0:02:46.830 --> 0:02:48.419 showing. You're running that way. 0:02:48.450 --> 0:02:50.910 Yeah. I think it was... Yeah, it's hard. I've done 0:02:50.910 --> 0:02:53.970 a lot more training on my own this fall, and 0:02:53.970 --> 0:02:59.100 that's been definitely draining at points, but I did Cow 0:02:59.100 --> 0:03:01.260 Harbor at the beginning of the year, and that was 0:03:01.260 --> 0:03:02.639 kind of rough. And I was like, oh, I don't 0:03:02.639 --> 0:03:06.990 know if I am doing the right training, if I'm doing a 0:03:06.990 --> 0:03:09.540 great job at this. And then I ran the Boston 0:03:09.540 --> 0:03:12.060 Women's 10K and just ran faster than I did last 0:03:12.060 --> 0:03:15.510 year, and I think that really... I got a lot 0:03:15.510 --> 0:03:16.980 of confidence from that because I knew Erica was in 0:03:16.980 --> 0:03:19.500 great shape. I got second to her, but held on 0:03:19.530 --> 0:03:22.260 as long as I possibly could. And I think that 0:03:22.260 --> 0:03:24.210 was like, no, I'm doing what I need to be 0:03:24.210 --> 0:03:27.150 doing. And it's a road 5K. Like I said, I 0:03:27.150 --> 0:03:30.000 just feel confident, especially in this field. It was such 0:03:30.000 --> 0:03:31.860 a good field, but I felt like I was the 0:03:31.860 --> 0:03:34.290 only one who kind of specialized in this. 0:03:34.500 --> 0:03:34.711 It's so fun. 0:03:34.711 --> 0:03:34.712 So it helps a lot. 0:03:34.712 --> 0:03:37.860 It's so fun to see you and hear you. Last year, 0:03:37.860 --> 0:03:40.530 you were excited and you were confident, but this year, 0:03:40.530 --> 0:03:41.460 it's a different level. 0:03:41.490 --> 0:03:41.850 Yeah. 0:03:41.880 --> 0:03:43.710 What are you going to do to celebrate this? We're 0:03:43.710 --> 0:03:45.690 here in one of the greatest cities of the world, 0:03:45.690 --> 0:03:48.000 if not the greatest city. Tell me what you do 0:03:48.000 --> 0:03:48.750 to celebrate this way. 0:03:49.140 --> 0:03:52.320 I don't know. Honestly, socialize. I feel like all I've 0:03:52.320 --> 0:03:55.770 been doing is socializing with people. Yesterday, I sat down, 0:03:55.770 --> 0:03:57.300 I was like... I don't think I've sat in my 0:03:57.300 --> 0:04:00.060 hotel room all day. And I'm here alone, so I'm 0:04:00.060 --> 0:04:01.980 just seeking out people like, " Hey, how are you doing?" 0:04:02.040 --> 0:04:05.280 It's just great to see people. I have no idea. 0:04:05.280 --> 0:04:07.200 Yeah, to be determined. 0:04:07.200 --> 0:04:10.980 It's been such, not stressful. Well, it is stressful, the year 0:04:10.980 --> 0:04:13.980 of the Olympics, but it's a heaviness that now you 0:04:13.980 --> 0:04:16.890 feel a sense of lightness. I'm assuming that. We have 0:04:16.890 --> 0:04:19.380 a world championship this summer, but the Olympics are gone 0:04:19.380 --> 0:04:20.850 now. We can worry about that in 2028. 0:04:20.880 --> 0:04:24.240 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I think so. Yeah, you still always 0:04:24.240 --> 0:04:28.080 think about the upcoming next championship. One of my main 0:04:28.080 --> 0:04:30.390 goals in running is to make a team, any team. 0:04:31.680 --> 0:04:33.930 And obviously everyone wants that to be the Olympic team, 0:04:33.930 --> 0:04:36.480 and it's such a hard thing because you kind of 0:04:36.480 --> 0:04:38.279 have to go into it and believe you can make 0:04:38.279 --> 0:04:40.710 the team. Even if that's delusional, as a professional runner, 0:04:40.710 --> 0:04:42.029 you have to go and be like, I can make 0:04:42.029 --> 0:04:45.660 that team. And so the truth is most people walk 0:04:45.660 --> 0:04:48.120 away and don't make that team, and that's very hard 0:04:48.360 --> 0:04:50.909 to deal with that someone who is very competitive and 0:04:51.060 --> 0:04:53.310 I want to win everything. I think anyone who's out 0:04:53.310 --> 0:04:56.100 here and doesn't want to win is crazy. I love 0:04:56.100 --> 0:04:59.430 running, but I also love to compete and win. And 0:04:59.430 --> 0:05:02.039 so yeah, it takes a few months to get over 0:05:02.040 --> 0:05:04.710 it, I think, and just get back into training and 0:05:04.980 --> 0:05:06.360 enjoy it again. So- 0:05:06.510 --> 0:05:09.120 Well, keep building that confidence and keep wearing that smile. 0:05:09.120 --> 0:05:10.589 And we know we'll see you with the red, white 0:05:10.589 --> 0:05:11.849 and blue on congratulations. 0:05:11.880 --> 0:05:12.540 Thank you, Carrie. 0:05:12.540 --> 0:05:19.800 Yeah. Ahmed. Okay, so technically second USATF Championship, but first 0:05:19.800 --> 0:05:21.270 here on the streets in New York City. 0:05:21.300 --> 0:05:21.600 Yes. 0:05:21.630 --> 0:05:23.370 That had to have been really cool. 0:05:23.640 --> 0:05:26.670 Absolutely. Absolutely. It started right in front of the UN. 0:05:26.670 --> 0:05:29.490 And I'm international affairs major, so this has always been 0:05:29.490 --> 0:05:33.089 something I've gotten excited about in this race. I don't 0:05:33.089 --> 0:05:35.130 think I'll miss it in the future. For as long 0:05:35.130 --> 0:05:36.900 as Sam is trying to be willing to have me 0:05:36.900 --> 0:05:38.880 here, I'm back every year. 0:05:38.940 --> 0:05:40.529 Yeah. So let's talk about the race a little bit. 0:05:40.589 --> 0:05:42.570 You are in that pack for the first, what, mile 0:05:42.570 --> 0:05:45.060 or so. Then you push, and you push hard. You 0:05:45.060 --> 0:05:47.430 get a pretty big lead, and then they start to 0:05:47.430 --> 0:05:50.160 reel you back in. Talk us through it a little bit. 0:05:50.339 --> 0:05:54.480 Yeah, I wanted to make sure that it didn't come 0:05:54.480 --> 0:05:56.849 down to kick. Like I said, I think kick can 0:05:56.850 --> 0:05:59.520 be anybody's race at any given day. And I've been 0:05:59.520 --> 0:06:03.180 building way too much strength, and I've been now three 0:06:03.180 --> 0:06:05.040 and a half months almost since my last race, and 0:06:05.040 --> 0:06:07.650 so I wanted to see if what we've been doing 0:06:07.650 --> 0:06:09.990 differently will work. And that's one of the things I'm 0:06:09.990 --> 0:06:12.120 working on this year, is just building the strength and being a 0:06:12.120 --> 0:06:15.480 lot stronger, especially the latter races of the parts of 0:06:15.480 --> 0:06:18.180 the race. And I wanted to make sure that the 0:06:18.210 --> 0:06:19.770 kickers, I take the speed out of them. 0:06:20.100 --> 0:06:21.630 You were talking to me after the race and you 0:06:21.630 --> 0:06:23.640 said you kind of wanted this race to be not 0:06:23.640 --> 0:06:25.800 a warning. That wasn't the word that you said, but 0:06:26.010 --> 0:06:27.990 you wanted to show people what you can do. 0:06:28.380 --> 0:06:32.490 Absolutely. I think I've always... The reality of where I 0:06:32.490 --> 0:06:34.950 was and what I believed I could do a lot 0:06:34.950 --> 0:06:37.140 of times didn't align, and I feel like sometimes that 0:06:37.140 --> 0:06:39.390 could create a little bit of disappointment. And I think 0:06:39.390 --> 0:06:41.640 it had a lot to do for me. We've learned 0:06:42.300 --> 0:06:43.800 we needed to work more on the strength side of 0:06:43.800 --> 0:06:46.620 things because I'm, I think in my opinion, a good 0:06:46.620 --> 0:06:49.470 hybrid athlete where I could alternate between the track and 0:06:49.470 --> 0:06:53.190 the road. I ran a 3K in 7: 40, and then 0:06:53.730 --> 0:06:57.029 within five days, I came back to run the 8K and won the 8K 0:06:57.029 --> 0:07:00.270 US Road Champs in Tennessee. And so I know I'm 0:07:00.270 --> 0:07:01.979 a hybrid athlete. I know I could be a great 0:07:01.980 --> 0:07:04.620 10 K runner right now where I'm at. And I 0:07:04.620 --> 0:07:07.170 think in order to show that to the world and 0:07:07.380 --> 0:07:10.230 to my competitors, I had to build the strength right 0:07:10.230 --> 0:07:13.320 now, and obviously we're going to start continue building that. 0:07:13.320 --> 0:07:15.420 And so today it was like, let's see if we 0:07:15.420 --> 0:07:18.810 could do what we thought we could do and finally 0:07:18.810 --> 0:07:19.500 it kind of stick. 0:07:19.680 --> 0:07:22.260 Well, you're in this young professional career of yours. You're 0:07:22.260 --> 0:07:25.230 just sort of getting going. Is the 10K the event for 0:07:25.230 --> 0:07:27.360 you, or are you excited to see this long one 0:07:27.360 --> 0:07:29.850 tomorrow, the 26. 2 mile race that happens here? 0:07:30.120 --> 0:07:32.610 I think I've been telling a lot of my friends 0:07:32.610 --> 0:07:36.120 and teammates that this weekend is, especially if you're running 0:07:36.120 --> 0:07:38.820 the 5K, it's a cheat code to experience the whole 0:07:38.820 --> 0:07:42.900 full marathon of New York City but not run 26 0:07:42.900 --> 0:07:46.260 miles. The longest I ran was this fall one go, 0:07:46.260 --> 0:07:48.990 and that was 20 miles two weekends ago. First time 0:07:48.990 --> 0:07:51.600 ever running 20 miles. I've done 18 before a couple 0:07:51.600 --> 0:07:54.690 times, but we've been building, like I said, the strength. 0:07:54.690 --> 0:07:58.560 But I am not excited to race 26 miles, but 0:07:58.560 --> 0:08:00.990 I'm very excited to watch it. And I have four 0:08:00.990 --> 0:08:04.050 teammates that last night, we met as a team and 0:08:04.890 --> 0:08:07.710 our coaches were talking to us about just making sure 0:08:07.710 --> 0:08:11.220 that we're warming up the course for them and telling them, " 0:08:11.220 --> 0:08:14.040 Hey, we believe in you." And I am really excited 0:08:14.040 --> 0:08:17.940 for my four teammates that are racing tomorrow, Kellen, Aliphine 0:08:17.970 --> 0:08:21.090 and Futsum, and Wesley. So I want them to be out 0:08:21.090 --> 0:08:23.489 there, and I'll be cheering them on. And I have 0:08:23.490 --> 0:08:26.520 my beautiful wife here as well, and so it's a 0:08:26.520 --> 0:08:27.210 great weekend here. 0:08:27.600 --> 0:08:29.160 I know that you got a big check here to 0:08:29.160 --> 0:08:31.050 finish that race, so what are you going to do 0:08:31.050 --> 0:08:34.319 for your wife? It's all about making sure you two 0:08:34.320 --> 0:08:36.179 go out and celebrate. So what's the plan? 0:08:36.179 --> 0:08:38.370 Well, we were already planning on our honeymoon in about 0:08:38.370 --> 0:08:41.760 a month, and so we're going to East Africa for 0:08:42.420 --> 0:08:45.329 a little bit, for a month or so. So this 0:08:45.360 --> 0:08:48.690 whole build up this fall was more about just really 0:08:48.690 --> 0:08:51.360 try to build that strength, and then take a little 0:08:51.360 --> 0:08:53.250 bit of downtime, and then come back and build more 0:08:53.250 --> 0:08:55.320 strength. And we'll do the tanking on the track and 0:08:55.320 --> 0:08:58.380 all of that, but yeah, she's been a good charm 0:08:58.380 --> 0:09:01.470 for me. Since we've gotten married, I've PRed in almost 0:09:01.470 --> 0:09:03.750 all of my events and I've gotten two national titles, 0:09:03.750 --> 0:09:06.630 and so we'll make sure we treat her right. I 0:09:06.630 --> 0:09:09.090 won't get paid from New York until probably January or 0:09:09.090 --> 0:09:12.000 February, but it's something we know is coming eventually. It's 0:09:12.000 --> 0:09:14.340 a good payday with the road circuit. I think I'll 0:09:14.340 --> 0:09:16.110 be moving up to third as well on that. And yeah, with 0:09:16.380 --> 0:09:19.470 a little bit more bonuses along the way, I think 0:09:19.470 --> 0:09:20.550 it's a great, great payday. 0:09:20.760 --> 0:09:23.970 Oh, congratulations on everything, the wedding, the win, all of 0:09:23.970 --> 0:09:24.420 it. Way to go. 0:09:24.420 --> 0:09:27.329 Thank you so much. It's been an incredible year, and it's also been 0:09:27.330 --> 0:09:28.920 a lot. I feel like a lot of things going 0:09:28.920 --> 0:09:31.349 around the world. As international affairs, there are a lot 0:09:31.350 --> 0:09:33.599 of issues that I've been speaking a lot about. And 0:09:34.020 --> 0:09:35.429 if you want to learn more about it, you could 0:09:36.000 --> 0:09:39.329 find me on Instagram or whatever, but I hope that 0:09:39.330 --> 0:09:42.059 there is the world peace in Sudan and in Gaza, 0:09:42.059 --> 0:09:44.520 what's happening and all of that. So I feel like 0:09:44.520 --> 0:09:46.350 the last three months have been very quiet for me, 0:09:46.920 --> 0:09:49.710 but I've been finding a lot of what's been around 0:09:49.710 --> 0:09:53.429 the world and the people of Gaza deserve freedom and 0:09:53.460 --> 0:09:55.950 people of Sudan deserve peace as well. 0:09:56.520 --> 0:09:57.750 Well, thanks for bringing joy today. 0:09:57.870 --> 0:10:00.000 Thank you so much. I appreciate you, Carrie. Thank you. 0:10:01.170 --> 0:10:04.319 All right, I'm here with Zariel Macchia. Zariel, three in a row 0:10:04.320 --> 0:10:07.260 winning the youth race. And we know you from running 0:10:07.260 --> 0:10:09.870 at the USA's and running in the World Cross, and 0:10:09.870 --> 0:10:13.410 running at Champs and in Footlocker, all the things, but this 0:10:13.410 --> 0:10:15.329 race keeps bringing you back. 0:10:15.390 --> 0:10:20.189 Yeah, it's just a really exciting, fun environment. You go 0:10:20.190 --> 0:10:24.720 to the expo the day before and you just have 0:10:24.990 --> 0:10:28.890 a crowd down the whole course, and it's just impossible 0:10:28.890 --> 0:10:31.230 not to be really excited the whole time you're at 0:10:31.230 --> 0:10:34.679 this race. And it's just so much fun to be 0:10:34.679 --> 0:10:38.700 able to keep coming back here. And then you have 0:10:38.850 --> 0:10:43.620 the professional men and women racing too, and it is just a 0:10:43.620 --> 0:10:46.350 really, really exciting environment to be a part of. 0:10:46.380 --> 0:10:48.959 Tell me about today's race. When did you know you 0:10:48.960 --> 0:10:49.920 were going to win this race? 0:10:50.370 --> 0:10:53.610 Okay, so I actually had talked to Dylan beforehand, so 0:10:53.610 --> 0:10:56.640 we decided to wear USA uniforms together, and we're like 0:10:56.640 --> 0:10:59.190 we'll run together to two miles. And once we get 0:10:59.190 --> 0:11:02.490 into the park, we'll race, and whatever you want to 0:11:02.490 --> 0:11:06.120 do, go for it. So we were pushing each other 0:11:06.390 --> 0:11:10.050 and giving words of encouragement during the race. And then 0:11:10.800 --> 0:11:12.959 once we hit Central Park, it's like, all right, now 0:11:13.320 --> 0:11:17.160 let loose. And I felt pretty good, so I pulled 0:11:17.160 --> 0:11:19.650 away a little bit. And then we hit 800 together. And I was like, 0:11:19.650 --> 0:11:21.540 all right, I know Dylan loves 800, so I better 0:11:21.540 --> 0:11:23.220 pick it up here because I didn't know what she's 0:11:23.220 --> 0:11:26.370 going to come up with for this last eight. But 0:11:26.370 --> 0:11:27.690 yeah, it was really fun. 0:11:28.080 --> 0:11:30.960 I love it. You have been able to represent the 0:11:30.960 --> 0:11:34.319 US already at this young age, but being surrounded by 0:11:34.320 --> 0:11:37.290 all these great athletes that are also Olympians or US 0:11:37.290 --> 0:11:39.480 champions, it has to be pretty inspiring. 0:11:40.020 --> 0:11:45.300 Oh, 100%. Just getting to talk to them and getting 0:11:45.300 --> 0:11:48.510 to learn from them, it's just such a unique experience. 0:11:48.870 --> 0:11:53.579 And I think it really... For me personally, it kept me really 0:11:53.580 --> 0:11:57.600 excited to keep going. And just like to hear about 0:11:57.720 --> 0:12:01.170 their journeys and their love for the sport, it just 0:12:01.170 --> 0:12:02.850 makes me love it even more too. 0:12:02.970 --> 0:12:05.160 Well, your family loves this sport. Mom and dad, both 0:12:05.160 --> 0:12:08.730 runners. Your mom is a police officer, your dad is 0:12:08.730 --> 0:12:11.400 a teacher, and they just love going to all of 0:12:11.400 --> 0:12:14.040 the events. So thank you for keep on coming back 0:12:14.040 --> 0:12:16.380 to this race, and we'll see you in the future. 0:12:16.620 --> 0:12:17.309 Yes. 0:12:17.340 --> 0:12:19.020 You still have one more year of high school, right? 0:12:19.320 --> 0:12:20.819 Well, this is my last year of high school. 0:12:21.179 --> 0:12:24.120 Okay. Well, then we might see you as a professional 0:12:24.120 --> 0:12:24.900 here next year. 0:12:25.290 --> 0:12:27.090 Oh, maybe. I don't know. We'll see. 0:12:27.450 --> 0:12:30.060 All right, Zariel. Congratulations. Three- time winner. Awesome.