Speaker 1: Ready to hit your stride? Whether you're training for your
Speaker 1: next race or just lacing up for a run, no
Speaker 1: matter your level, the Peloton app has everything you need
Speaker 1: to keep you moving. Track your progress with real- time
Speaker 1: metrics and celebrate those streaks and personal bests along the
Speaker 1: way. With thousands of classes to choose from, or the
Speaker 1: option to just run or just walk, Peloton makes it
Speaker 1: easy to fit fitness into your routine. Learn more at onepeloton. com/ race-
Speaker 1: training. Peloton, the official digital fitness partner of New York Roadrunners.
Speaker 2: Thank you, New York. Today we're reminded of the power
Speaker 2: of community and the power of coming together. Athletes, on
Speaker 2: your mark.
Speaker 3: The first woman to finish for the second straight year
Speaker 3: here in the New York City Marathon is Miki Gorman, a smiling
Speaker 3: Miki Gorman, and why not? 2: 29:30, the time for (inaudible) .
Speaker 4: Look at the emotion of Shalane Flanagan as she comes
Speaker 4: to the line.
Speaker 5: Pointing to his chest, pointing to the USA he so
Speaker 5: proudly wears across his chest. A great day for Matt Jablonski.
Carrie Tollefson: Hey everybody, welcome to the Set the Pace Podcast. I'm Olympian,
Carrie Tollefson: Carrie Tollefson, and a member of the broadcast team here
Carrie Tollefson: again in the city for the United Airlines NYC Half.
Carrie Tollefson: And I am really excited to bring you our race
Carrie Tollefson: day champions. I'm bringing on four of our champions, Sharon
Carrie Tollefson: Lokedi, Abel Kipchumba, Manuela Schär, and Geert Schipper. I know I
Carrie Tollefson: didn't say that right. It's GB, he told me I
Carrie Tollefson: could say GB. So here we go. Let's get it
Carrie Tollefson: underway. All right, I'm here with the winner of the
Carrie Tollefson: men's wheelchair for the second year in a row.
Geert Schipper: Yeah.
Carrie Tollefson: Geert.
Geert Schipper: Geert.
Carrie Tollefson: Geert Schippert. We were saying it Gert.
Geert Schipper: Gert (inaudible) .
Carrie Tollefson: I want to say Schippert because of Geert. So Geert Schipper.
Geert Schipper: Geert Schipper, but whatever the way you pronounce it, I
Geert Schipper: think it's okay.
Carrie Tollefson: Do you know what you said though today in the post- race interview
Carrie Tollefson: was people can just call you GB.
Geert Schipper: Yeah.
Carrie Tollefson: So where does GB come from?
Geert Schipper: Gerard Bastiaan, that's my (foreign language) . What is it?
Carrie Tollefson: Your middle name?
Geert Schipper: Middle name, yeah.
Carrie Tollefson: So in America here where most of our listeners are,
Carrie Tollefson: well, we have them international, but most here, do you
Carrie Tollefson: want to become GB? Because you are winning all these
Carrie Tollefson: major races over here? Would you rather have us figure
Carrie Tollefson: out how to say your name right or call you
Carrie Tollefson: GB
Geert Schipper: GB is fine to me, but don't see me as
Geert Schipper: a big winner or just leave me in the shadow.
Geert Schipper: I don't like media stuff. I just do what I
Geert Schipper: do, what I like to do, and that's sport moving
Geert Schipper: from one place to the other one and improve myself
Geert Schipper: every race or every training. That's the reason I try
Geert Schipper: to compete in competitions. And the last couple of years
Geert Schipper: I had to compete with all the best guys of
Geert Schipper: the world to make sure that I can still improve
Geert Schipper: myself a little bit. So that's the reason I race,
Geert Schipper: not especially for winning. Winning of course gives a way
Geert Schipper: better feeling than become second, third, or fourth, like the
Geert Schipper: Paralympics in Tokyo. But improving myself, that's for me more important.
Carrie Tollefson: Yeah. Today you said you didn't think you were going
Carrie Tollefson: to be the one to break the tape.
Geert Schipper: No, no. Actually, yesterday I was doing a training ride with
Geert Schipper: Evan Correll and somewhere in the park, you've got some
Geert Schipper: hills and he was pushing up the hill like I
Geert Schipper: was standing still and I was like, " Damn." And I don't know tomorrow, you've got
Geert Schipper: quite a lot of hills, or at least up and
Geert Schipper: downs. So, I was pretty afraid. And also the first of the 300 meters from the
Geert Schipper: start, you start going up already and he was pushing
Geert Schipper: away. I was like, " Uh- oh. Oh boy." And then in the
Geert Schipper: downhill I was slightly faster, and then the second uphill,
Geert Schipper: he was still on my tail, but I was still
Geert Schipper: afraid. And he's a young guy and what I really
Geert Schipper: hope that he will pass me, hopefully I can start
Geert Schipper: next year, but that he will pass me next year
Geert Schipper: or at least the year thereafter. And not only him,
Geert Schipper: but also way more younger guys.
Carrie Tollefson: Yeah, you want.
Geert Schipper: That's what I want.
Carrie Tollefson: And you want more people pushing you to the line.
Geert Schipper: The more competitive everybody is, the more fun the competition
Geert Schipper: is. But those guys are young and they have to
Geert Schipper: learn, or maybe not learn but need a bit-
Carrie Tollefson: More experience.
Geert Schipper: ... race-
Carrie Tollefson: And race, yeah.
Geert Schipper: ... endurance. And I think the next coming years I can do a step
Geert Schipper: back or maybe quit in total and hopefully they take
Geert Schipper: over what I am doing at the moment.
Carrie Tollefson: So, okay, today you won and you're talking about Evan
Carrie Tollefson: who is 21?
Geert Schipper: I have no clue, but he's young-
Carrie Tollefson: He's one of the youngest, I think he's 21. I
Carrie Tollefson: think we had a 19- year- old in the wheelchair
Carrie Tollefson: division. But Evan Correll is 21. You're fairly new. I
Carrie Tollefson: mean we know... Well, a lot of us know your
Carrie Tollefson: background in triathlon. So you are obviously on the roads
Carrie Tollefson: doing some racing, but you're fairly new to this half-
Carrie Tollefson: marathon, marathon distance, correct?
Geert Schipper: Yep, that's correct.
Carrie Tollefson: Yeah. So when you speak to a runner like me, when you
Carrie Tollefson: come to the sport later, you're a little bit more
Carrie Tollefson: fresh, you don't have as much wear and tear. Is
Carrie Tollefson: that the same for you? I mean why are you giving it, not giving
Carrie Tollefson: it to Evan, but you're saying like, you want him
Carrie Tollefson: to catch you, you're still pretty new in here.
Geert Schipper: Yeah, maybe in my heart, maybe the biggest winner, I
Geert Schipper: just do what I like to do as fast as
Geert Schipper: I can. And yeah, I'm new in the sport, but
Geert Schipper: when you look through my history before I had my
Geert Schipper: accident and then shortly after my accident, the way I
Geert Schipper: can perform in sport, we did some tests, and my
Geert Schipper: genes are already really good to do endurance competitions and
Geert Schipper: trainings like this. And further, the way how you train
Geert Schipper: is important and maybe the variation in the three disciplines
Geert Schipper: I do in triathlon gives me also a bit more
Geert Schipper: endurance for doing wheelchair racing. But it is still painful in my
Geert Schipper: back, in my legs, in my... It seems that I race
Geert Schipper: like pain- free or that it's really easy, it isn't. Not
Geert Schipper: for me, not for (inaudible) , not for even Evan.
Geert Schipper: It's always painful.
Carrie Tollefson: Yeah, there's always something, right? If it's not, for the runners,
Carrie Tollefson: their feet, their back, their glutes, whatever, it's your guys'
Carrie Tollefson: shoulders or your abs like you said, or your back-
Geert Schipper: Most of the times, it's not your shoulders or your arm, it's
Geert Schipper: most of the time the pain in your back or your legs or
Geert Schipper: it sounds crazy, but not the joints you used as
Geert Schipper: much you think during the run, but maybe the joints
Geert Schipper: and the muscles, you won't use that much.
Carrie Tollefson: Sure.
Geert Schipper: Yeah.
Carrie Tollefson: Sure. Tell me a little bit, just walk us back
Carrie Tollefson: to your injury. Tell me how you got injured again.
Geert Schipper: In 2004, I was flying my own single engine airplane for
Geert Schipper: the first time, that typical airplane. And I was approaching
Geert Schipper: and I didn't have enough attention on my approaching speed,
Geert Schipper: so I flew slightly slow already, and then a particular
Geert Schipper: moment too slow, I stalled, made a little dive and
Geert Schipper: then right turn, and instead of making my landing straight
Geert Schipper: ahead in front of me due to the turn, I
Geert Schipper: made a crash landing into the field just beside the
Geert Schipper: little airfield in France, broke my back and yeah, that's
Geert Schipper: pretty much it. Then you think, okay, I've got a
Geert Schipper: lot of pain in my back, just help me out the
Geert Schipper: rest of my airplane. There was nothing left actually. And
Geert Schipper: then I walk away, but I noticed my foot was
Geert Schipper: kind of in a rear position and my knee was
Geert Schipper: not pointing to my face, but pointing to my other
Geert Schipper: knee. I was like, " Oh, that's not good. Maybe it's
Geert Schipper: broken." But I didn't have pain in my legs. I
Geert Schipper: only had an awful pain in my back. So after one
Geert Schipper: hour, the first ambulance was there, they had some troubles
Geert Schipper: to find it, and I was in a field which not easy to
Geert Schipper: reach. And they told me, " Okay, just lay still and
Geert Schipper: wait for another ambulance." And finally they put me on
Geert Schipper: a stretcher, drove me out of the field to the
Geert Schipper: hospital, and flew me to another hospital. And then they told me
Geert Schipper: the next morning after my operation, " Okay, you never can
Geert Schipper: walk again, you broke your back. And you've got some
Geert Schipper: movement back in your legs in the nearby future, you'll
Geert Schipper: be lucky, but walking and standing and biking, the stuff
Geert Schipper: you've done before, you will sit in a wheelchair for the
Geert Schipper: rest of your life." And that came in pretty hard.
Geert Schipper: But after six days in France and a few days
Geert Schipper: in the Netherlands, all the drugs I get for making
Geert Schipper: the pain kind of doable, I didn't need it so
Geert Schipper: much. So my girlfriend told me, " There will be a
Geert Schipper: good life with you with a chair as well." And
Geert Schipper: we found a good life.
Carrie Tollefson: I guess so.
Geert Schipper: We found an awesome life. There were doors closed due to
Geert Schipper: my accident, but there were so many doors get open
Geert Schipper: again. And one of the doors is I found in sport.
Carrie Tollefson: Yeah. Sport before the accident looked like what?
Geert Schipper: It was just regular, whatever, you know what I mean?
Carrie Tollefson: Yeah.
Geert Schipper: On a bike, I was ice skating, I did some
Geert Schipper: swimming, I did some running-
Carrie Tollefson: Okay. Okay. Just everything.
Geert Schipper: ... inline skating. Just after my job as a carpenter
Geert Schipper: at that time, just do some sportive things, but never
Geert Schipper: ever with the idea to do it in bigger or
Geert Schipper: bigger competitions.
Carrie Tollefson: So life has changed in so many different ways.
Geert Schipper: Yes. Yeah.
Carrie Tollefson: And-
Geert Schipper: And there is always light.
Carrie Tollefson: Yeah, there is always light. And it's really good for you to
Carrie Tollefson: remind us because you've been through a lot, but we're
Carrie Tollefson: so thankful that you have used that athletic background and
Carrie Tollefson: now have become one of the world's best wheelchair athletes
Carrie Tollefson: and triathletes.
Geert Schipper: For you, it's maybe that I'm one of the best,
Geert Schipper: but I don't feel like one.
Carrie Tollefson: Well you are.
Geert Schipper: I'm just a guy. Believe me.
Carrie Tollefson: Well, you're just a guy, but I think what's really cool is
Carrie Tollefson: that you brought one of your three girls, one of
Carrie Tollefson: your three daughters.
Geert Schipper: Yes.
Carrie Tollefson: Was your girlfriend at the time when you had your accident-
Geert Schipper: Yes.
Carrie Tollefson: ... is she now your wife?
Geert Schipper: Yep.
Carrie Tollefson: Oh my goodness. You guys, what a love story. So
Carrie Tollefson: you have one daughter here who's 12, you said in
Carrie Tollefson: quotation marks, she's " sick" from school.
Geert Schipper: Yes.
Carrie Tollefson: She took a couple of days off from school. So
Carrie Tollefson: tell us a little bit about bringing her over.
Geert Schipper: She's 12. You've got a girl from 12, they already a
Geert Schipper: woman, she is kind of in between. Moments, she's still a kid
Geert Schipper: and the other moments, she's kind of a young adult
Geert Schipper: and she act like it, but it is fun to
Geert Schipper: walk with her here. Yesterday, we went into the park
Geert Schipper: and we were feeding the squirrels. And she's sitting on
Geert Schipper: her knees and hold her hand with some peanuts and
Geert Schipper: the squirrels come there and it's so adorable to watch,
Geert Schipper: see my girl doing that in her pink jacket. And
Geert Schipper: we walk over the Times Square and then she's just-
Carrie Tollefson: In awe.
Geert Schipper: ... watching and seeing and noticed everything what I usually
Geert Schipper: see as well. It is fun. It is so much fun.
Carrie Tollefson: She came in here. Can I ask her a question?
Geert Schipper: Oh, hi. Yeah, of course you can ask a question.
Carrie Tollefson: What was it like to see Dad win today? Was
Carrie Tollefson: it pretty cool? Did you get to see him in
Carrie Tollefson: Central Park?
Speaker 8: Yeah.
Carrie Tollefson: What is-
Geert Schipper: You're a little shot.
Carrie Tollefson: That's okay. What was New York, what is the big city like?
Geert Schipper: (foreign language) . Is it nice?
Speaker 8: It was good.
Carrie Tollefson: yeah,
Geert Schipper: It was fun, isn't it?
Carrie Tollefson: And are you the oldest of the three girls?
Speaker 8: No, I'm the middle.
Carrie Tollefson: You're the middle child. Oh. So are you the first
Carrie Tollefson: one to come to New York City with your dad?
Speaker 8: No, here's my mother and then my older sister and
Speaker 8: now me.
Carrie Tollefson: Oh, okay. Well congratulations and thanks for letting dad do
Carrie Tollefson: his thing. Now, you guys get to go out and
Carrie Tollefson: have some fun.
Geert Schipper: Thanks.
Carrie Tollefson: Well, tell me a little bit more about your spring.
Carrie Tollefson: What do you have going on now after this?
Geert Schipper: I've got a few days off. This afternoon, we fly
Geert Schipper: back to the Netherlands. So tomorrow early in the morning
Geert Schipper: we arrive, I make a short sleep. Maybe in the
Geert Schipper: afternoon, I go to the pool to get myself-
Carrie Tollefson: Loosened up a little bit.
Geert Schipper: Yes. Not only for loosen up, just make sure you won't do nothing.
Carrie Tollefson: Yeah.
Geert Schipper: And when you do nothing, you get really tired. Just
Geert Schipper: take a little exercise to make sure you've done something
Geert Schipper: on a day. So I probably go to the pool and
Geert Schipper: maybe go on my bike for an hour or two,
Geert Schipper: but only an easy spin and an easy swim, no
Geert Schipper: rush. Then in three weeks, I go to Paris for
Geert Schipper: the Paris Marathon. Thereafter, I go home for a few
Geert Schipper: days, then I fly to Boston for the Boston Marathon,
Geert Schipper: go home for two days, then back to London for
Geert Schipper: the London marathon, two weeks off. Training as fast and as good
Geert Schipper: as I can for the first triathlon competition in Japan.
Geert Schipper: And then there's a few more triathlon competitions, one in
Geert Schipper: Italy and one in France. And in the meantime, I'm
Geert Schipper: also moving from one place to another place. So-
Carrie Tollefson: Like one house to another house? Oh, man.
Geert Schipper: No, it's not a house. It's more like a farm.
Carrie Tollefson: Okay. Oh, you've got a lot going on.
Geert Schipper: I've got too much equipment to move. It won't fit
Geert Schipper: in one truck. I think I need five.
Carrie Tollefson: Well, I'm glad that you won some money today. Maybe
Carrie Tollefson: you can hire some help.
Geert Schipper: That definitely helps.
Carrie Tollefson: Yeah. Well congratulations-
Geert Schipper: Thank you so much.
Carrie Tollefson: ... on such an awesome race. 49:53 is what you ran
Carrie Tollefson: today and two- time winner of the United Airlines NYC Half.
Geert Schipper: Yes. Maybe it comes a third time then.
Carrie Tollefson: There you go.
Geert Schipper: And then it'll be time to quit.
Carrie Tollefson: No, I don't think so. We don't want you to do that yet.
Geert Schipper: After three times it's time.
Carrie Tollefson: Well, we'll see you in Boston for sure. Congratulations.
Geert Schipper: Yes, thank you very much.
Carrie Tollefson: Sitting across the table from Manuela Schär, our four- time
Carrie Tollefson: United NYC Half Marathon champion. I mean that's pretty crazy.
Carrie Tollefson: Four times you've won this race before.
Manuela Schär: Yeah, it's unbelievable. I mean it's always great to race
Manuela Schär: in New York and then to even win in New
Manuela Schär: York, it's even better. So I'm really happy. Yeah.
Carrie Tollefson: So today was different. I want to talk about that,
Carrie Tollefson: because you got off the line, and we've seen you
Carrie Tollefson: get off the line really fast in other races, but
Carrie Tollefson: today you got off the line and really you were
Carrie Tollefson: on your own for most of the race.
Manuela Schär: Yeah, it was not easy conditions for us because usually
Manuela Schär: we race with different settings when it's dry or when
Manuela Schär: it's raining. And today, it was so foggy, so we had to
Manuela Schär: decide if you want to go with the dry setup
Manuela Schär: or if you want to go with the rain setup.
Manuela Schär: And I decided to go with my gloves I would
Manuela Schär: use in rain. So I think that made the difference.
Carrie Tollefson: So remind me, when you wear gloves, the wheelchair athletes,
Carrie Tollefson: I was stumbling on the word in the broadcast too,
Carrie Tollefson: is sandpaper that you have or some kind of grit
Carrie Tollefson: on the glove?
Manuela Schär: Yeah. So usually, in dry conditions we use gloves with
Manuela Schär: like a rubber and then our push rim has a
Manuela Schär: rubber too. So rubber on rubber works really well when
Manuela Schär: it's dry, but then when it's wet, it's slippery and
Manuela Schär: so you have to find something that gives you back
Manuela Schär: that grip. And some people use sandpaper on their gloves,
Manuela Schär: some people use some kind of like...
Carrie Tollefson: Like a sticky?
Manuela Schär: Yeah. And then some people use like a handball cluster.
Manuela Schär: So they're all different options you have. So you have
Manuela Schär: to find the right thing for you.
Carrie Tollefson: It was really interesting though, because when we were walking
Carrie Tollefson: there was a little bit of a slip. So I
Carrie Tollefson: love that you mentioned that in the post- race interview
Carrie Tollefson: that you really went with the wet weather. And as
Carrie Tollefson: a runner, we think about that with our shoes, but
Carrie Tollefson: for us that don't know what it's like to be
Carrie Tollefson: a wheelchair athlete, I love that you give that insight.
Manuela Schär: Yeah. That's always the biggest challenge because sometimes you don't
Manuela Schär: have enough time to make the decision and then you
Manuela Schär: don't know what to bring to the start line. And
Manuela Schär: if you still have enough time to change if it
Manuela Schär: doesn't work and sometimes you just realize it a few
Manuela Schär: miles into the race if you made the right call
Manuela Schär: or not.
Carrie Tollefson: Yeah, because there's no changing mid- race.
Manuela Schär: Yes. No. I mean I brought my other gloves, but that would
Manuela Schär: mean I would have to stop and then sit out
Manuela Schär: my racing chair and then change my gloves. I would
Manuela Schär: rather not do that, but I mean if it wouldn't
Manuela Schär: work, I would still have this option to change.
Carrie Tollefson: Yeah. Well today, you won big. You ran 54: 09. I
Carrie Tollefson: want to talk a little bit, you're getting ready for
Carrie Tollefson: not just Boston, but London, the wheelchair athletes do back
Carrie Tollefson: to back to back to back. You're amazing that way.
Carrie Tollefson: And even like, I get it, it's different, right? There's
Carrie Tollefson: not as much pounding, but there's still wear and tear
Carrie Tollefson: on your body in different ways, but also the travel-
Manuela Schär: Exactly.
Carrie Tollefson: ... is wild with you guys.
Manuela Schär: Yeah. And to be honest, the older I get, the
Manuela Schär: more I realize it's not easy to do all this
Manuela Schär: time difference and different food and then other hotel and
Manuela Schär: the traveling with all your, that big box with the
Manuela Schär: racing chair and then you have a separate box for
Manuela Schär: your wheels and then maybe you bring a spare wheel
Manuela Schär: and then you have your luggage. So it's always-
Carrie Tollefson: It's challenging.
Manuela Schär: It's challenging. Yeah.
Carrie Tollefson: Yeah. So last year seemed like there were some challenges
Carrie Tollefson: and maybe that's just me being the broadcaster that I
Carrie Tollefson: am and looking on paper that Manuela didn't win the
Carrie Tollefson: road races that we've seen in the past. And as
Carrie Tollefson: an athlete to athlete, like I get it, we have
Carrie Tollefson: ups and down years, but can you explain that to
Carrie Tollefson: me? Was it a down year? Was it a great
Carrie Tollefson: year? You won the Paralympic 800, you got silver in the
Carrie Tollefson: 400. I mean it's an amazing year, but yet some
Carrie Tollefson: of your longer distances, we didn't see a number one
Carrie Tollefson: next to. Tell me a little bit about that. And
Carrie Tollefson: maybe I am totally wrong.
Manuela Schär: No, you're not. I mean I'm so happy that I
Manuela Schär: was able to win these two medals because if not,
Manuela Schär: I would have been so frustrated with my Paralympic Games.
Manuela Schär: For sure, the marathon did not go well. I'm still
Manuela Schär: struggling a little bit with that because, yeah, the marathon
Manuela Schär: was supposed to be my distance, it's my favorite race.
Manuela Schär: But yeah, I had some really up and downs last
Manuela Schär: year and I had some big changes also. So, yeah,
Manuela Schär: it's hard to put it all in one, it's hard
Manuela Schär: to find one reason why this happened.
Carrie Tollefson: And that's why we do it, right?
Manuela Schär: Yeah, exactly.
Carrie Tollefson: We have to figure out how to be better each time we toe the line.
Manuela Schär: Yeah. And then also some athletes just improved so much. Like,
Manuela Schär: Catherine, she's insane, it's crazy-
Carrie Tollefson: Catherine Debrunner.
Manuela Schär: Yeah. And then Susannah is doing really, really well and
Manuela Schär: I think it's a really exciting time for the women's
Manuela Schär: field and I'm so excited to see that and to
Manuela Schär: still be part of it and to... I don't know,
Manuela Schär: it's like we're all in this together and it's always
Manuela Schär: fun to watch everybody race and break records and yeah,
Manuela Schär: still being part of it is amazing.
Carrie Tollefson: I love that, the camaraderie that, well the runners, but
Carrie Tollefson: also the wheelers have, it's just something really special. Getting
Carrie Tollefson: ready now for some fall or some spring marathons. We're
Carrie Tollefson: not trying to look too far out to the New York
Carrie Tollefson: City Marathon, but so spring races, how does this win
Carrie Tollefson: now and maybe more so mentally get you fired up
Carrie Tollefson: for Boston, London, all the other races?
Manuela Schär: I think I came here to use this as a
Manuela Schär: bit of a warmup for the marathons, for Boston and
Manuela Schär: London, and I think it was a good decision because it
Manuela Schär: gives me a good feeling obviously to go into Boston
Manuela Schär: and, yeah, I mean it's going to be exciting. It's going to
Manuela Schär: be a really strong field, really strong women's field, and
Manuela Schär: as always, Boston is a challenging course, so I'm very
Manuela Schär: excited to see how it goes.
Carrie Tollefson: Oh, we are too. Now, what do you do here in
Carrie Tollefson: New York for fun after the race? Like Susannah likes
Carrie Tollefson: to try to go to a show, Susannah Scaroni we're
Carrie Tollefson: talking about, do you get to do anything fun or
Carrie Tollefson: are you going to get home right away?
Manuela Schär: Yeah, I made this a short one. I'm leaving tonight
Manuela Schär: and I got here on Friday night, so, yeah, there
Manuela Schär: was not a lot of time. I just went to a
Manuela Schär: few stores and went a little shopping-
Carrie Tollefson: (inaudible) . Yeah. Oh, well good luck to you. Thank
Carrie Tollefson: you for just such an awesome intense race today. It
Carrie Tollefson: was fun to see that fire. I mean we always
Carrie Tollefson: see it in you, but when you broke the tape
Carrie Tollefson: today, I think I even said it, " She's back."
Manuela Schär: Thank you.
Carrie Tollefson: So, congratulations.
Manuela Schär: Thank you.
Carrie Tollefson: And now we get to talk to our new winner,
Carrie Tollefson: Sharon Lokedi. Sharon, okay, you have cracked the tape for
Carrie Tollefson: the TCS New York City Marathon in your very first
Carrie Tollefson: marathon ever.
Sharon Lokedi: Yeah, yeah.
Carrie Tollefson: And now you cracked the tape today at NYC Half.
Sharon Lokedi: Yeah.
Carrie Tollefson: Tell me now it's about an hour past the race, so how are
Carrie Tollefson: you feeling?
Sharon Lokedi: I feel good. I'm very happy about the race today.
Sharon Lokedi: I honestly, I don't know if we would have gone
Sharon Lokedi: any other way. I just wanted to come out here
Sharon Lokedi: and compete and just get the race going and see
Sharon Lokedi: how aware I am with my training and everything. And
Sharon Lokedi: I'm so glad to have come with a win in
Sharon Lokedi: a very magical race, in a very magical place, and
Sharon Lokedi: yeah, the course was awesome.
Carrie Tollefson: So magical. That's what you've said now twice.
Sharon Lokedi: Yes.
Carrie Tollefson: What was so magical? Why was it so awesome?
Sharon Lokedi: Honestly, I feel like every time I'm out here, it
Sharon Lokedi: just brings something out of me. I just get so
Sharon Lokedi: excited and I just want to go out there and
Sharon Lokedi: run fast and compete so well. And there's strength, as
Sharon Lokedi: you go out there, the New York Roadrunners, they're just
Sharon Lokedi: so cool and so awesome and they're always so nice.
Sharon Lokedi: So I mean they provide everything for you and it just feels, from
Sharon Lokedi: the time you get here, it just feels so relaxing. And I
Sharon Lokedi: think that helps with, as an athlete, just settling in
Sharon Lokedi: and feeling very loved and very welcomed and I think
Sharon Lokedi: that support fuels you and I think for me, it just
Sharon Lokedi: makes me want to do well. And yeah, every time
Sharon Lokedi: I'm out there and the people on the course, that is
Sharon Lokedi: another thing, is so cool. They just cheer you on
Sharon Lokedi: and they're wanting you to run so fast. And I
Sharon Lokedi: think that helps me, just gives me more support and
Sharon Lokedi: confidence and I just want to keep going and keep fighting.
Carrie Tollefson: Well, let's break the race down just a little bit.
Carrie Tollefson: So off the line, you weren't right up there pushing
Carrie Tollefson: the pace, it was Calli Hauger- Thackery, there was a number of
Carrie Tollefson: other athletes, Fiona O'Keeffe, but you were kind of in
Carrie Tollefson: this big pack for, I don't know, about five miles?
Sharon Lokedi: Yeah.
Carrie Tollefson: So walk us through that. Why did you do that?
Carrie Tollefson: Was that intentional?
Sharon Lokedi: Not really. Just most of the time for me is
Sharon Lokedi: I just get to the race and just pay attention
Sharon Lokedi: to whatever happens, if there's a move made, just make
Sharon Lokedi: sure I'm staying with it. And yeah, we did start
Sharon Lokedi: today and everyone was in there and I just wanted to just
Sharon Lokedi: be in... It was a bit chilly when we started, but it wasn't that
Sharon Lokedi: bad so I just wanted to stay in it and
Sharon Lokedi: just stay as relaxed and controlled as long as I
Sharon Lokedi: could. And then just maybe the last few miles just
Sharon Lokedi: kept making moves and yeah.
Carrie Tollefson: You were on the FDR for quite some time. Was there a
Carrie Tollefson: little bit of a tailwind there, did I hear?
Sharon Lokedi: Yes.
Carrie Tollefson: Did you let that take you? Were you trying not
Carrie Tollefson: to let it take you? How do you run with
Carrie Tollefson: that big of a tailwind?
Sharon Lokedi: Honestly, I don't know if you can even feel it because you're just
Sharon Lokedi: so focused.
Carrie Tollefson: So focused.
Sharon Lokedi: So most of the time it's like, I feel like once
Sharon Lokedi: you're set your head in that, you're just thinking about
Sharon Lokedi: that moment. And I think, yeah, yes, it did definitely help
Sharon Lokedi: us because I mean it's almost helping you get faster
Sharon Lokedi: or go faster, and there was a few miles in
Sharon Lokedi: there that we were running and I'm like, " Oh, jeez."
Carrie Tollefson: Yeah, it was pushing you.
Sharon Lokedi: Yes, yes. So yeah, I think it did play a big part of
Sharon Lokedi: getting us going, so, yeah.
Carrie Tollefson: Yeah, yeah. Okay, then you go through Times Square?
Sharon Lokedi: Yes.
Carrie Tollefson: How cool was that?
Sharon Lokedi: Yes, oh, that was... We got up through this hill
Sharon Lokedi: and it was a little bit over nine miles and then there was a hill and then a
Sharon Lokedi: downhill and then once we got to the city, you could
Sharon Lokedi: tell when you get to the city-
Carrie Tollefson: You can feel the energy coming.
Sharon Lokedi: Yes. And all of a sudden it's starting to get so loud and everything. And
Sharon Lokedi: I think that's when I just got the cadence and the
Sharon Lokedi: rhythm going and I just took it.
Carrie Tollefson: You did. At 10 miles, it was almost like a
Carrie Tollefson: light switch.
Sharon Lokedi: Yeah.
Carrie Tollefson: Did you have that strategy coming in? Did you and
Carrie Tollefson: coach say, " At 10 miles I want to make a move?"
Sharon Lokedi: No, actually we had a tempo last week where we
Sharon Lokedi: did like a six- mile progressive run. So, he texted
Sharon Lokedi: me last night and he was like, " Just do it
Sharon Lokedi: like you did last time. Just keep getting faster, go
Sharon Lokedi: marathon pace and then half- marathon pace," just like that.
Sharon Lokedi: But I thought about it but then I was like,
Sharon Lokedi: six miles is a long way to go, you know?
Sharon Lokedi: And so, yeah, I just wanted to... At 10 miles, I
Sharon Lokedi: just wanted to maybe slowly just keep improving and see
Sharon Lokedi: how that goes.
Carrie Tollefson: No looking back after 10 miles though really, you really were
Carrie Tollefson: like... Did you feel the sense that you were really
Carrie Tollefson: gaining on them? Or?
Sharon Lokedi: I did, but I also, there's something that's always like,
Sharon Lokedi: oh, you need to look back, maybe see how far
Sharon Lokedi: they... And I feel like I always do that and I'm trying
Sharon Lokedi: to get better at it and just trust myself, just
Sharon Lokedi: trust once I get going, I just trust that I
Sharon Lokedi: can just take it all the way to the end
Sharon Lokedi: and yeah, it was just that was a new thing for me.
Carrie Tollefson: I love that you say that, because in many interviews
Carrie Tollefson: that I've either done or I've listened to of yours,
Carrie Tollefson: you trust. You have a lot of trust in your
Carrie Tollefson: training, in your coach, in your community around you.
Sharon Lokedi: Yes, yes. Because-
Carrie Tollefson: How do you get that? How do these runners, I
Carrie Tollefson: mean we can hear the crowds going crazy still and
Carrie Tollefson: we're 46 floors up, right?
Sharon Lokedi: Yeah, yeah.
Carrie Tollefson: But I mean how do you learn to trust your instinct and
Carrie Tollefson: what you've been doing?
Sharon Lokedi: I think for me it starts with training. Every time
Sharon Lokedi: I'm training it's like we start doing these workouts and
Sharon Lokedi: sometimes they get so hard and then I'm just like, " Okay, you can
Sharon Lokedi: just do it. You can just hold it a little
Sharon Lokedi: bit longer and it gets better." So just like I
Sharon Lokedi: said, I work on that during my training and then
Sharon Lokedi: I come to races and even I think when I
Sharon Lokedi: was in college, I used to be like, every time
Sharon Lokedi: I go for a run or a race, my coach would tell me, "
Sharon Lokedi: Just make sure you're using the person in front of
Sharon Lokedi: you to get you going, to pull you." So even
Sharon Lokedi: in training, even when I have a pacemaker or I
Sharon Lokedi: don't, I just try to use something that's ahead of
Sharon Lokedi: me just to get me going.
Carrie Tollefson: Well today you had no one in front of you
Carrie Tollefson: the last three miles, but you did have that finish
Carrie Tollefson: tape and then did you see the time when you crossed?
Sharon Lokedi: Actually-
Carrie Tollefson: 1:07:04?
Sharon Lokedi: I actually saw, I think it was 1K to go and it was like 62 and I'm like, " Oh my
Sharon Lokedi: god," I think it was 63, sorry, I don't remember-
Carrie Tollefson: Something like that. Yeah.
Sharon Lokedi: Somewhere around there. And in my head I'm like, " If I'm running 3:
Sharon Lokedi: 10 pace, I'm on 66," and I'm like, " Okay, just hold it. Just run."
Sharon Lokedi: But then I got the hill and I was like, "
Sharon Lokedi: Dang it." And then the course turned and then I
Sharon Lokedi: had to go and I could see... I know it was
Sharon Lokedi: so cold, so I tried to fight as hard as
Sharon Lokedi: I could, but I didn't get 66, but 67 is still so much
Sharon Lokedi: better. So I'm really glad with that time and I
Sharon Lokedi: think if anything, it just made me so confident going forward.
Carrie Tollefson: Yeah. New event record today. How does this set you
Carrie Tollefson: up for Boston? Because Boston now is what? Five weeks away?
Sharon Lokedi: Yeah.
Carrie Tollefson: So tell me, I mean this race in itself is huge,
Carrie Tollefson: now you have another big one coming up. So how
Carrie Tollefson: does this help you?
Sharon Lokedi: Honestly, I think it was just... It is really like,
Sharon Lokedi: I've done so many workouts in running that I'm like, "
Sharon Lokedi: Okay, yes, I might be fit, but I didn't know
Sharon Lokedi: where I was." So I think this going forward is
Sharon Lokedi: just going to be a step in the right direction
Sharon Lokedi: of knowing, okay, I can do this or I'm here and
Sharon Lokedi: I have to do this. So I think, if anything,
Sharon Lokedi: it's just going to help me fuel me more and
Sharon Lokedi: get more excited for Boston.
Carrie Tollefson: Oh my goodness. Okay. So you told me beforehand that you
Carrie Tollefson: spend too much money in the city. So we got
Carrie Tollefson: to know, I mean I think you probably just came
Carrie Tollefson: home and you got showered. Did you eat something? What did
Carrie Tollefson: you eat? What was your first thing that you ate
Carrie Tollefson: after the race?
Sharon Lokedi: Actually we went to the Tavern on the Green and I had tea and
Sharon Lokedi: they had this quiche.
Carrie Tollefson: Ooh, yum.
Sharon Lokedi: Yeah, it was good. It was really good. And then
Sharon Lokedi: this green bagel.
Carrie Tollefson: Because it's St Paddy's Day on Monday.
Sharon Lokedi: Yes.
Carrie Tollefson: Oh my gosh, so fun.
Sharon Lokedi: So I had that and yeah, we have that big lunch
Sharon Lokedi: coming, so I need to like... I think that's enough for
Sharon Lokedi: now, but I am really looking forward to that because
Sharon Lokedi: they always have really good food.
Carrie Tollefson: Yeah, they do it up here.
Sharon Lokedi: I'm very excited. Yeah. Yeah.
Carrie Tollefson: Oh my goodness. Well, congratulations. Thank you for putting on such a
Carrie Tollefson: great show. It's always fun to watch you race.
Sharon Lokedi: Oh, thank you. Thank you. I appreciate it.
Carrie Tollefson: All right, everybody sitting across the table here from Abel Kipchumba,
Carrie Tollefson: who is the two- time United Airlines NYC Half Marathon
Carrie Tollefson: champion. Listen, 59:09 today and Conner Mantz ran you basically
Carrie Tollefson: to that finish line. So I got to hear about
Carrie Tollefson: your race. Let's talk about it. Coming back here as
Carrie Tollefson: the defending champion, how excited were you to toe the line
Carrie Tollefson: again this year?
Abel Kipchumba: First of all, today when I was coming for this second
Abel Kipchumba: Half Marathon for New York, I was training for Marathon,
Abel Kipchumba: but I was well- prepared for myself because you must
Abel Kipchumba: prepare your psychology. And when I reached here, the course
Abel Kipchumba: was changed, not like for the last year and today the field was so strong, that
Abel Kipchumba: helped me to push more and then I ran that 59:
Abel Kipchumba: 09. But when I compare for last year and this year,
Abel Kipchumba: this last year was cold, so cold. But this year is cold, but it has a lot of mist. But that cannot
Abel Kipchumba: affect the race. The race, when somebody is ready, you
Abel Kipchumba: are ready. So, that made me today run well.
Carrie Tollefson: Let's hear about your strategy coming in. Did you have
Carrie Tollefson: a strategy to sit and push at a certain moment?
Carrie Tollefson: Last year you made a move around 15K, this year it
Carrie Tollefson: was pretty close to that as well. Were you thinking,
Carrie Tollefson: I'm going to go once we get closer to Times Square?
Abel Kipchumba: Today I see the guy who we were running together, I see
Abel Kipchumba: he was strong, but when I reached around 17 kilometer,
Abel Kipchumba: I decided that when we continue going like this, it will
Abel Kipchumba: be tough for me to win this race. So in race, you must calculate yourself
Abel Kipchumba: first. Yeah, and then I change. And when I was trying
Abel Kipchumba: to move to go away, I do several zigzag and then I move.
Carrie Tollefson: That was really interesting, Abel, you were running and you guys were kind of
Carrie Tollefson: running next to each other, you were one step in
Carrie Tollefson: front of him, but then you started to zigzag, right?
Carrie Tollefson: You started to go to one side and then to
Carrie Tollefson: the other. Do you remember doing that?
Abel Kipchumba: Yeah, I remember because that guy was noticing, so you must
Abel Kipchumba: have planned yourself out to drop him and then you will be safe.
Carrie Tollefson: You were trying to drop Conner Mantz? I said that
Carrie Tollefson: on the broadcast. I said, " He's either going to drop
Carrie Tollefson: Conner Mantz or he's going to use too much energy."
Carrie Tollefson: So I was wondering what way it was going to
Carrie Tollefson: go, because that is a risk that you took, right?
Carrie Tollefson: I mean that could have worked for you by doing
Carrie Tollefson: the zigzag and putting surges in, or it could have
Carrie Tollefson: backfired, meaning it could have caused you to run too
Carrie Tollefson: much or too hard at that stage.
Abel Kipchumba: When you're running to doing zigzag, you use a lot
Abel Kipchumba: of energy, but you must work for it that you feel your body,
Abel Kipchumba: if you'll survive in front when you are going for a finishing line. So I decided, when I look
Abel Kipchumba: back, I see the guy still is strong, he is following
Abel Kipchumba: me, but I try to inject the best to be higher.
Abel Kipchumba: And then when I look, I says, that guy, he
Abel Kipchumba: will be constant. The guy will run constant and I
Abel Kipchumba: will be running constant. So that guy will not be close. So
Abel Kipchumba: it will be hard.
Carrie Tollefson: Yeah, Conner Mantz is a tough competitor and has run
Carrie Tollefson: very well, just set the American record and he doesn't
Carrie Tollefson: like getting beat. Nobody does, right?
Abel Kipchumba: I understand because I watched him in Houston-
Carrie Tollefson: You watched him run?
Abel Kipchumba: ... even before I ran this race yesterday, I review
Abel Kipchumba: back to follow him, to watch how he was running.
Abel Kipchumba: So, I see this guy is tough.
Carrie Tollefson: But so are you. I mean you've run the 10th
Carrie Tollefson: fastest half- marathon ever.
Abel Kipchumba: Yeah.
Carrie Tollefson: I mean that's pretty amazing. You walk around this big
Carrie Tollefson: city, the Big Apple, and you know that you are
Carrie Tollefson: the 10th fastest man on the planet in this half-
Carrie Tollefson: marathon. Does that give you confidence?
Abel Kipchumba: Yes, I am confident because I have run several 59 and 58. Yeah.
Carrie Tollefson: Okay. Tell me about how this race sets you up
Carrie Tollefson: for the Boston Marathon. You were eighth at the TCS
Carrie Tollefson: New York City Marathon last fall. Now you're heading into Boston.
Abel Kipchumba: But if I compare for last year when I was
Abel Kipchumba: coming to New York Marathon, I didn't many long runs.
Abel Kipchumba: I did only a few long runs. But if I compare
Abel Kipchumba: for this year with Boston, I did a lot of long runs.
Carrie Tollefson: So you've done a lot of long runs heading in?
Abel Kipchumba: I think even for Boston, I have a lot of
Abel Kipchumba: confidence. We will go out there and we see what
Abel Kipchumba: next they will be.
Carrie Tollefson: I mean I can see this glimmer in your eye, the
Carrie Tollefson: smile is huge, I wish everyone could see it. When you
Carrie Tollefson: talk to me about Boston, what do you think? I want
Carrie Tollefson: to win it?
Abel Kipchumba: No, no. You know Boston is a tactical game and
Abel Kipchumba: Boston is hard. It is for every time, weather can
Abel Kipchumba: change. When we say Boston is for anybody race, anybody
Abel Kipchumba: can win.
Carrie Tollefson: Yeah.
Abel Kipchumba: Yeah?
Carrie Tollefson: Yeah. The survival of the fittest there, that's a tough
Carrie Tollefson: course, but much like this, you get to see some
Carrie Tollefson: hills, you have some flats and things like that. Today
Carrie Tollefson: you tackled those later stages in Central Park really well,
Carrie Tollefson: it almost looked like you attacked the hills. Did you
Carrie Tollefson: feel really strong over the hills today?
Abel Kipchumba: Yes, I feel very strong.
Carrie Tollefson: Oh, what are you going to do to celebrate? I mean
Carrie Tollefson: you have to celebrate today's win. So are you doing
Carrie Tollefson: anything in the city? You going to have some ice cream
Carrie Tollefson: today? What do you do to celebrate? I mean I know
Carrie Tollefson: you do. Your agent is sitting next to you, I
Carrie Tollefson: wonder if I can ask Stavor what do you do to celebrate?
Abel Kipchumba: Maybe he know himself.
Carrie Tollefson: Oh, well, congratulations on everything. This has been really fun.
Carrie Tollefson: You don't get to see a two- time winner of
Carrie Tollefson: the United Airlines NYC Half very often. So we're sitting
Carrie Tollefson: in rare company. Congratulations.
Abel Kipchumba: Thank you.
Carrie Tollefson: Thanks everybody for joining us today at the Set the
Carrie Tollefson: Pace Podcast. Wow. These athletes are amazing on the course,
Carrie Tollefson: but they're also amazing off the course and I'm so
Carrie Tollefson: thankful I had the opportunity to interview them all. I
Carrie Tollefson: hope you enjoyed it and we'll see you next time.
Speaker 1: New York Road Runners is a nonprofit organization with a
Speaker 1: vision to build healthier lives and stronger communities through the
Speaker 1: transformative power of running. The support of members and donors
Speaker 1: like you helps us achieve our mission to transform the
Speaker 1: health and wellbeing of our communities through inclusive and accessible
Speaker 1: running experiences, empowering all to achieve their potential. Learn more
Speaker 1: and contribute at nyrr. org/ donate.