She’s in a New York State of Mind

Deena Kastor hopes to add the ING New York City Marathon 2006 title to an already impressive résumé

When plotting her fall schedule, Deena Kastor could have chosen Chicago’s flat course in October to try to better her American marathon record and repeat as champion. But she essentially said, “Been there, won that.”

Instead, the reigning queen of the Chicago and London marathons and the 2004 Olympic bronze medalist has her heart set on taking Manhattan. The Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island, too. She’ll compete in the ING New York City Marathon, a race she hasn’t run in five years.

“I chose New York for the energy and everything this marathon stands for; it’s just a fabulous stage to perform on,” she said during a recent whirlwind tour of the city that included cooking with TV chef Bobby Flay at his Bar Americain restaurant, visiting the New York Stock Exchange, attending a WNBA game at Madison Square Garden, and running with NYRR Foundation kids in Central Park.

Kastor, 33, didn’t start training for the ING New York City Marathon until she and her husband, Andrew, returned to her Mammoth Lakes, CA, home on August 1. That means 140 miles of road work each week, much of it on hills to simulate the New York course. Yet she knows nothing can duplicate the unique vibe of the great city race.

“The energy at the starting line is so spectacular,” she says with a beatific smile. “You see people along the course waving the different flags and you understand just how diverse this city is. So many New Yorkers come out to support the runners, and that’s part of what makes this race so grand. It’s great to be able to feed off the energy that the spectators bring to the streets. And to come into Central Park and see all those spectators is probably the grandest scene of all.”

A New York win for Kastor could make her someone that even casual sports-watchers recognize, the way non-auto racing fans stop and point at Danica Patrick. Increased name recognition could benefit Kastor’s future non-running ventures: a cookbook with the working title, “Making Strides in the Kitchen”; a book of short stories, and a café.

A loss of privacy is the potential drawback, but Kastor says she isn’t fazed by the possibility of going from the sports section to the bold-faced type of the celebrity page.

“I really enjoy sharing my life and experiences with people who appreciate what I do, whether they’re runners or people who stop me on the subway,” she says. “I enjoy that because people put a lot of time and energy into their work and lives, and I could help them or learn something myself from them, then that’s great communication and great synergy.”

Should Kastor—attractive, poised, thoughtful and well-spoken—become the public face of American distance running, the sport would benefit greatly. It’s impossible to imagine her becoming embroiled in the kind of drug-fueled controversy that has tarnished the achievements of world 100-meter sprint champion Justin Gatlin and cycling’s 2006 Tour de France winner Floyd Landis.

“It is a shame,” she said, her pixie-cut blonde hair shaking from side to side. “There are so many excuses that athletes use to try to justify using performance-enhancing substances. I just think it’s the lazy person’s way to reach success. You don’t have to cheat to get there. You can be successful if you make the right choices.

“To earn a medal and to break a record and know that it took this meticulous team effort is a really gratifying experience, as opposed to taking an illegal substance to get there. I think those people [athletes who fail drug tests] are really just in it for the money and the fame, as opposed to really figuring out a (drug-free) way to reach your goals. We have a choice to be either (clean) or (dirty), and the pride comes from making the right choice.”

After forays in soccer, softball, and ice-skating, Kastor began running at her mother’s urging at age 11. She won seven Southeastern Conference titles at Arkansas while earning a degree in creative writing and journalism. She then joined renowned coach Joe Vigil in the high altitude of Alamosa, CO, and took her running career to new heights.

In 2004, oppressive heat and humidity in Athens prevented some runners—including world record-holder Paula Radcliffe—from finishing the Olympic marathon. But Kastor trained in extra layers of clothing to prepare for the searing conditions. Sticking to the race plan she and Vigil devised in his coaching finale, she bided her time until the second half of the race and bolted past weary competitors to finish third. Not since Joan Benoit-Samuelson took gold in 1984 had an American woman medaled in an Olympic marathon.

Now coached by Team Running USA’s Terrence Mahon, Kastor won last year’s LaSalle Chicago Marathon in 2:21:25 and the Flora London Marathon this past April in an American record 2:19:36. She is tied for first place with Kenya’s Rita Jeptoo in the World Marathon Majors series standings. But Kastor said neither London nor Chicago truly stoked her competitive fire.

“It seemed like both of them were time-motivated,” she says, looking at her watch-free wrist for emphasis. “More like time trials and trying to slip under the 2:20 barrier than racing against the competition. So I wanted to jump back into a marathon where I’m racing against the women and not worrying about what kind of time I’m running.”

She’s sure to find stiff competition in the ING New York City Marathon from the likes of Kenya’s Catherine Ndereba—the second-fastest female marathoner ever—Kenya’s Susan Chepkemei, the Netherlands’ Lornah Kiplagat and a host of top-flight runners looking to duplicate the surprising showing of last year’s winner, Jelena Prokopcuka of Latvia, who will return to defend her title.

Kastor made her marathon debut here in 2001, and set an American women’s record for a first marathon that still stands (2:26:58). A neophyte no more, she is returning here to win.

“Every time you run a marathon you learn so much, in the training and in the race itself,” she says. “I’m more mature, more motivated, more regimented in my training. I definitely feel an advantage coming into this race as opposed to 2001.”