Medalists Ready for Long Haul

Deena Kastor appreciated the welcome she got at her parents’ home in Thousand Oaks after she won the bronze medal in the Athens Olympic marathon, the first U.S. woman to win an Olympic marathon medal since Joan Benoit in 1984.

And she was thrilled with the parade and banners that honored her and Meb Keflezighi, the men’s Olympic marathon silver medalist, along Old Mammoth Road at their Mammoth Lakes training base.

But Kastor isn’t the type to rest on her laurels.

“I was ready to be over it,” said Kastor, who grew up in Agoura Hills and was known as Deena Drossin until her 2003 marriage to physiotherapist Andrew Kastor. “That was the biggest challenge. I’m not good at dwelling on things I’ve done.

“The second I crossed the finish line I was already thinking about preparing for New York.”

Kastor and UCLA alumnus Keflezighi lead a stellar field for Sunday’s New York City Marathon. The elite women’s race, which will start about 35 minutes before the men’s race, will also feature Paula Radcliffe of Great Britain, the women’s marathon world record holder who failed to finish the marathon or the 10,000 at Athens. Also entered are defending New York champion Margaret Okayo of Kenya and 2000 winner Ludmila Petrova of Russia.

Sunday’s race will be the third marathon in seven months for Kastor, testing her physically and mentally. Her preparation wasn’t as extensive as for the Olympics, for which she trained with male runners and wore heavy, long-sleeved shirts to simulate the heat and humidity along the path from Marathon to Panathinaiko Stadium.

Her planning paid off in Athens, where she found the strength to move up from 28th after 5 kilometers to third place a few minutes before she entered the stadium and finished in 2 hours 27 minutes, 20 seconds. She knows that feat will be tough to duplicate in New York.

“I haven’t been a stickler in my preparation because Athens took such detail,” she said by phone from New York on Thursday. “It’s always been a goal of mine to win in New York City, but if it doesn’t happen this time, I’ll surely be back.

“As far as training, I haven’t done the workouts [listed for her] on paper. But overall, I’m just excited. They’ve put together such a great field and the city has been embracing this.”

Temperatures are expected to be around 50 degrees on Sunday, ideal marathon weather. Keflezighi, a native of Eritrea who has lived in San Diego since 1987, considers that cold, but he’s optimistic. He last ran in New York in 2002 and finished ninth in 2:12:35.

“My training has been pretty good. Not too bad,” he said in a telephone interview on Thursday. “I’m excited about Sunday. It’s good to be back.”

Like Kastor, Keflezighi enjoyed the post-Olympic celebrations organized for him.

“Those are big honors,” said Keflezighi, whose Athens time of 2:11:29 was second to Italian Stefano Baldini’s 2:10:55. “Our hard work has been acknowledged. It’s gratifying, but you’ve got to have the right support from your coaches and family.”

Former UCLA coach Bob Larsen, who was on the U.S. Olympic staff and is a coach with the Team Running USA program, said both medalists have rebounded from post-Athens fatigue.

“Deena hasn’t been quite as quick to feel stronger. Meb was flat for quite a while and she was too, but he came out of it a bit quicker,” he said.

For Kastor and Keflezighi, the New York finish line will represent the end of their seasons. Both will rest for at least a month and Keflezighi said he would continue to catch up with friends, who have clamored to see his medal.

“Some put it on, and that’s a good feeling,” he said. “They enjoy it. A lot of people contributed to my success, like coaches and family members. I’m happy to be able to do that for them.”

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New York City Marathon

* About 35,000 athletes are expected to run, stroll and wheel through the five boroughs of New York City in the 35th annual event. A record 34,729 athletes finished last year’s race.

* Deena Kastor of Mammoth Lakes, the women’s Olympic bronze medalist, and UCLA alumnus Meb Keflezighi, the men’s silver medalist, are making return appearances. Veteran U.S. distance runners Abdi Abdirahman and Bob Kennedy will make their marathon debuts. The top U.S. male and female finishers will win the Alberto Salazar award.

* Awards will total $500,000, with bonuses going to runners who meet varying time standards.