Whenever I'm being invited to the New York City Marathon like today, I need to think twice because I know it's a very tough race.
If marathoners finish they win.
I'm a really fast runner. No one can catch me - I'm quick.
The Cardiff Half Marathon has already proved itself to be one of the biggest and best road races in the U.K., and when the best athletes in the world run on the same course, the times should be spectacular. But the real beauty of this event is that ordinary runners get the chance to line up on the same start line as the best athletes in the world.
Since I achieved something, running has exploded in my country. For me sometimes it is difficult even to know who the athletes are who are competing at the highest level. There are thousands.
I ran track in high school. I was a fragile young man, personally and physically. I tried football. That didn't work out; I broke my collarbone. But I always loved running.
How did I know you ran a 4:30 mile in high school? That's easy. Everyone ran a 4:30 mile in high school.
I ran track in high school very competitively, and then ran it D-1 at Boston University. I ran there on an athletic scholarship and chose BU because they had both a good track program and an arts program.
Fitness has always been one of my strengths. I can do all the long-distance runs. When I was at school and we entered the competitions, I used to do the 100m, 200m, and the 1500m as well, so it's never just been a pace thing.
Running isn't a sport because anyone can do it. Anything we can all do can't be a sport. I can run, you can run. My mother can run, you don't see her on the cover of Sports Illustrated do you?
When I came to New York in 1978, I was a full-time school teacher and track runner, and determined to retire from competitive running. But winning the New York City Marathon kept me running for another decade.
If you are a really good marathoner, you have to run New York.
What does it prove, running in the AAU meet?
I'm a running coach and I am going to continue to run, but I would hope that we are better defensively.
I don't know why I run so fast. I just run.
In my younger days, I loved to run. Although it may be hard for you to believe it, I did. And I did win a few races.
Running is so natural to me. When I was running track, people used to ask me, 'When are you gonna start running hard?' The wind hits me in the face, and I feel so smooth... Man, I love to run!
I was running sub-13 minutes for 5,000 when I was still coached by Alan Storey, and I won double gold at the Europeans in 2010.
I have to have routine check-ups every three to six months. While the cardiologists think I can compete, there is no problem. I didn't consider quitting. Once the cardiologists said I could run, I decided to fight.
I never lost a freestyle race. Never. Not even in the YMCA.
I still do intense interval training. I like miles and quarters best. In races I can set my mind, and I believe I could break 2:20 again.
The thing I'm afraid of the most with the 800m is injuries. That's why I don't normally like to run in a group: I prefer to be in front, just in case someone pushes me with their spikes. I don't like stuff like that.
I've always been athletic - did the 100 metres and 1500 m at school, cross-country races - and did well in them.
I love the 1,500 meters. I knew that, if I had to do it to win, I'd run under 4:05. That means I could pick up 100 points, maybe even 150 points, on anybody in the world.
Cats 25 years younger can't run with me.
