Flanagan, Willis Talk About Reebok Boston Indoor Games

BOSTON
– Event organizers on Thursday hosted a press conference in advance of
the 2009 Reebok Boston Indoor Games, which will be run Saturday evening
at the Reggie Lewis Center. On hand for Thursday’s press conference
were Olympic 1,500m bronze medalist Nick Willis of New Zealand and
Olympic 10,000m bronze medalist and American record holder Shalane
Flanagan.
 
Below are excerpts from Thursday’s press conference.
 
NICK WILLIS:
 
“I
thought I came away very encouraged (from Millrose) for two reasons. It
showed that my fitness is coming together in a lot of base- training
type stuff and then I came through with the speed.  Because I was
disappointed I didn’t win, it was actually something that made me
happy.   There’s some irony in that statement.  Because I didn’t win I
was happy that I was angry about it.  It’s the first time I really
stepped into this kind of professional world and walked away not
winning and feeling really frustrated about that.  So that shows a good
state of mind and tells you you’re competing against the very best in
the world.
 
I hope to win every race that I possibly can so when
I don’t win it’ll give me a greater hunger for the future.  That’s what
the goal is for this weekend, to come away with the impervious victory
that happens in the professional world.  They don’t come every week. 
I’ll be racing this weekend with that in mind as my first and foremost
goal.  I think Laban Rotich’s stadium record is 3:53.18 I think, so
that’s definitely in the cards as well.  That’s something else I’ll be
running at as well.
 
Millrose is unique as they give you the
spotlight as they call your name as you come around the track.  But
here they bring each of us out and you get to run down that
straightaway in front of that crowd and it seems to erupt.  It just
gets you pumped up just before the start of the race. You try to relax
and hold back the pace of the race, but you just can’t help yourself
because of the sound of the crowd.  I’m definitely waiting for that the
last couple of laps.  I’ll always remember when Alistair Cragg took
down Kenese Bekele and the place just went crazy.  I’d love for that to
happen.  There’s a little bit of a rivalry going on between a guy named
Alan Webb and myself. Not directly, but because of our affiliation with
our university and stuff. Hopefully that will really get the crowd
going.
 
SHALANE FLANAGAN:
 
I
think I’m addicted to running here at home.  I think there’s nothing
more special than running in front of your family and friends and
people who really genuinely care about you and your performances, so
I’m really looking forward to Saturday night.  I’ve had some good
preparation down in Mexico training.  I haven’t done much speed, but I
feel like I’m extremely strong.  I hope that strength will carry over
into some fast times.
 
Re: Breaking the 5,000m indoor AR:  I
don’t want to take anything for granted, but I would hope, that since
last summer we’ve done a lot of basically 15:10 back to back, that
sneaking under 15:07 should be feasible.  But like I said, I’ve only
been on the track maybe two times for workouts.  Both were good
indicators that I would run sub 15:07 but I still have to go out and
perform, there has to be some good pace making and some good
competition.  Overall, I just would like to come out and perform for my
family.
 
The 14th-annual Reebok Boston Indoor Games begins at
5:30 p.m. on Feb. 7 at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center at
Roxbury Community College, 1350 Tremont St. Information is now
available on-line at www.BostonIndoorGames.com, and tickets are
available on-line or by calling 1-877-TIX-TRAC. USATF welcomes you to
pay with your VISA.
 
For more information on the 2009 Reebok Boston Indoor Games and the Indoor Visa Championship Series, visit www.visachampionshipseries.com.