Alan Culpepper
Alan Culpepper
Alan Culpepperis an American distance runner and two time United States Olympian. Along with competing on four World Championship teams, his accomplishments include finishing fourth in the Boston Marathon in 2005, winning the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon and finishing 12th at the 2004 Olympic marathon in Athens. His 2:09:41 at the 2002 Chicago Marathon tied him with Alberto Salazar for the fastest ever debut marathon by an American, and remains his fastest marathon. Culpepper has won three U.S. Cross...
crowd mind opens point tour
It went through my mind at that point that this is like the Tour de France, where the crowd opens up as you go by. It was really cool.
athens marathon prepared run tough whereas
For Athens and Boston, I had really prepared for tough conditions, whereas here you can just prepare to run the marathon at your pace,
factor somewhat suffered time tried wind
Every time we tried to get going there was some factor -- weather, wind or turns. I think we all suffered somewhat from conditions.
delicate race
It's a delicate balance. Because you don't want the race to go without you.
problem three
Look, we have that problem solved, because there are only three of them in the Olympics. We got 187 of them out of the way for you.
moment
There was a moment there when we were getting concerned,
countries race
Most countries around the world, they just don't think that way. They think, 'I'm just going to get in the race and I'm just there to race.'
adds course focused friendly help helps knowing loops mental middle needs side spectator stay
Our sport needs spectator friendly and all the help it can get on that side. That adds to the allure of the race. And just from the mental side it helps you stay focused better knowing you do these loops and you're not just off on the course out in the middle of nowhere.
bring definitely excitement uniform usa
The crowd's definitely going to bring more excitement for those that have the USA uniform on.
area course huge pace pants running settle sleeves whereas zone
In Athens, I was running in long sleeves and pants in the summertime to acclimate as much as I could. ... In Boston, there's never any area on the course ... where you can settle in and just get on a pace and zone out, whereas here you can do that. You can zone out for huge periods.
people seen surprised
But for those of us in it, we're not as surprised as some other people are. We've seen it building.
brian guy
When Brian went by me, I thought he was some guy that jumped on the course.
brian guy onto ran
When Brian went by me, I thought it was some guy who ran onto the course.
five last nice people profession progress seen six surprised work
Those of us in the sport who make our profession at it have seen this coming. We're not as surprised as some other people are. We've seen it building. This has been a work in progress for the last five or six years. It's a nice change.