Press Release - real,-Berlin-Marathon - 9/27/07

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
                      
                      Press conference Highlights
                     Thursday, 27th September 2007 

Gete Wami, (Ethiopia) real,- BERLIN champion 2006 

"I am pleased to start in Berlin for the second time. I am in good shape 
but do not want to make predictions for the race on Sunday. To run a time 
of sub 2:20 hours will depend on many factors like weather and competition. 
I did not change my preparations for this marathon also when I am running 
the ING New York City Marathon in November. It is always the same hard 
training. Marathon is never easy. That is the way I am living. At the 
moment put my focus on the real,- BERLIN-MARATHON, and then I will start 
thinking about the next races and the Olympic Games 2008 in Beijing." 

Naoko Sakamoto, (Japan) Personal best of 2:21:51 hours 

"Due to the fact of an injury I had to take a break from running last year 
and started to prepare for the marathon again in the beginning of 2007. 
Therefore I trained in high altitude in Kunming, China and in New Mexico, 
USA. For Japanese runners the real,- BERLIN-MARATHON is a very special 
event because a number of elite female participants ran their personal best 
here. I am just naming Mizuki Noguchi or Yoko Shibui. I hope to continue 
this success somehow and achieve my best." 

Irina Mikitenko, (Germany) 

"Some time ago I said that I do not know if I would continue after the 
real,- BERLIN-MARATHON as an elite runner or just for fun. That has not 
changed. By Sunday evening I will know if I am going to run again. I 
trained very well but do not think too much about my time. Let us see what 
is going to happen. To break 2:30 hours is my first goal. Probably I am 
able to run faster but I do not want to set myself under pressure. Sabrina 
Mockenhaupt [who is going to run her first marathon next week] sees Beijing 
or World Championships as a goal. I do not want to make up my mind about 
which distance I will go for at the Olympic Games before Sunday's race. I 
trained since June for the race here and Berlin is a very nice place for 
me. My main goal is to run road races and the half marathon in future. At 
the moment I cannot imagine to run more than one good marathon a year. 
Maybe in the next years it will be possible to run two or three a year, but 
for now I focus on one very good marathon a year." 


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