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Mizuki Noguchi, Olympic Marathon Champion:

„After the Olympics I resumed training in March. For my preparations I

went to St. Moritz in Switzerland. It was really good and it was also

funny, because there were some European runners too, and they wondered

how much we are running. Especially when I ran repetitions: 45 rounds

on a 400 m track as part of my speed work.”

“Yesterday I looked at the course for Sunday and I am confident that

this is a good course to break the Japanese record (2:19:41 /Yoko

Shibui Berlin 2004). It is flat, the weather as it is today is perfect

and the only thing that might be a little bit difficult are some tight

curves. I will step by step try to come closer to the world record of

Paula Radcliffe, but it is a very strong record of her. I feel more

relaxed when I can just start running without thinking about winning a

championship or so. But I will run with three pace makers and so I will

feel quite relaxed. But also I will run my own race. I will try to see

the pacemakers as rivals as well, so maybe that can make me a bit

faster. This will be my first mass-marathon. I have never run in a

field with men together. Normally I just run in a women marathon.”

About Olympics and Paula Radcliffe:

“One day I want to compete against Paula, but I can’t say when this

will be. In Athens I already thought before the race that something

isn’t right with her. Usually she is very relaxed before a race. And

then as we started the race, she ran somehow differently. The weather

conditions there weren’t that hard for me. In Japan we are used to hot

weather in summer, although it is not that humid. The course with its

ups and downs wasn’t that bad for me as I am a small person. We are

known for our hard training, running 30 or 40 k in a training session.

After the Olympics I had a lot of official appointments. But I have not

changed since then, my surrounding is the only thing that has changed.”

Bong-ju Lee (South Korea)

“I have trained a lot since the Bewag BERLIN HALFMARATHON in April. I

have worked more concentrated and I feel confident. Now I know the

course and can go more confident in the race. I normally start training

two months after a marathon. I want to do it to be motivated again for

the next race. I know that there are a lot of good Kenyans, and I know

that they are the favourites. But I will prove that the Korean runners

can win