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Kristin Price leads Ann Alyanak as they head into the final stretch of the 2007 Boston Marathon.

Interview with Kristin Price

Posted on April 25, 2007, Interview conducted April 19, 2007

By Alison Wade

Best known for her 2002 NCAA 10,000 meter title and her successful collegiate career at NC State, Kristin Price dropped off many people's radar screen upon graduating from college in 2004. Price hadn't lost her desire to run, but four years of intense running had taken a toll on her body. After graduation, Price underwent surgery on her tibia and spent approximately one year recovering.

While healing from surgery, Price began biking and swimming to stay in shape, which naturally led to her competing in—and winning—triathlons. In the fall of 2006, having fully recovered from surgery, Price entered the Columbus Marathon on a whim, without having done any marathon-specific training. Price felt better and better as the race went on and wound up winning the race and running an Olympic Marathon Trials qualifying time of 2:44:09. Since then Price has finished eighth at the USA Half Marathon Championships in Houston in (1:13:52) and 11th at the USA 15k Championships in Jacksonville (52:02).

The biggest breakthrough of Price's professional running career came last Monday, April 16th, at the 111th running of the Boston Marathon. Price finished 10th among the women in 2:38:57 and earned an Olympic Trials 'A' standard on a wet and windy day. She was the third American woman in the race, which also served as this year's USA Women's Marathon Championship.

Price began her collegiate career at Virginia Tech and had a successful year there before transferring to NC State. By the time she graduated, Price had won one NCAA title, six ACC titles, and was a 12-time All-American. Her personal bests on the track—all run during her college years—include a 15:35.67 5,000m and a 32:50.01 10,000m.

Now 25, Price is a full-time graduate student at NC State, where she is working on her Master's in Food Science. A native of Harrison City, Pennsylvania, she has a twin sister, Kara, who also ran the 2007 Boston Marathon.

What was your time goal going into the marathon?
Going in, weather permitting, my goal was a 2:36, but I also just wanted to go for the [Olympic Trials] 'A' standard [2:39:00 or faster].

Did you adjust that once you saw the weather forecast?
Because it was the USA Championship, I needed to go for place also. After the weather became such a factor, I kind of threw out the time and just focused on place, hoping that the time would come along with that.

It sounds like you and Ann Alyanak let some of the other U.S. runners go at the start and then worked your way back up by the finish. Is that what happened?
I didn't really know who went. At the very start, I was so [focused on] trying to tell myself, 'Just be patient, slow down. Don't jump the gun,' that I wasn't paying attention to who went and who was American.

We knew that Zoila Gomez was up there because we could see her, but later I found out that there were two other Americans up ahead. We just kind of let them go and our big pack just stuck together.

At what point did you decide to go for it, and when did the pack break up?
Through 10 miles, there was just a big pack. Ann [Alyanak] and I were toward the front of that. Melissa White from Hansons put a little bit of a surge in there somewhere around the halfway point. I was just relieved that something happened. I didn't want to make any type of move, but I wanted someone to [laughs]. I'm just not experienced enough in a marathon to do that, but I was glad that she did. It kind of broke it up a little bit. Then we started catching the runners up ahead.

And then it came down to a sprint finish between you and Ann Alyanak?
[Laughing] If you want to call it a sprint. It wasn't much of a sprint.

Can you compare your Boston Marathon experience to your Columbus Marathon experience?
Aside from the distance, you can't compare it. It's a totally different experience. There are people everywhere, it's so loud. The finish is absolutely incredible; it's something that I, personally, will never forget. It's so loud and exciting.

What did you think of the early start for the elite women? Did you like running out in front?
I really liked that. I think it helps set apart the women from the men, and it really made the championship race a little more special for the women. Running [with the men] takes away from our race.

Did the lead men catch you, or were you just in front of them?
No—that was another goal, not to get caught by the lead men. I think we beat them by a minute or two. That was definitely one of the goals [laughs].

Did your success at the Columbus Marathon last fall make you more serious about marathoning?
Yeah, definitely. I went into Columbus…a friend was doing it and I thought, 'I just wanted to see if I can do this, since I've never done anything remotely close to running 26 miles. I want to see what it feels like.' I was sick of saying, 'Oh, I could do that,' and I just wanted to do it!

[My friend] was going for 7:00 pace and I was thinking to myself, 'I have no idea what that's going to feel like.' I have no concept of pace on a run. I decided to try and see how far I could make it. If I couldn't hang on, I had nothing to lose.

When we started, I just felt good. Being a distance runner, I kind of know my body, and I felt like I could hold that—or a little bit faster pace—for a longer time. I kind of just decided after three miles just to run how I felt and see how long I could make it. The farther and farther I got into the race, the better and better I was feeling. When I finished, I was so excited and just juiced up on adrenaline, basically, that I didn't feel anything. I was like, 'That was easy! I can do this!' That just totally motivated me to do a bigger marathon.

Because of your late decision to run Columbus, you didn't do any real marathon training. Did you do a more specific marathon program this time?
No. I don't have a coach or anything, so I really don't know how to train for a marathon. I'm not going to pretend, 'I know how to do it!' I had no idea. I did not do one single track workout, I didn't get on the track at all. I just made sure I got my long runs in, that was pretty much the only difference. But again, I did those long runs by myself. Now, I'm kind of getting a concept of pace and I think I did a lot of them under 6:00 pace. At some point, I actually probably did a race [effort/pace] in one of my long runs, looking back.

I want to get a coach and I want to do a good marathon training program, to see how I can do.

Each marathon has been a stepping stone for you. Does this make you even more excited about the marathon?
Oh, I can't wait to do the next one. I can't wait for next year, for the Olympic Trials—along with everyone else. Now everyone's saying, 'You have a shot at the Olympics,' and I'm thinking to myself, 'Yeah, but everyone wants to make the Olympics, and everyone is going to come in in their top shape.' But it just makes me so excited for next year and for the next one I do.

Will you run another marathon before the Olympic Trials?
I think so. I'm planning on it, as long as I don't get injured or anything.

And then there's the possibility that you'll make the World Championship team, right?
I haven't heard anything, but I'm hoping. I really, really want to do it.

Have you been on any U.S. teams before?
No, I haven't ever been out of the country [laughs].

That's somewhat surprising, because you graduated from NC State on track to have a big professional running career. You signed with Nike, then what happened?
Right after I graduated, I needed to get surgery for a stress fracture. I had a screw put in my tibia. It pretty much took me a full year of nearly no training whatsoever, and nearly no running. After that, I just didn't know what would happen. I just didn't feel like running was what I should have been doing and I didn't feel comfortable on a contract with Nike when I wasn't performing at my best; I didn't like the situation.

I just wanted to step away from it and get back into it [at my own pace]. I wanted to see how much I could get back before I started to do anything serious again.

Was it hard being away from running during that year?
Yeah. I tried [laughs]. I definitely tried to run as much as I could, which was definitely not a smart thing. It probably [extended] my time away from running. But I got on the bike and in the pool a lot, which got me into triathlons.

It was hard, but at the same time, I think it was a good mental break. I think I was mentally worn out, just from four straight years of competing. I put a lot of pressure on myself in school. I think I just needed to step back from it, reevaluate things, and [laughs] relax a little bit.

Tell us a little bit about your triathlons. It sounds like at some point you were torn as to which one you should pursue more seriously. Has your success in Boston shifted the scale toward running?
Yeah, it definitely has. I've entered the EagleMan Triathlon in June, it's a half ironman. I entered it months ago and it's a qualifier for the Hawaii Ironman, so I'm going to do it. At the time I was thinking that I'd like to qualify for Hawaii and do that, but now, if I were to qualify, I don't think I would [do it].

When I wasn't performing at my best in running, I was kind of considering focusing on triathlons. I thought I could be successful and it would be good to try something new and different. But in my recent races, I feel like I've been fairly consistent lately in the national races, so my focus is definitely shifting back towards running.

So did you still do a lot of biking and swimming when you were training for Boston?
Oh yeah. It was basically triathlon training with long runs [laughs].

How much mileage can you run now?
I don't know. I do a lot of running on a treadmill, which seems odd and I didn't want to say anything about it because I knew people would be like, 'Boston's hilly. Why are you doing that?' I thought I'd get criticized for it. I run on a treadmill so much. I think my mileage was around 80 miles a week, but when I add in the biking and swimming, I would say time-wise it's more like 100-mile weeks. But yes, I love treadmills.

Really?
I love them, they're addicting.

Are you competitive with yourself, looking at your pace and trying to go faster?
Oh constantly, yes. Every run I do, I just constantly increase the pace, so by the end I could be running 5:20 pace. It's probably a control thing, but I love just getting faster and faster and seeing how fast I can finish. And not just [picking it up] the last tenth of a mile, but finishing with a good last mile in 5:20. I just love that!

So you didn't do speedwork on the track, but that was probably your own form of speedwork.
Yeah. I figured I could run on a treadmill, but I'll get my strength from biking, and I'll get my cardiovascular work, without pounding, from swimming.

Did you do any of this training with anyone?
I do most of my running by myself, but there's a triathlon group here in the area that I swim and ride with. My sister, Kara, is a better rider than I am, so it's real fun chasing her around Raleigh, let me tell you [laughs].

[Jokingly] And you don't get angry at her?
She's a great rider. We get really competitive on the bike but it's good, she pushes me.

Is it hard to balance being a full-time student with all of this training?
It is hard to balance it, but at the same time, my advisor is awesome. He's totally supportive of my training and my running career. I couldn't be in a better situation [in terms of having] a flexible schedule. I couldn't be in a better situation.

When will you be done with graduate school?
Hopefully next fall. I was supposed to be done at the end of this summer, but my advisor said my grant could continue on into the fall, which will give me some time to train for the Olympic Trials.

You're a member of the adidas Raleigh Track Club. What do you do with them?
We went to the [2006 USATF National Club Cross Country Championships] and finished fourth as a team. We were dealing with some injuries so we only went with five runners, but we did really well there. Between one and three of us will run a lot of the local races around [Raleigh], and we compete in national championships as much as we can.

Do you train with them much?
We all try to meet occasionally, maybe once or twice a week, but with all of our different schedules, it's very difficult.

What do you think your next race will be?
I don't know. I'm hoping to hear about making the World team. If I do, that will probably be my next race, or I'll probably jump into a 5k or 10k, just for some speedwork. If not that, I've talked to Howard Nippert—he's an ultramarathoner from Virginia Tech who I absolutely look up to, he just has so much knowledge about distance running. We were talking about doing a marathon this fall, if I don't make the World team.

How are your legs recovering from Boston?
Not too bad. My sister [Kara, who finished 78th among the women in 3:06:37] and I ran the day after. It was very slow and a little painful, but it loosened us up a little bit. I'm feeling pretty good, no injuries or anything.

Has the leg that you had surgery on been a problem at all since it healed?
Not at all, which is kind of amazing. I thought that I would have minor problems with it for the rest of my life, but I haven't had any issues with it whatsoever.

Finally, as someone who began her NCAA career at Virginia Tech, it must have been difficult to hear about the tragedy which took place there around the same time as you were running a great race in Boston. Would you mind sharing your thoughts on that?
Honestly, I really don't know how to express how troubling that is. It's just sick, it's disturbing. I lived literally 50 feet from the dormitory [where some of the shootings occurred]. When I was in drug testing [after Boston], I saw it on the news. It's just terrible. I feel terrible for the families, and for everyone on Virginia Tech's campus. I don't know how you could possibly get on with your life after that. I know that God has a purpose for everything that happens, and sometimes we don't understand it. This one I definitely don't understand, but hopefully we'll see the reason.

Is there anything else you'd like to add?
The success I have had in all my races and in Boston comes from the strength and gifts that God has given me, and I owe those achievements to His grace.