http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/31/sports/americans-seek-solid-nyc-marathon-showing.html 2014-10-31 06:47:40 Americans Seek Solid New York City Marathon Showing No American woman has won the New York City Marathon since 1977, and Meb Keflezighi, in 2009, became the first American man to win the event since Alberto Salazar in 1982. === New York City Marathon But perhaps no pressure was greater than that felt by the American slices of one of the race’s deeper elite fields in recent years. American runners have had a difficult time on their home turf. No American woman has won the race since 1977, and when Meb Keflezighi won the men’s race in 2009, he was the first American to do so since Alberto Salazar in 1982. On Thursday, Keflezighi, clad in jeans and a gray hoodie, shared a stage with de Blasio and Bratton. Keflezighi said he felt “solid” going into the race, but at 39, his eyes were already on the trials to make the 2016 Rio Olympic team. “You just got to earn it,” he said of making an Olympic team. While he said his emotional victory at the “I don’t think anyone has shown their cards yet,” Keflezighi said. For the Olympian When a broken foot prevented her from competing in the race last year, it was devastating, said Goucher, who aims to run this year’s race in 2 hours 28 minutes. The marathon “changed the way I saw the city,” she said, adding, “I feel more connected to my father.” Nick Arciniaga, who said his goal was to finish in the top five, acknowledged that “it’s going to take some time” to duplicate the depth of the Kenyan and Ethiopian men’s field at the marathon and at other international competitions. Ryan Vail, the top American finisher last year, taking 13th, said he hoped for better results for his countrymen this time around. But he was among those who were astonished last month when Dennis Kimetto of Kenya set a world record of 2 hours 2 minutes 57 seconds at the Berlin Marathon. Kimetto became the first person to run 26.2 miles faster than 2:03 and broke the previous marathon record by 26 seconds.  “It’s almost turning into a sprint distance now,” Arciniaga said. Luke Puskedra, a first-time marathoner who trains with Salazar, said his road to New York was paved with long, sometimes lonely runs. “There’s a lot of thinking when you’re out there running,” he said. During one 28-miler, which he ran at a pace of 5 minutes 40 seconds per mile, he said he was in excruciating pain. “But there’s no crying in baseball or running,” Puskedra said. The American’s women’s field has ticked up in age, and no runner in the elite field has been cited as an inspiration as frequently as Deena Kastor, 41. Although Kastor said she was not running the 140 miles a week that she did previously in her career, she said she had been putting in about 100 to 110 miles. “That’s a lot of mileage on these legs,” she said. She also made her intentions clear: “I’m here to race.” In September, Kastor broke the world masters record in the half-marathon at the Rock ’n’ Roll Philadelphia Half-Marathon, and she said she would be vying for the masters marathon title on Sunday. Her Philadelphia performance was her fastest since she set the American record in 2006. But after Sunday’s race, she said, she will “be on the beach in Hawaii with a mai tai in my hand.”