<p>"I planned this for many years. If you run the marathon, how can you stop running without running New York?," the ever-smiling Gebrselassie told a news conference on Friday. <br /><br />Gebrselassie's long-awaited debut was treated as a royal affair with race chief Mary Wittenberg of the New York Road Runners hailing him as "the greatest runner that our sport has ever seen, a superman". <br /><br />The 37-year-old Ethiopian could not resist an aside as Wittenberg listed some of his wondrous achievements. "Like to add to my collection," he muttered. <br />Gebrselassie will not have to leap Manhattan skyscrapers to achieve his goal but he will have to cope with the hills of the Central Park finish and a top-flight field including US defending champion Meb Keflezighi. <br /><br />He was introduced to his news conference by former world record holder and one-time great track rival Paul Tergat of Kenya. "He's a man that has achieved everything. And I think what is missing is New York," said Tergat, the 2005 winner. "And I believe that what we are going to see on Sunday probably will be very special." <br /><br />Keflezighi, the native Eritrean who last year became the first American to win the race in 27 years, said it would be stern test for the elite among the expected 43,000 starters. <br /><br />Other top runners include Japan's Arata Fujiwara, winner of the Ottawa Marathon and second in Tokyo, 26-year-old Kenyan Emmanuel Mutai, runner-up in London, and Swiss European championship winner Viktor Rothlin. <br /><br />Gebrselassie said the course should not bother him. "If you've been to Ethiopia, you know that the country is full of hills," he said, though agreeing he preferred a fast race. <br /><br />"It's the question of tactics." Gebrselassie said he had skipped New York over the years to concentrate on the relatively flat Berlin Marathon, where he ran the fastest marathon ever in 2007 and then bettered his mark by 27 seconds in the following year for the current world record of 2:03:59. <br /><br />"This is a competition also with my age. Before I lose all my speed, I have to break the record and improve my time. The place where I choose is Berlin," he explained. Ethiopia's twice Olympic 10,000 metres champion Derartu Tulu, 38, is back to defend her women's title against a field including Russian Inga Abitova, second this year in London, 2009 Boston Marathon winner Salina Kosgei of Kenya and Briton Mara Yamauchi, the London runner-up last year. <br /></p>
<p>"I planned this for many years. If you run the marathon, how can you stop running without running New York?," the ever-smiling Gebrselassie told a news conference on Friday. <br /><br />Gebrselassie's long-awaited debut was treated as a royal affair with race chief Mary Wittenberg of the New York Road Runners hailing him as "the greatest runner that our sport has ever seen, a superman". <br /><br />The 37-year-old Ethiopian could not resist an aside as Wittenberg listed some of his wondrous achievements. "Like to add to my collection," he muttered. <br />Gebrselassie will not have to leap Manhattan skyscrapers to achieve his goal but he will have to cope with the hills of the Central Park finish and a top-flight field including US defending champion Meb Keflezighi. <br /><br />He was introduced to his news conference by former world record holder and one-time great track rival Paul Tergat of Kenya. "He's a man that has achieved everything. And I think what is missing is New York," said Tergat, the 2005 winner. "And I believe that what we are going to see on Sunday probably will be very special." <br /><br />Keflezighi, the native Eritrean who last year became the first American to win the race in 27 years, said it would be stern test for the elite among the expected 43,000 starters. <br /><br />Other top runners include Japan's Arata Fujiwara, winner of the Ottawa Marathon and second in Tokyo, 26-year-old Kenyan Emmanuel Mutai, runner-up in London, and Swiss European championship winner Viktor Rothlin. <br /><br />Gebrselassie said the course should not bother him. "If you've been to Ethiopia, you know that the country is full of hills," he said, though agreeing he preferred a fast race. <br /><br />"It's the question of tactics." Gebrselassie said he had skipped New York over the years to concentrate on the relatively flat Berlin Marathon, where he ran the fastest marathon ever in 2007 and then bettered his mark by 27 seconds in the following year for the current world record of 2:03:59. <br /><br />"This is a competition also with my age. Before I lose all my speed, I have to break the record and improve my time. The place where I choose is Berlin," he explained. Ethiopia's twice Olympic 10,000 metres champion Derartu Tulu, 38, is back to defend her women's title against a field including Russian Inga Abitova, second this year in London, 2009 Boston Marathon winner Salina Kosgei of Kenya and Briton Mara Yamauchi, the London runner-up last year. <br /></p>
