Courtesy: USATF

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America's greatest women's marathon legend and the country's most promising talent gathered for a pre-race New York City Marathon press conference Thursday morning at Tavern on the Green.

1984 Olympic gold medalist Joan Benoit Samuelson, two-time U.S. 10k champion Deena Drossin (pictured), 2001 U.S. 20k, 25k and half- marathon road champion Milena Glusac, 2:32 marathoner Christine Clifton, 1989 and '90 NYC runner-up Kim Jones, 1997 runner-up Colleen De Reuck, and 1999 Twin Cities Marathon champion Kim Pawelek had similar takes on Sunday's race, which serves as the U.S. men's and women's marathon championship.

"I know the New York Road Runners have taken pride in getting the race as the national championships," said Drossin, who makes her highly anticipated marathon debut on Sunday. "I think it means even more now, after the events of Sept. 11."

Samuelson, the American record holder and former world record holder, and Drossin, who is considered by Samuelson to have perhaps the best chance of breaking her 16-year-old American record of 2:21:21 in the future, sat at a table with their fellow competitors, embodying what many feel is the past and future of American distance running.

"It's great (having so many strong American women in the field), because it means we're going to run fast," said Clifton. "I'm really excited to be part of such a deep field."

The 44-year-old Samuelson is running a marathon for the first time since the 2000 Olympic Trials, while Drossin is running her first marathon, period. While Drossin has been training to run 2:24 on Sunday, Samuelson said she's "going to run as fast as I can. . I run because I love to run. I now am being inspired by their (up-and-coming runners') training and results."

What Sunday's results will be are awaited with exceptionally eager anticipation and buzz. With the U.S. Championship being contested within one of the world's top international marathons, the unknown of how young lions such as Drossin, Pawelek, Glusac and Clifton will perform is cause for optimism. And with male and female runners competing for a total purse of $514,000 - including at least $41,000 in prize money to go exclusively to American women in New York - the incentive to perform well is strong.

Providing an even more powerful incentive is the opportunity to run on the streets of New York at a historic time. Speaking individually with reporters after the press conference, Drossin, sporting a red, white and blue ribbon in her vest, became visibly emotional speaking about Sept. 11 and what Sunday's marathon means for the city and the country.

"I brought a big spool of red, white and blue ribbons," said Drossin, who plans to offer the ribbons to other Americans in the field to wear on race day. "I'll definitely be wearing mine."