Mebrahtom “Meb” Keflezighi won New York City Marathon in 2009 and was at the 2011 Marathon, where I spoke with him at the elite men’s press conference.
On April 19, 2010 Meb Keflezighi ran his third fastest time of 2:09:26 while finishing 5th in the 114th Boston Marathon, despite training at half his usual mileage with a knee injury. He ran with the leaders for much of the race before slowing at the finish.[11] He ran the San Jose Half Marathon as part of his preparation towards a New York title defense and he comfortably won by a margin of three minutes, finishing in 1:01:45.[12] He would later go on to finish in sixth place (first US finisher) at the 2010 New York Marathon.
In 2011 Meb ran a PR in the marathon of 2:09:13 in New York. Once again he was in sixth place and the first US finisher.
In the 2004 Summer Olympics, Meb finished second in the men’s marathon, winning a silver medal in a personal season’s best time of 2 hours, 11 minutes and 29 seconds. He finished 42 seconds ahead of Brazilian Vanderlei de Lima, who was leading the marathon, until he was pushed off the course by protester Cornelius Horan. (remember that?) This was the first medal won by an American man in the Olympic marathon since Frank Shorter won the gold in the 1972 Summer Olympics and took the silver medal in the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal.[1][7]
Meb Keflezighi lives and trains in Mammoth Lakes, California.
Despite his winning ways, Nike decided the couldn’t afford his sponsorship so Meb went with Sketchers.
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