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http://espn.go.com/sports/endurance/story/_/id/11793667/endurance-sports-meb-keflezighi-brother-merhawi-continue-their-marathon-journey-nyc
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Meb, brother bonded by success
Boston champ Keflezighi comes to NYC with full support of brother/agent
Merhawi
Updated: October 31, 2014, 2:29 PM ET
By Christopher Chavez | ESPN.com
Keflezighi: 'I'm A Tactician'
Boston Marathon Champion Meb Keflezighi shares why you can't count him out
in his ninth New York City Marathon.
Tags: Endurance
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His Brother's Keeper
Merhawi Keflezighi woke in the middle of the night to hear his older
brother Meb returning from a track meet. Meb's high school coach dropped
him off and the door slammed, but it didn't make as much noise as Meb's
excited voice as he told his father, Russom, that he had just broken the
nine-minute barrier in the two-mile run.
Russom liked to take his children to Balboa Park in San Diego to play
soccer and run from one exercise station to the next, and he knew Meb was a
special talent. That night, however, he couldn't totally comprehend the
significance of the track feat or how thrilled Meb was to run 5:20 for his
first mile as a seventh-grader. It was Merhawi -- also known as 'Hawi' --
who jumped out of his bed to congratulate his older brother.
"I think on every level Meb has shown me and a lot of us that he is very
special in high school, college and as a professional," Merhawi said.
"There have always been moments when you think 'Oh man, he's a really good
runner!' I really think that throughout his career and especially on April
21, 2014, he showed me that he is at a different level not only with
athletic talent, but getting the most of it."
That night in San Diego was Hawi's first leap of excitement for Meb. The
next would come on that big day last April.
The next best Keflezighi
After fleeing from Eritrea to Italy with his nine siblings, Meb settled in
San Diego in 1987 and became an instant running talent. A few weeks into
his first cross country season at San Diego High School, Meb was already
the top runner as a freshman. The other Keflezighi brothers also all ran
well, and coach Ed Ramos thought Merhawi would be the next best talent from
the family.
"As a sophomore, me and this big wrestler were the last two guys on the JV
team," Merhawi recalls. "That year I did get an award for most improved
[after dropping] a 24-minute cross country 5K to 19 minutes. I had lots of
progress, but it took a lot out of me."
Merhawi's running career would only last another season even after winning
the award. He was content with leaving running behind and focusing on his
studies. Russom Keflezighi always stressed the importance of putting
academics before athletics, and Merhawi knew that was his way of blazing
his own path.
[+] Enlarge
Courtesy Merhawi KeflezighiMerhawi Keflezighi, left, has been at his
brother Meb's side their entire lives.
"That one season of cross country is why I respect runners and the industry
so much," Merhawi said. "I realized how hard it is and how much fulfillment
there is in it. Meb and my older siblings make it look so easy, but when I
tried it myself, it's really tough."
Being a fan of the Los Angeles Lakers during the Showtime era triggered the
idea of pursuing a career as a basketball agent. Merhawi went to law school
at UCLA and served as a manager for the men's basketball team. While Meb
lived the Olympic dream early in his career -- making the 2000 and 2004
Olympic teams, winning marathon silver in '04 -- Hawi was hard at work as a
law student.
"We would drive to and from San Diego together to Los Angeles," Merhawi
said. "He introduced me to all of his friends, so I was like an honorary
member of the track team. We just bonded a lot. That was the foundation."
"UCLA was pretty big, but if it wasn't for the athletics department, I
don't know how I would've assimilated to the campus," Meb said. "I didn't
want Hawi to go through that, so I introduced him to as many friends as I
could."
After Meb won the silver medal in Athens, he believed it was time for a
change in his representation from agent Jos Hermens and Global Sports
Communications. Hermens also represented former world record holders
Kenenisa Bekele and Haile Gebrselassie, so grasping the importance of a
silver medal in the marathon for the United States may not have been a
priority.
In Los Angeles, Merhawi was taking an international sports law class, an
international entertainment law class and had completed a clinic in which
he went through a mock contract negotiation with Lakers general manager
Mitch Kupchak. His confidence grew, and Hawo awoke one night and put aside
his case studies to write a proposal to Meb to become his brother's agent.
"It was an email just letting them know of things that I thought I could
do," Merhawi said. "It was from the heart. That was the beginning of the
conversation. At the same time I could've said 'That's a crazy idea, I'm
going back to bed,' but I felt strongly enough to write it and follow my
gut instinct."
Meb mulled the idea over for a few months and received input from coach Bob
Larsen, his mentor at the Mammoth Lakes (California) Track Club. Merhawi
saw it as an honor to just be on the list with Hermens and agent Ray Flynn,
who also entered the mix.
Meb drew up a list of pros and cons for each agent. He chose Merhawi.
Marketing 'Mebrahtom'
Within six months of Merhawi's start as Meb's agent, he worked with a
marketing agency to have his brother star in a MasterCard commercial that
ran during the pregame show for Super Bowl XL in 2006. Meb felt comfortable
in his decision from the start of the partnership.
Still, marketing a small African-born runner with a last name that reads
like eye chart was not always easy for Merhawi. When Meb's contract expired
with Nike at the age of 36, the two decided to explore other options
outside of the traditional companies.
Many companies had different marketing plans and saw Meb as too old and
past his prime. Others felt that he was already too branded as an athlete.
[+] Enlarge
Jeff Skopin/ESPN New YorkMerhawi Keflezighi helped spark change in the
running world by hooking his brother, Meb, up with Skechers.
Meb had deals with Sony and PowerBar, but they saw little time on his
uniform due to company guidelines surrounding his Nike contract and rules
set forth by the International Association of Athletics Federation and
United States Track and Field.
"I think there is a disadvantage that the athletes have at this point, so
we have to balance that out a little bit more and give them more
opportunities," Merhawi said. "I understand there is also a perspective to
protect the interest of the sponsors already in the sport."
Merhawi has become something of a maverick within the sport, negotiating
contracts with nontraditional companies such as HOKA ONE ONE, Skechers and
Under Armour that allow his athletes to market themselves in a more diverse
way.
In 2011, Meb started that new wave by inking a deal with Skechers, and his
portfolio grew incrementally after that. Merhawi has designed a jacket for
Meb for the TCS New York City Marathon with logos covering every inch of
his upper body for media appearances.
"You've got to carry with pride what you wear," Meb said. "We've been
fortunate to have all these logos on the jacket, and people say it looks
like it's a NASCAR jacket. My teammates in college always thought that
should be the idea. We've executed a plan enough to make that happen."
Jumping 10 feet in the air
Meb has that silver medal from 2004, was the NYC Marathon winner in 2009,
and in 2012 at age 36 became the oldest winner of the U.S. Olympic Trials
Marathon and went on to place fourth in the London Olympics.
"In 2009, when Meb won the New York City Marathon, I don't think Meb
believed he had to do anything else in his career," Merhawi said. "I think
he has a healthy perspective that everything since then has been icing on
the cake. We've had five years of icing."
Meb toed the starting line at the 2014 Boston Marathon as an afterthought
in the men's elite field. He had finished 23rd at the New York Marathon the
previous fall, and from an agent's perspective Merhawi believes Meb never
should have started that race due to a partial calf tear and a deep cut on
his knee.
"I've done New York enough times that people were telling me that it
wouldn't be the same without me," Meb said. "I was coming along and I
wasn't as fit as I wanted to be, but there was only one way of finding out
and I had to give it a shot."
So, Meb honored a commitment he made to his fans in the wake of the
cancellation of the 2012 New York race due to Hurricane Sandy and Boston
Marathon bombings in 2013 and ran in New York last November. He carried the
memories and hopes of all those people through nearly the first 20 miles of
the race before the injuries caught up to him. He slowed to a walk at times
and had every incentive to drop out, but he didn't.
Those same memories of the Boston victims drove Keflezighi before this
year's race. Before he headed to the starting line, he prayed. He wanted
God to carry him to the same finish line that he was at just five minutes
before the bombs went off in 2013.
"I remember sending a text to Ryan Hall after the 2013 finish. I said 'I
think we can do this next year.' He told me we'd get after it," Meb said.
"I was relaxed at the starting line and I told coach Larsen that I was
going to draft until the last two or three miles because these [2 hour,
4-minute pace] guys might go crazy. Once the gun went off, everything
changed."
Meb was very public about his goals prior to the race: 1) A top-three
finish 2) Set a personal best 3) Victory.
Courtesy Merhawi KeflezighiEmotion flowed when Meb Keflezighi, center,
embraced his brother and wife at the Boston finish line in 2014.
The way Meb Keflezighi's mind operates, he believes he must secure a
top-three spot before worrying about the victory. In Boston, he took the
lead at Mile 8, trying to keep the race pace honest as three Ethiopians
approached to slow things down. Meb was trying to run a personal best,
though, and would not allow it to happen.
"I always tell myself 'Run to win,' " Meb said. "I really believed that I
could get the best in myself, finish on the podium and get a personal best."
Merhawi, Meb's wife Yordanos and Larsen watched from television screens at
the Fairmont Copley hotel as Meb pulled away from the leaders and
eventually broke free by the 23rd mile. The other managers and family
members in the room started getting excited for Merhawi, but he kept his
calm. Representatives from marathon title sponsor John Hancock escorted the
three the finish area.
"When we get to the finish line area, I see the two Kenyans catching up to
my brother," Merhawi said. "The elation and excitement turned to nerves.
Then I saw Meb adjust his stride and when he got towards the end of the
marathon and he looked strong, I got a rush."
Merhawi's phone buzzed in his jacket pocket. Yordanos was glued to her
iPhone, where she was following the online stream of the race. Larsen tried
to catch a glimpse of the action while remaining stoic. They all stood in a
small box surrounded by photographers and television cameras.
Larsen stepped out of the box and an organizer tried to move him back, to
which he responded "That is my athlete. I am going to stand right here and
watch my athlete."
"When I realized Meb was going to win, I felt like I jumped 10 feet into
the sky," Merhawi said. "I remember security looked over at me like 'Okay,
we have to watch this guy.'
"As soon as Meb crossed the finish line, Yordanos leaves the box and ran
toward him. They went on that journey for so long, so it was a very
emotional situation. No rules could stop her."
Meb accomplished all of his goals, and as he embraced his brother at the
finish line the two cried together. Tears still flow today when Merhawi
reflects on that moment. Shortly after that finish-line moment, though, he
put his agent hat back on and was scheduling media appearances and
sponsorship commitments for Meb.
The newly minted champion didn't even have a chance to shower immediately
after the marathon because so many things were lined up, but Meb does
recall when he finally found himself alone with Merhawi and Yordanos at the
hotel.
"You couldn't ask for it any better way," Meb said. "You think about it.
You imagine it. You visualize it. Then it actually happens and then I
probably turned and said 'Did that really happen?"
A career fulfilled
Meb enters the 2014 New York City Marathon with the 12th-fastest personal
best in an elite athlete field that includes two of the fastest marathoners
in history -- Kenyans Wilson Kipsang and two-time defending NYC champ
Geoffrey Mutai of Kenya. Yet, the desire to win still runs through Meb's
veins at the age of 39. Why else would he isolate himself in Mammoth Lakes,
away from his family for four weeks, to train at altitude?
[+] Enlarge
Courtesy Merhawi KeflezighiThe Keflezighi brothers have met plenty of
people on their journey, including Boston Red Sox star David Ortiz.
Still, whether New York results in a victory or another 23rd-place finish,
Meb's career is already 100 percent fulfilled.
"To be the only marathoner that has an Olympic medal, Boston and New York
City victories is pretty significant," Meb said. "We're humans and we want
more in things, but I'm completely satisfied with my career. I ran a
personal best and won Boston on the most important day of marathoning after
the bombings."
Making another Olympic team in 2016 would be nice. He will be 40 years old
at the start line of the Olympic Trials Marathon in Los Angeles, but he's
proven he can't be counted out.
Regardless of whether he makes the team or not, Merhawi has set his brother
up nicely for life after running. Consider it Hawi returning a favor done
for him during his senior year in high school.
The University of California-San Diego has an Upward Bound Program that
provides support for students during the college admission process and
graduation post-secondary institutions, and the school wanted Meb to join
the program. He was unable to commit because of his busy running schedule,
so he passed along Merhawi's name instead.
"Meb has always been looking out for me in that way," Merhawi said. "He's
always been there whether it was getting me connected with his mentors so I
could study for the SATs or helping me get a job at UCLA as a manager with
the men's basketball team. As much as I say I help Meb out as his manager,
we've helped each other out. I'm just returning the favor and it's part of
my job."
Nine years after hiring his brother, Meb found that old pros-and-cons list
as he moved out of his training house in Mammoth Lakes. He texted a photo
of the list to his brother.
"I texted him that it wasn't an easy decision, but here is how I got to
choose you," Meb said. "It was a reminder of what we went through."
"People probably assume it was an easy hire," Merhawi said, "but it was
probably the toughest interview process I've gone through."
Received on Sat Nov 01 2014 - 17:53:04 EDT