http://www.courant.com/sports/hc-riley-column-falmouth-road-race-0816-20150815-column.html
Keflezighi A True Running Ambassador
Lori Riley
Hartford Courant
lriley_at_courant.com
Meb's first race as masters runner
ALMOUTH, Mass. — Meb Keflezighi and I both ran the Falmouth Road Race
for the first time in 2007.
Keflezighi, who at the time was best known for his silver medal in the
2004 Olympic marathon in Athens (the first marathon medal for an
American since 1976), finished second.
After covering the race for years, I finally decided to run it. It was
the first time I had run seven miles. I finished a little further back
(actually, in 6,626th place).
Keflezighi and I had met before the race, and I told him it was my
first time. After the race, I went to the press tent and Keflezighi
hailed me. "How did you do?" he wanted to know, as the other elite
runners turned to look. Well, um, I finished, I told him.
Meb Keflezighi makes history and a statement in Boston Marathon
Nathan Fenno
Meb Keflezighi becomes the first American man to win Boston Marathon
since 1983, and salutes victims of last year's bombings while doing
so.
Meb Keflezighi becomes the first American man to win Boston Marathon
since 1983, and salutes victims of last year's bombings while doing
so. ( Nathan Fenno )
Keflezighi, who turned 40 this year, will race Sunday for the first
time as a masters runner. He's one of the sport's all-time greats in
one of the sport's all-time great races, the 43rd annual Falmouth Road
Race, whose winners have included Frank Shorter, Bill Rodgers, Joan
Benoit Samuelson and Catherine Ndereba.
His is a rags-to-riches story, the American dream epitomized. His
family fled Eritrea, one of the poorest countries in the world, in
1987, and arrived in San Diego with few possessions and unable to
speak English.
In 2014, Keflezighi became the first American since 1983 to win the
Boston Marathon, helping to heal a city that had been shattered by a
bombing and death and destruction at the race the year before.
He went from eating dirt in Eritrea because he was so hungry to eating
dinner at the White House last year with President Barack Obama and
First Lady Michelle Obama.
It's been quite a trip. And through it, Keflezighi has managed to stay grounded.
"Boston 2014 was an epic race for all of us," said Keflezighi, one of
11 children, who became an American citizen in 1999. "We needed that
as Americans to have that victory. It had to come all together. As
soon as I finished, I was in tears of joy."
Keflezighi has had a string of milestones — first American man to win
an Olympic marathon medal since Shorter in Montreal, first American to
win the New York City Marathon (2009) since 1982 and the first to win
Boston since Greg Meyer.
He's an elite runner. But he thinks like a regular runner.
"He's basically like one of us," said Dave McGillivray, director of
the Boston Marathon and the Falmouth Road Race, who has known
Keflezighi since 2004. "He's humble, down to earth.
Meb Keflezighi, NBA greats to highlight New York City Marathon
David Wharton
The 2014 New York City Marathon will have plenty of star power when
runners depart from the starting line this weekend.
The 2014 New York City Marathon will have plenty of star power when
runners depart from the starting line this weekend. ( David Wharton )
"When you are of a celebrity nature, people are always after you. They
want a piece of you. It's a delicate balance, and you have to be able
to manage that. He's done an incredible job, probably as good a job as
anybody I've ever met. I think it's because of where he came from. He
didn't start up here — he built it."
"I'm thankful," Keflezighi said. "I try not to take things for granted."
In the fall of 2013, after the horrific events in Boston that spring,
Keflezighi was injured and struggling through the latter stages of the
New York City Marathon. He found himself running with Mike Cassidy, a
2:18 marathoner from Staten Island who wasn't having a good race
himself. He and Keflezighi worked together and got each other through
the last three miles.
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"It was like getting to play basketball with Michael Jordan," Cassidy
wrote of that day on letsrun.com. "Only it was Game 7 of the NBA
Finals and he had just passed me the ball.
"As we entered Central Park at Columbus Circle, I turned to Meb and
said, 'It's an honor to run with you.' 'No,' he said. 'Today is not
about us. It is about representing New York and representing Boston.
It's about representing the USA and doing something positive for our
sport. We will finish this race holding hands.'"
They crossed the finish line together, their raised hands clasped, triumphant.
For defending Boston Marathon champion Meb Keflezighi, a year of thanks
Jimmy Golen
Ever since Meb Keflezighi won last year's Boston Marathon, the first
race after the finish-line bombings and the first win for an American
man in more than 30 years, fans have been gravitating to him wherever
he goes.
Ever since Meb Keflezighi won last year's Boston Marathon, the first
race after the finish-line bombings and the first win for an American
man in more than 30 years, fans have been gravitating to him wherever
he goes. ( Jimmy Golen )
He did sort of the same thing with 2012 Hartford Marathon winner
Hilary Dionne in April at Boston. Keflezighi stayed with the lead pack
of runners, but when they started to pull away, he couldn't go with
them, became ill and had to stop and throw up. He was sick five times
toward the end of the race. But he still had the presence of mind that
when he saw Dionne ahead of him, closing on the finish line, to sprint
ahead, catch her and cross the finish line holding hands with her.
Dionne finished in what was a disappointing time, for her, of 2:40:42.
Keflezighi finished in 2:12:42, over four minutes off his personal
best time from the year before.
"Not my best time but by far my most memorable finish," Dionne tweeted
after the race. "Thanks _at_runmeb for joining me across the line, an
unforgettable moment."
"I enjoyed doing that," Keflezighi said. "That's memorable for me,
it's memorable for her. We had a positive experience."
Both Dionne and Cassidy are at Falmouth. They're good friends with
Keflezighi now.
"That's how friends are made," he said.
At age 40, he's still competitive. He has the top qualifying time
(2:08:37) among Americans for next year's Olympic marathon trials. He
wants to represent his country in Rio.
Saturday, at the Falmouth Road Race expo, Keflezighi was surrounded by
admirers who wanted to meet him and take a picture with him. He is
stepping into the role of the sport's newest ambassador, ready to
follow in the footsteps of Bill Rodgers and other top runners who have
gone before him.
"Ever since I was at UCLA, I've always interacted with kids and
people," he said. "My coach told me, 'You have people skills.' That's
my forte. I really have curiosity about what drives them.
"A lady said to me: It took me 23 years to qualify for Boston. I
remember that. Or if somebody says, 'I'm a cancer survivor.' You
connect with them. You give them a hug. You try to be a good
ambassador. You have to live up to that respect."
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Received on Sun Aug 16 2015 - 11:54:16 EDT