From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Fri Jul 17 2009 - 07:19:50 EDT
Meb back at Bix
Don Doxsie | Posted: Thursday, July 16, 2009 8:45 pm
If they had a Comeback of the Year award in the sport of road racing, Meb
Keflezighi would be a leading candidate this year.
And the 2004 Olympic silver medalist will continue the comeback by coming
back to a race that helped launch his career: The Quad-City Times Bix 7.
Keflezighi will be one of more than 40 elite American runners entered in the
Bix 7 field when the race is held for the 35th time July 25. The race will
serve as the U.S. championship for 7 miles this year, just as it did when
Keflezighi won it in 2002.
"It's a great crowd, and I love that you can get close to people there,"
Keflezighi said. "On the track, you don't really hear the crowd much as
you're running. In road races, they're shouting at you and asking you to
high-five them. It's just more fun."
Keflezighi won in 2002 by the largest margin - 52 seconds - in the past
quarter-century. He was so far ahead coming down the final hill that he was
frolicking and celebrating with spectators as he ran the last mile. That
victory was one of a handful that served as a springboard to success in the
Boston and New York Marathons and ultimately a runner-up finish at the 2004
Athens Games. He won the first Olympic medal in the marathon by an American
male in 28 years.
Years earlier, Keflezighi and his family had escaped civil war in his native
Eritrea and settled in San Diego. He attended high school there and starred
at UCLA, where he won four NCAA championships, then became a naturalized
U.S. citizen in 1998.
He already had competed in the Olympics once when he first came to the Bix
7, finishing 12th in the 10,000 meters at Sydney in 2000. He also had set a
U.S. record in the 10K in 2001 and won USATF cross country titles in both
2001 and 2002.
But he said winning the 2002 Bix gave him much-needed experience and
confidence.
"The Bix is known nationally and internationally, and for me to win it at
that point in my career was a big deal," he said.
After winning Olympic silver in 2004, Keflezighi continued to compete but
not always at the same high level. Last year, he suffered an array of
injuries and failed to make the U.S. Olympic team for Beijing, prompting
some to speculate that he was washed up at the age of 33.
"I got to know who my real friends were," he said. "I was hurt and wasn't
running well and I think most people thought my career was over."
He has bounced back in a big way this year. He won a national championship
at a new distance in January at the Houston Half Marathon and won another
USATF cross country title.
He also ran the best marathon time of his career at the Flora London
Marathon. His time of 2 hours, 9 minutes, 21 seconds was 128 seconds better
than what he ran at Athens.
He didn't do as well in the recent U.S. track and field championships, but
he's looking forward to competing in his fourth Bix 7 a week from Saturday.
"People are really into the race there," Keflezighi said. "I remember
getting to (elite athlete coordinator) Dan Breidinger's house at 6 a.m. on
the day of the race, and people already were set up on their lawns with
benches and barbecues. It's just a great race to run, and it's fun to be a
part of it."
*Bix 7 elites*
Among the runners entered in the Quad-City Times Bix 7 on July 25 will be
former U.S. Olympians Meb Keflezighi, Anthony Famiglietti, Dan Browne, Brian
Sell and Magdalena Lewy-Boulet as well as Bix legends Bill Rodgers and Joan
Samuelson and former Moline High School and University of Georgia runner
Jill Steffens. The tentative field (with bib numbers):
*Men*
1 - Meb Keflezighi, San Diego, Calif.
3 - Anthony Famiglietti, Knoxville, Tenn.
7 - Dan Browne, San Diego, Calif.
9 - James Carney, Boulder, Colo.
11 - Ian Burrell, Flagstaff, Ariz.
13 - Michael Kilburg, Rochester Hills, Mich.
15 - Jason Lehmkuhle, Minneapolis, Minn.
17 - Josh Moen, St. Louis Park, Minn.
19 -Brian Sell, Rochester Hills, Mich.
21 - Forest Braden, Spokane, Wash.
25 - Celedonio Rodriquez, Alamosa, Colo.
27 - Bret Schoolmeester, Portland, Ore.
29 - Jason Hartmann, Boulder, Colo.
31 - Antonio Vega, St. Paul, Minn.
33 - Josh Eberly, Gunnison, Colo.
35 - Stephen Furst, Raleigh, N.C.
37 - Nick Arciniaga, Rochester Hills, Mich.
39 - Brian Olinger, Columbus, Ohio
41 - Jeffrey Eggleston, Flagstaff, Ariz.
43 - Dale Dexter, Olathe, Kan.
45 - Bill Rodgers, Sherborn, Mass.
47 - Stephen Haas, Bloomington, Ind.
*Women*
2 - Magdalena Lewy-Boulet, Oakland, Calif.
4 - Serena Burla, Ellisville, Mo.
6 - Sally Meyerhoff, Eugene, Ore.
8 - Kelly Jaske, Portland, Ore.
10 - Amy Rudolph, Providence, R.I.
12 - Elva Dryer, Gunnison, Colo.
14 - Molly Huddle, Providence, R.I.
16 - Kate O'Neill, Mammoth Lakes, Calif.
18 - Zoila Gomez, Alamosa, Colo.
20 - Kassi Andersen, Mammoth Lakes, Calif.
22 - Meghan Armstrong, Minneapolis, Minn.
24 - Kathy Newberry, Williamsburg, Va.
26 - Jill Steffens, Athens Ga.
28 - Racheal Marchand, Iowa City
30 - Michelle Lilienthal, Minneapolis, Minn.
32 - Kristen Fryburg, Boulder, Colo.
34 - Kristen Lehmkuhle, Minneapolis, Minn.
36 - Caroline White, Colorado Springs, Colo.
38 - Melissa Christian, Dallas, Texas
40 - Joan Samuelson, Freeport Maine
42 - Melinda Slingsby, Beaverton, Ore.
----[This List to be used for Eritrea Related News Only]----