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From: B-Haile (eritrea.lave@comhem.se)
Date: Sat Oct 30 2010 - 23:40:25 EDT
A Brief Chat With Meb Keflezighi
10/25/2010 12:46 AM
By Peter Gambaccini
Photos By Victah Sailer
Meb Keflezighi, who in 2009 became the first American winner of the New York City Marathon since 1982, will defend his title in New York on November 7. His
victory came in a personal best of 2:09:15. In 2010, Keflezighi has been fifth in the Boston Marathon in April in 2:09:26 and won the Rock 'n' Roll San Jose Half Marathon on October 3 in 1:01:45. Keflezighi made his marathon debut in New York in 2002 with a ninth place 2:12:35. He was the 2004 Athens Olympic silver medalist behind Italy's Stefano Baldini with a 2:11:29 in sweltering conditions. That fall, he was second in New York (behind Hendrick Ramaala) in 2:09:53; in 2005, he was third in 2:09:56 behind Paul Tergat and Ramaala. He was third in the 2006 Boston Marathon with a 2:09:56. At the U.S. Olympic Trials in November of 2007, Keflezighi was eighth in 2:15:09.
In 2009, Keflezighi's victories included the USA Half-Marathon in 1:01:25, USA Cross Country (he'd also won in 2001 and 2002), and the USA 7 Mile in 32:25. Keflezighi has been the USATF champion in the 10,000 three times and held the U.S. record of 27:13.98 until it was broken by Chris Solinsky. He has won the USA 15K six times. He was a four-time NCAA champion for UCLA after attending high school in San Diego. A father of three daughters, Keflezighi is part of the Mammoth Track Club. His new autobiography is "Run to Overcome," written with Dick Patrick. We spoke to Meb just before he was about to take a nap.
We've spoken so much about your trying to win in New York, and then about your winning in New York. You've been an ING New York City Marathon champion for more than 11 months now. How much have you just enjoyed the reign?
Meb Keflezighi: Well, I'm honored. I tried so hard and my dream did come true last year. It's been a wonderful journey and a lot of things came up that I didn't expect, and that's something that is great. I'd been second place and third place, so close and yet so far, but it all came together last year and a lot of opportunities opened up for me. Probably the biggest thing is to tell my story in the book. And to be on (David (Letterman) and to be in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. And to meet Chris Paul (of NBA's New Orleans Hornets) at Madison Square Garden. The list can go on and on. It's been fun. I don't want it to end (laughs).
When I mention to people that I'm about to interview Meb, they know you. You have a lot of fans, a lot of real admirers here in New York City.
MK: I was working out at Lake Mary (in California) at 9,000 feet, a week and a half ago. People from Switzerland there knew me. I go to the airport, and people recognize me. I think New York made me, to the honest. The Olympics was huge. I didn't win the Olympics, but it gave me great pride to bring the silver medal home. But everybody remembers whoever finishes first, and I've been fortunate enough to do that.
And you've said that because of the portability and the ease of doing the sport anywhere, all these demands on your time now, like advertising campaigns, are not distractions and you don't mind any of that.
MK: I don't, and it's a big honor. Whenever anyone asks for an autograph, or Q&A's, it's always a big honor for me. I try to take my time and chat with them. No, I don't look at them as a distraction. My sponsors understand it's in my best interests to still run well and still run fast. I always make the final decision, but Merhawi (his brother and agent) gives me the option of the morning or afternoon or middle of the day (for his non-running engagements) to get my run in or my ice bath. No, I don't look at this is a distraction. It's an honor for me always to greet people and spend time with them, as much as I can.
You mentioned the book, "Run to Overcome." Are there a couple of things that are going to be surprises to people who think they know your story?
MK: Oh, there will be a lot of surprises, like about my childhood. I was surprised, to be honest, because you don't always ask your parents "how was the journey" (from Eritrea to Italy to San Diego) and things like that. God has done in a miracle in my life just like he's done a miracle in my running. Still some people think I came here when I was older than when I started my running. It all started in seventh grade (in California). Before that, we were in Eritrea (trying) just to survive. It's very detailed (in the book). It makes you appreciate the life you have now.
Are your parents both still living?
MK: Yes, they're in San Diego. Dick Patrick came and spent some time with and interviewed them together.
So in this process, you probably learned things that even you hadn't known.
MK: For sure. I learned a lot from them. At one point, I was like "man, I don't know if I want to talk about running" (in the book) because it's so motivational, what they had to overcome and things like that. My life is known as running but there are other angles to it and we broadened it outside just running.
Let's talk a little bit about the MEB Foundation. What are its goals?
MK: It stands for "Maintaining Excellent Balance." I tried to live to that all my life. I was a student athlete. It talks a lot in the book about how I was a student first
because I became an athlete. Even though running opened things up for me to go to UCLA, I never gave running a priority until I graduated from UCLA. My parents always encouraged that. My running was discovered through PE class, to get an "A." It was hey, if you run hard, you're going to get an A or B for the effort, if you goof around, you're going to get a D or F. I didn't want to disappointment myself or my parents. I ran as hard as I could to get an "A" grade. I didn't know where else it was going to take me. But that's how it started.
I want to be able to emphasize, in the foundation, education and health and fitness. There are always cutbacks in physical education (in schools). With obesity winning, I want to be able to give talks to influence others to exercise. The sooner you start it, the better off you're going to be. It teaches you a lot to be in sports. It teaches you a lot about life, the work force, and the reality of the world. We want to encourage kids to get off the coach and not play Nintendo games and things like that and go out there and have fun. It doesn't have to be running, but just to be active.
Your most recent race was the Rock 'n' Roll San Jose Half on October 3. It was a bit slower than last year at San Jose, but that can just be a function of the kind of race it turned out to be. How happy were you about that performance and what it told you about your preparedness for New York?
MK: I was pretty happy with the performance. I ran 1:01:45, which is 45 seconds slower (than in 2009). But it was great to have my training partner, my Mammoth Track Club teammate Patrick (Smyth) be able to pace me for 10-K. He did better than the pace setter last year - last year, after two and a half or three miles, I was by myself. But I was a little bit sharper last year than I was this year because of the Falmouth Road Race and Bix 7 and (USA) Cross Country and a few others that I had (in 2009). So I was pretty tuned up last year, but this year I was somewhat training through it (San Jose). Also I had to drive to the UCLA Hall of Fame induction and had a late night there and then a flight to San Jose and I had an obligation with the sponsors. There was a lot of time going on. The time (1:01:45) didn't reflect my fitness, but I was happy with it. I got the win out of the way and it's a good confidence builder before I go (to New York) and see what happens. Last year, that race was four weeks before the marathon. This year it was five weeks, so that gives me an extra to push the race harder and put in more mileage.
You talked about getting a Ph.D. in the marathon the first time you came to the New York City Marathon. But obviously, you know the course very well right now.
MK: I would think so. Last year was very packed, probably the deepest field, and this year, I wouldn't expect anything less. New York is all about competition. I hope to give the same performance I gave last year. I can't guarantee a win but I hope to be competitive and put it on the line and get the crowd excited. I've been there many times, I have a lot of fans from New York. Even at the Olympic Trials (in New York in 2007), I have a very vivid memory of a guy named John. I ran into him last year before the race and he said "do you remember we said 'you're our hero, we love you?"" And I remember crying at mile 24 because I heard that. I was in sixth or seventh place, and to hear that meant a lot to me. Those guys (in New York) have seen me run the USA 8K, the half-marathon, the Healthy Kidney 10K, and many marathons, and it will be great to be back. My hat's off to Mary (Wittenberg), David Monti, Sam (Grotewold) and the rest of the New York Road Runners for being committed to me and keep bringing me back.
Haile Gebrselassie is making his New York City Marathon debut. What are your thoughts about him and the kind of race that he might run?
MK: I respect him a lot, I admire him a lot, ever since I was a college student or even in high school. I had the opportunity to run against him on the track, and most of the times he has lapped me (in the 10,000). We only met once in the marathon, in 2007 (in London), and both of us DNF'd. His debut in the marathon's going to be an attraction for the crowd. But I haven't seen him do a very tough course or a course that's not a world record attempt. So it will be interesting. I can only be concerned with what I can do and I have to figure out to get ready for that on the day.
Are you going to miss Ryan Hall in Mammoth?
MK: Well, it's true I got the e-mail regarding that they (Hall and wife Sara) weren't going to be in the club. It was a little bit surprising. I like Ryan. He's a great man. We have had great talks together and we have run together and Sara and Ryan have been to our house and I hope to be a cordial friend just like in the past.
You could become the third American man to win the New York City marathon back-to-back (Bill Rodgers and Alberto Salazar have done so). That would be nice.
MK: (Laughs). It's harder. It's a different day, different year. Amy Hastings was out there when I had my tempo run today and she said "hey, when was the last time an American won back to back?" It's a good thing that people are rooting for me and I'll try to give it the best that I can. I know that in the marathon, a lot can go wrong, but I really believe in preparation but I'm healthy right now and I just have to stay healthy for the next two weeks.
http://racingnews.runnersworld.com/2010/10/a-brief-chat-with-meb-keflezighi-6.html
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