Meb Keflezighi

Mebrahtom "Meb" Keflezighi (born May 5, 1975) is a retired American long distance runner. He is the 2004 Olympic silver medalist in the marathon and finished in fourth place in the w:2012 Summer Olympics. He won the 2009 New York City Marathon on November 1, 2009, and the 2014 Boston Marathon on April 21, 2014, becoming the first American man to win each race since 1982 and 1983, respectively. Quotes In 2002, my first marathon in New York, I thought I was going to have a chance at winning it, I went for it, and I got down to four people, and then eventually I hit the wall [at] about 18, 19 miles, and got slower and slower. It was torture getting to that finish line: 'This is the worst thing ever. This is my first and last marathon. I never want to do this again. I saw how people are surviving day in, day out, through the sunrise, sunset, all the work they need to do: climbing trees to get leaves from the trees, or going to the well to get water [and] carry it to their villages, And I said, 'You know what? That 40-minute, 50-minute discomfort that I went [through] in the marathon — nobody told me to do a marathon, it was a personal choice. So I decided to say, 'You know what? I guess the pain wasn't that bad. So I need to go back. I kind of realized I took for granted what I am able to do, And I kept going. It was a dream come true,That's the marathon that I wanted to win, that was my first win. I thought I could do it, I didn't, I got second place, third place, and after about a year and a half of physical therapy — nothing in a marathon is guaranteed, nothing in life is guaranteed. But if you work hard and do the best that you can, my dream became a reality. People were excited ... chanting, 'U-S-A, U-S-A.' I got inspired, I'm like, 'U-S-A, U-S-A' with them. [Getting] to be able to pull [off] the victory, not only for myself or for the families, and for the city, for the international community of running, I felt blessed that God gave me that chance. It's not for lack of trying in the past. But there was a greater purpose on that day. It was just an honor and privilege to be able to pull the victory [off] for all of us. You make appearances, and [people say], 'I was at work and I was screaming at the computer, and more people came to watch with me and then they saw your victory, It kind of connected people ... whether it's runners or nonrunners. A marathon is a metaphor for life, and life is not easy. A marathon's not easy, But through hard work and keeping the spirit up, [being] the best that you can be that day, even when things are not going your [way], stick to it. When you finish, you can evaluate, what are the three things positive, what are the three things that [are] negative, and change. We're humans, we make mistakes. But if we modify, we can be a better us. Meb Keflezighi: 'A Marathon Is A Metaphor For Life, And Life Is Not Easy', April 12 2019 External links Category:Track and field athletes Category:1975 births Category:Living people Category:Sportspeople from the United States Category:Marathon runners Category:African Americans