Elite American marathoner Meb Keflezighi has been battling an injury, and going into today’s NYC Marathon’s his ability to perform at his best was uncertain. As it turns out, Meb’s body shut down at mile 19.3, but unlike many elites faced by a situation like this, he didn’t drop. What did he do? He took a 3 minute break, he walked, and then he finished the race. It wasn’t pretty, but like so many of us who have fought adversity in the marathon, Meb persevered and crossed the finish line with on a day where his body simply wanted to quit. His finish time was 2:23:47, which might seem fast, but he has run sub 2:10 at NYC on more than one occasion.
Major respect to Meb, he’s an elite who is most definitely worthy of being a role model. Watch his post-race interview here, amazing guy:
Watch more video of New York City Marathon 2013 on flotrack.org
About Peter Larson
OK, he is officially my favorite distance athlete. What a guy!
Meb is awesome, I agree.
He showed great sportsmanship, determination and respect for the fans. I’m very disappointed in the TV coverage team for not showing that side of the race. They spent way too much time giving celebrities face time rather than showing the race that was going on on the course. I would have much rather had the cameras following Meb’s heroic and respectful slog through the last 6 miles than John McEnroe on the sports desk.