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Meb Keflezighi, Top American Male at ING New York City Marathon
Photo above by Victor Sailer, www.photorun.net: American Meb Keflezighi during the start of the 2011 ING New York City Marathon.
From USA Track & Field with contribution by Drew
November 9, 2011
Indianapolis, IN
Meb Keflezighi of Mammoth Lakes, CA has been named USA Track & Field’s Athlete of the Week after setting a personal best at the ING New York City Marathon on Sunday, November 6.
Meb Keflezighi, 36, was the top American finisher with a sixth place (2:09:13) finish in the men's race. Keflezighi bettered his previous best time of 2:09:15 from the 2009 ING New York City Marathon when he became the first American man to win since Alberto Salazar’s 1982 victory.
“New York brings the best of the best for the race and they set the stage,” commented 2004 Olympic silver medalist Meb Keflezighi. “I was looking for a challenge. The marathon is always a challenge, and with the competition I gave it all I had. Basically I went out with the group and stayed with them as long as I could and pushed myself to the limit.”
Keflizighi was able to improve his time in spite of stomach distress in the later portions of the race. Photo at left by Giancarlo Colombo, www.photorun.net: Meb Keflezighi finishes the 2011 ING New York City Marathon. Skechers is his new shoe sponsor, and he wore the New York Athletic Club logo on his singlet. New York City is like a second home to him, he commented after the race.
“I had to stop and unfortunately throw up. I tried to [continue], so the guys wouldn’t get ahead of me, but I had to stop again,” Keflezighi explained. “I went from maybe not finishing to finishing and breaking my PR by two seconds. It can’t get any better.”
Meb's splits during the ING New York City Marathon: 15:34 at 5K, 30:24 at 10K, 45:12 at 15K, 1:00:05 at 20K, 1:03:18 at half, 1:15:07 at 25K, 1:29:47 at 30K, 1:45:21 at 35K, 1:57:40 at 40K, 2:09:13 at finish. From mile 12 through mile 21, he was on pace to finish sub-2:06:30. His stomach distress caused a loss of time during the final 8K.
Now in its tenth year, USATF’s Athlete of the Week program is designed to recognize outstanding performers at all levels of the sport. USATF names a new honoree each week and features the athlete on www.usatf.org. Selections are based on top performances and results from the previous week.