Meeting Meb

As you may know, this weekend I was able to meet 2014 Boston Marathon winner and Olympic Silver Medalist, Meb Keflezighi at the Columbus RunFest. Tonight my fellow MITers and I were able to interact with him on a more personal level since he so graciously attended our speed workout. No worries, he did not actually run with us. That would have been terribly embarrassing. He did, however, give us a pep talk before we tortured ourselves for over an hour on the track.

In my post on Saturday I referred to him as an "awesome American" because that is what he is. Keflezighi was the first American man to win Boston since 1983. Some would disagree. Look at his name. Look at his skin. Listen to his accent. Bullsh**, whatever, etc. Some of America's residents seem to forget that this was founded as the "land of opportunity;" home of THE dream, the American Dream. I would love to communicate Meb's story because tonight he reminded us ALL of our potential as citizens in this country, as long as we are willing to give it our all.

Meb was born in war-torn Eritrea to a family of six kids. His father walked over 125 miles to Sudan where he worked multiple odd jobs until one day he made connections with the manager of a particular company. When the manager found out that his employee had a wife and six children at home, he gave him enough money to help the entire family escape. The family moved to Italy as refugees, and tried to move to Sweden first and then Canada but were rejected from both countries. Thankfully the good ol' US of A accepted them, and they made the move when Meb was 12 years old. His father made him and his siblings study the dictionary every day since none of them could speak English very well. That is some serious dedication. To the people who complain about immigrants who do not "speak our language": Have you ever studied a dictionary or made it a goal to speak your native language properly? Have you ever thought of how it may feel to witness and escape war, starvation, or genocide to get to a country only to experience discrimination? (This was not exactly part of Meb's story. I'm just throwing it out there.)

Meb began American school as a sixth grader and excelled in sports immediately. He ended up running at UCLA (holla) and won 4 NCAA titles as well as maintaining impressive academic standards. What is so beautiful about his story is how naïve he was when he moved here. His middle school gym teacher told him he would be an Olympian, and as a twelve-year-old who had just escaped a war-torn country where there was no running water, Meb had no idea what the Olympics were. Later on in his career when he did know about the Olympics, he was debating on which distance to train for, and he did not know how long a marathon was. Sometimes I really wish I could go back to the days that I was naïve. When I moved to Ohio State from my tiny hometown, I had no expectations. I was fearless. Meb reminded me of that tonight.

He also said some really bold things for a successful athlete. The first and obvious thing is that he was a Silver medalist in 2004, not Gold. He said, "Of course I wanted Gold. That's what everyone wants. But you can't always get what you want. Sometimes you just have to do your best and that is enough." I found that particularly inspiring as a self-motivated athlete. I don't have a personal trainer or a strict diet, but I am competitive. I do not aspire to win Boston, but I would like to qualify. I do not foresee the Olympics in my future, but I would love to win a 5k. If I can achieve those things, maybe that will be enough.

And finally he narrated his Boston Marathon race and win from this past April. His story is powerful enough already, but this just topped it off. He talked about his strategy to start at the front and stay there. He talked about each mile, and how he started to become injured around mile 16. He also talked about his competitors who started catching up with him around mile 20. He said that he really wanted to win Boston for AMERICA, and asked himself leading up to the race, "What can I do for the victims [of the 2013 terrorist attacks at the finish line]? What can I do to help the USA near the anniversary of that time?" He wrote the victims names on his bib. He said that around mile 22 he didn't think he could make it, and he asked God to send the spirit of the victims through him so that he could finish strong. I thought that was pretty powerful. Most athletes make everything about themselves and their own personal strength, but when you're a runner you know every other runner has a story. Every single person who has run a marathon reports of some "divine" experience around miles 20-22 once the wall has been hit. I am so glad Meb shared his selfless story because honestly, it takes guts to share personal stories. It takes guts to discuss your spirituality with a group of runners who may not share the same beliefs as you.

What I found so refreshing about Meb Keflezighi is that he is beyond grateful, and he is not afraid to share his past. If you don't know where you're going, just remember where you've been!

"Run to overcome," and that he did. Thanks, Meb!