Eritrean American Meb Keflezighi remains the only marathon runner with an Olympics medal and NYC and Boston wins. He’s also also the oldest American marathoner to qualify for an Olympics (at age 40).
But even for a world class elite champion runner like Meb, plenty of things can and do go wrong on race day!
- 2002 NYC: poor shoe choice, pushed pace too early
- 2003 Chicago, 7th place
- 2004 Birmingham, AL, Olympic Trials: 2nd place
- 2004 Olympics [Athens] Silver!
- 2004 NYC: 2nd place
- 2005 NYC: 3rd place
- 2006 Boston: misinterpreted GPS watch, ran first 1/2 too fast
- 2006 NYC: lost luggage with all running gear, got food poisoning, 20th place
- 2007 London: severe foot blister, Achilles tendon issue forced DNF
- 2007 Olympic Trial (NYC): stress fracture, a runner friend’s death on course
- 2009 London: stomach cramps, blister
- 2009 NYC win!
- 2010 Boston: slip & fall on ice before race, knee issues during race, ruptured quad
- 2010 NYC: just an “off” day, sponsorship money worries
- 2011 NYC: accidentally left Breathe Right strip in shoe, somehow at the very worst spot (under a chronically tender/injured spot); sudden nausea late in race; sponsorship worries
- 2012 Olympic Trial (Houston): foot infection, caffeine pill stuck in throat
- 2012 Olympics (London): blister, accidentally given someone else’s fuel bottle -> stomach cramps
- 2013 NYC Right hip flexor gave out
- 2014 Boston win!
- 2014 NYC: 4th place
- 2015 Boston: defending champ, perfect training season, with lead pack to mile 23–then sudden nausea
- 2015 NYC: 7th place
- 2016 Olympic Trials: bumped by another runner in final miles
- 2016 Olympics (Rio): heat & humidity->nausea; bizzare attack on leader at mile 20; slip & fall at finish; 33rd place
- 2017 Boston: 13th place
- 2017 NYC: final competitive race, collapsed dangerously after finishing; 11th place
That’s 16 of 26 races where something went somewhat to very badly wrong! So the question is: like Meb, do we learn from our mistakes and setbacks, and set our sights on the next goal?
Russell Yee 