by Graeme Shirley
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - (October 27, 2002) - Mebrahtom (Meb) Keflezighi, three-time Athlete of the Year for San Diego USATF, will make his marathon debut at the New York City Marathon, Sunday, November 3.
Keflezighi, 27, is the current American Record holder at 10,000 meters (27:13.98, 2001). Born in Eritrea, he and his family moved to San Diego in 1987, where he graduated from San Diego High School in 1994.
In 1994, he won the California State High School Championships at both 1600 meters (4:07.67) and 3200 meters (8:58.11). He then won 4 NCAA titles at UCLA in 1997. After gaining U.S. citizenship in 1998, he won the 2000 Olympic Trials 10,000 meters (28:03.32), and made the Olympic Final, where he placed 12th (27:53.63).
In the past two years, training with Team USA California, coached by Bob Larsen at Mammoth Lakes, he has established himself as the top U.S. runner for cross country and road races at 10K through 15K.
The marathon is expected to draw 30,000 runners and 2.5 million spectators on the course, giving it the largest attendance for any one-day sports event in the U.S. NBC (Channel 7 in San Diego) will have one hour of same-day coverage at noon, PST.
For more information visit the New York City Marathon site.
