In April 2014, Meb Keflezighi became the first American man to win the Boston Marathon since 1983. Ten years later, he's running it again. This time, to highlight his MEB foundation and his partnership with Bank of America's “Play It Forward” clinic.
In an interview this week, Keflezgihi explained how he convinced his Eritrean parents that running could become a sustainable career. He shared how his name, Mebrahtom, was chosen and how he's lived up to its meaning. The 2004 Olympic silver medalist also looked ahead to the 2024 Paris Olympics and shared some insight on Team USA's marathon runners.
Read excerpts from the interview below, and watch the full interview above.
NBC10 Boston: What inspired you to want to get back into running the Boston Marathon exactly 10 years later?
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Meb Keflezighi: I have done 26 competitive marathons -- I thought I was going to be all done. But then in 2014, after winning the Boston Marathon, my life changed and I wanted to do a greater cause to be able to represent the foundations. The last time I did a marathon was in 2018 for the Martin Richard Foundation, a team for kids in New York. And I said, "You know what? I got to do one for the MEB Foundation to maintain balance for health, education and fitness to empower youth." So I decided, you know what -- on my 10-year anniversary, I want to be able to run the streets of Boston. And what a great way to be able to run for my foundation.
What is your earliest memory of running, and when did you realize that you were in love with it?
I have a book, "Run to Overcome" -- it has a lot of the details, but my dad had to walk over 225 miles to save his life from his war-torn [country] of Eritrea. My first part of running was the first time I saw a car. I was in Eritrea moving from the village to the capital city. And I remember I just saw a car come toward me and I said, "That thing's going to run me over." So I just ran to the bushes. That's my first memory of running.
When I was in physical education class in San Diego in 1988, a P.E. teacher... who was also from Boston... he says, "Hey, if you run hard, you going to get A or B, or if you mess around and around going to get F." Well I want to run hard as I can get that A and a T-shirt. And that's when I realized my God-given talent was discovered. I ran a 5:20 mile and he says, "You're going to get the Olympics." I have no idea what the word Olympic meant, but I started running since then, fell in love with it, and I was known as the fastest seventh grader. My picture was in the gymnasium and they started giving high-fives and thumbs up. And that's when I fell in love with it.
Your name, Mebrahtom, means "Let there be light." How do you think your name has played a role in who you've become?
Hopefully, I've been a light not only in Boston but also during the Olympics, even hope for others. Then I won in New York and then also the biggest one of all was winning the Boston Marathon in 2014 after that horrific moment [the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings] that we have all experienced.
Mebrahtom, named by my uncle, who said he wanted a younger brother, and his mom said, "I can't have more kids" She [asked] do you have a name? He's like, yeah, I have a name, Mebrahtom, "the one that will shine the world" and then that name was passed on to me. So I feel, you know, a small part of how fully I've been a shine to the world in terms of running and especially with my foundation.
Aside from the work that you do, how would you define Meb? Like a day-to-day?
Well, I hope I am fun to be around with most of the time. You know, if I'm running, that's my caffeine and get it going. But just to maintain some balance, hopefully, the interaction that you come across people -- it could be for 30 seconds or five seconds, hopefully, that's a positive. That's [what I want] my legacy to be and be able to interact with people and make sure that they feel welcome and included in the conversations... for me the interaction is important.
