Boston Marathon doesn't invite Meb Keflizighi

I know there isn't a lot of marathon/running discussion on this board (why would there be?) but this is an interesting story. Does anyone have a better sense of what this is all about?

Meb was second at the 2004 Olympics in Athens and won the NYC marathon as recently as 2009. He also is a U.S. citizen and ran in high school in San Diego, although he was born overseas. He's considered to be one of the classiest champions and is beloved by other runners.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/feb/10/boston-marathon-doesnt-invite-keflizighi/#

 

NO!

If Meb isn't there I definitely won't watch!

Total bullshit. I am so outraged. I'm sure Bob Ryan is right on this.

 

There's no reason to be a smartass. I found it kind of interesting. If you don't want to read about it then don't.

 

Meb is one of the classiest athletes you'll ever meet. He's been an ambassador for the sport and is a very proud American.

The Boston Marathon blew it.

 

Maybe it has something to do with his running the NYC Half-maratahon only a month earlier... pretty short recovery time.
Shouldn't matter but if Boston suspects he might not be at his best the financial offer might be lower than Meb deserves.

 

Essentially, that 13.1 mile run a month earlier would be a training race. If he's running 26.2 chances are he has a long run planned once a week for 1-2 months before his race... He might be going a good 18-20 miles two weeks before.

For most people, I could see how that would be a problem. But for a world class athlete it shouldn't be a big deal. And it completely sucks that he was left out. I always enjoyed watching Meb.

 

Nah, the NYC half doesn't matter. Ryan Hall, for example, is running both races.

If it's true that Meb didn't receive ANY offer from Boston, that IS outrageous -- and especially outrageous for a race on US soil. You'd think they'd be killing to attract the best American marathoners for publicity's sake. Instead they got these household names: Geoffrey Mutai, Gilbert Yegon, Tadese Tola, Evans Cheruiyot and 2010 New York City champion Gebregziabher Gebremariam.

Great runners, but from a business/marketing perspective? Go figure.

 

We're there for you, man. Come here. Man hug. Be strong.

 

Imagine, Mr. 8-seconds making fun of marathon runners.

 

Oh, come on. You can't see a "spelled like it sounds" ad campaign off that guy?

 

This has already been covered in the running running thread

 

Seriously? A world class marathon runner needs more than a month to recover from a 13.1 mile run? Not buying that explanation at all.