Mebrahtom Keflezighi

American Meb Keflezighi said Wednesday that a sore left knee will keep him from running in the New York Half-Marathon, what would have been his first race since winning the 2009 New York Marathon.

The American Revolution in road racing began here three years ago on Patriots Day when three Yankee Doodle Dandies finished among the top five in the Boston Marathon. ``The resurgence started in Boston,'' says Meb Keflezighi, who was third that day ahead of countrymen Brian Sell and Alan Culpepper. Next April, the Boston Athletic Association and sponsor John Hancock are hoping to produce a louder shot heard 'round the world and shed 26 years of foreign domination of the world's most storied 26-miler by bringing in Keflezighi and Ryan Hall, the top two Americans, who'll be competing alongside each other here for the first time in a bid to become the first domestic winner since Greg Meyer in 1983. ``It seemed like the best of scenarios if we could get them running head to head,'' says BAA executive director Guy Morse. Hall was eager for another shot after finishing third here this year. ``I've been looking forward to it since I crossed the finish line,'' he says. And Keflezighi, whose vi

Americans across globe - and hovering over it - celebrate Thanksgiving with feasts, parades. Giant balloons, floats, marching bands and clowns with confetti brought smiles to hundreds of thousands of revelers eager to catch a glimpse of a parade as steeped in Thanksgiving Day tradition as turkey and pumpkin pie.

Meb Keflezighi becomes 1st American man to win NYC Marathon since 1982; Tulu wins women's race. Meb Keflezighi wrote a letter to Alberto Salazar 11 years ago explaining how American distance runners could again find success.

NEW YORK - Thus did it come around for Meb Keflezighi in the town where he ran his first 26-miler in 2002, where he'd come up just short twice, and where he almost wrecked his running career in the Olympic trials two years ago. Yesterday finally belonged to him and to his countrymen, who'd waited 27 years for an American to win the New York City Marathon. ``Today was a huge day,'' said the 34-year-old from San Diego after he'd run away from Kenya's Robert Cheruiyot in the final 2 miles to win by 41 seconds in 2 hours 9 minutes 15 seconds. ``You visualize, you visualize, but when reality hits, it hits home and it's pretty sweet.'' Not since Alberto Salazar won his third straight crown in 1982 had a Yank broken the tape in Central Park and not since 1979 had there been so many in the top 10, including Ryan Hall (fourth), Jorge Torres (seventh), Nick Arciniaga (eighth), Abdi Abdirahman (ninth), and Jason Lehmkuhle (10th). ``A wonderful day for myself and the rest of the American guys,'' d

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Meb Keflezighi becomes 1st American man to win NYC Marathon since 1982; Tulu wins women's race. That day in Central Park two years ago was shaping up as a triumphant symbol of the resurgence in American distance running Meb Keflezighi helped inspire.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Meb Keflezighi became the first American to win the New York City marathon since 1982 when he took the men's title in two hours 9 minutes and 15 seconds on Sunday.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Meb Keflezighi won the New York City marathon on Sunday, making him the first American to win the event since the early 1980s.

Meb Keflezighi becomes first American man to win New York City Marathon since 1982. Meb Keflezighi has become the first American man to win the New York City Marathon since 1982.

NEW YORK - Gary Muhrcke was the first champion, a New York fireman with three kids who wasn't even sure he wanted to run after working the night shift. That was in 1970, when the race was held entirely in Central Park, the prizes were recycled baseball and bowling trophies and cheap watches, and there were no women's finishers because the only entrant dropped out. It wasn't until 1983 that a foreigner (New Zealand's Rod Dixon) won the men's title at the New York City Marathon, and no American has won it since. But with the top Yanks competing en masse in this morning's 40th running of the five-borough race, the chances of a domestic champion have rarely been better. With the race doubling as the US championships and $40,000 going to the winner, Ryan Hall, Meb Keflezighi, Brian Sell, Abdi Abdirahman, and 26-mile newbie Jorge Torres all will be in the chase that starts at the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge and finishes next to the Tavern on the Green. ``We're going to have a group of guys up i

Meb Keflezighi won the New York City Marathon on Sunday, becoming the first American man to capture the title since 1982.

Meb Keflezighi became the first US man in more than two decades to win the New York City Marathon on Sunday, while Derartu Tulu ended Paula Radcliffe's two-year grip on the women's title.

Meb Keflezighi became the first US man in more than two decades to win the New York City Marathon on Sunday, while Derartu Tulu ended Paula Radcliffe's two-year grip on the women's title.

Kenya's Martin Lel, a two-time champion, was forced to drop out of Sunday's New York Marathon with a leg injury, race officials announced Wednesday.

Olympic silver medalist Meb Keflezighi to run New York City Marathon in November. Olympic silver medalist Meb Keflezighi will run this year's New York City Marathon.

US standouts Meb Keflezighi and Abdi Abdirahman joined the entry list for the New York Marathon on Tuesday while Irishman Martin Fagan and two-time winner Jelena Prokopcuka dropped out.

FALMOUTH - When they saw Tilahun Regassa dash off the line as if he were trying to catch the Vineyard ferry, the older and wiser guys in the elite pack were amused by his teenage brashness. ``For the first 800 meters, he was digging,'' said Meb Keflezighi. ``We thought, `He's a rookie.' '' Rookies who treat this 7-mile seaside course like a summer carnival ride have been known to end up as roadkill, marinating in an ice bath in the medical tent. Not the 19-year-old Regassa, who turned in the most audacious performance in memory here yesterday morning, running solo the entire way to win the 37th Falmouth Road Race by 22 seconds over Morocco's Ridouane Harroufi in a fast, yet unhurried, 31 minutes 41 seconds. Taken with countrywoman Mamitu Daska's easy victory in the women's race, it was a historic double for the Ethiopians, who'd won the men's title with Tadese Tola last year but never had claimed the women's. ``Very, very different from last year,'' said the 25-year-old Daska, who plac

FALMOUTH NOTEBOOK FALMOUTH - Rebecca Donaghue's running renaissance continued yesterday as the UMass grad and Stow native finished second to Mamitu Daska in the best placement by an American woman since Kate O'Neill was runner-up to Alevtina Ivanova in 2004. ``I just felt great from the start,'' said Donaghue, who finished 10th last year. Donaghue, who finished fifth in the 5,000 meters at the US championships, spent much of the summer on the track in Europe, setting personal bests in both the 5,000 (15 minutes 34 seconds) and 1,500 (4:12.07) before returning to place fifth in the Beach to Beacon 10K in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, Aug. 1. ``I saved enough for today,'' said Donaghue, now, at 33, a Penn State grad student. Donaghue, who was in fourth place at 4 miles, moved up steadily, finished in 37:14, and earned a $10,000 paycheck - $5,000 for placing second and $5,000 as the top US finisher. Plan accordingly Next year's race will be held a week later, on Aug. 15, to avoid conflicting wit

FALMOUTH - The way the US Embassy originally reckoned it, she wouldn't get her visa until September. Edith Masai may have won three world cross-country titles and a global distance medal, but she couldn't give her rivals that much of a head start on the road to Falmouth Heights. Not that the 42-year-old Kenyan was asking for head-of-the-line privileges, but the defending champion of America's most storied summer 7-miler rated at least a chance to get to the starting line. So Congressman William Delahunt gave the paperwork machinery a nudge and Masai traveled more than 26 hours from Nairobi via Dubai and New York to arrive here Friday night. ``I like to come here because of the people,'' says Masai, who hasn't raced since she won the Singapore Marathon last December because of knee issues but wants to become the first women's champion to repeat since countrywoman Lornah Kiplagat in 2002. Such is the lure, and allure, of the Falmouth Road Race, the woods-and-shore ramble that will be hel