Meb Keflezighi: 'A Marathon Is A Metaphor For Life, And Life Is Not Easy'

Meb Keflezighi ran his final career marathon in New York City in 2017. It was his 26th, which lends itself to the title of his new book, written with Scott Douglas: “26 Marathons: What I’ve Learned About Faith, Identity, Running, and Life from My Marathon Career.”

That career started — and nearly ended — with how bad Keflezighi felt after his very first 26.2-mile race.

“In 2002, my first marathon in New York, I thought I was going to have a chance at winning it,” Keflezighi says. “I went for it, and I got down to four people, and then eventually I hit the wall [at] about 18, 19 miles, and got slower and slower. It was torture getting to that finish line: ‘This is the worst thing ever. This is my first and last marathon. I never want to do this again.’ ”

Keflezighi was born in Eritrea, but he and his family fled the African country due to civil war. Eventually, they settled in San Diego. He became a U.S. citizen, was a running star at UCLA and made the Olympic team for the first time in 2000.

After that disappointing experience in New York City in 2002, Keflezighi went back to Eritrea for the first