By Madhuri Dey
Nov. 2, New York (THAINDIAN NEWS) Meb Keflezighi became the first man of American nationality to win the marathon of New York City. Spectators were taken back to 1982, the year that had last witnessed the victory of an American man in the New York City Marathon. The last man to win the New York Marathon was Alberto Salazar in 1982. Meb was seen wiping away his tears of joy, tears brought on by his double victory, against his competitors and the hip injury that he suffered back in 2007, and feared that it might have marked the last time he ever ran. He said that his win brought back memories of his friend Ryan Shay, who died in the Olympic trials in New York after collapsing.

Keflezighi was born in Eritrea. He currently resides at Mammoth Lakes in California. He is 34 years old. He covered the entire span of the marathon, the 26.2 miles, in two hours, nine minutes and fifteen seconds. Even as Meb was sprinting past Brooklyn, the onlookers did not foresee that he would emerge the winner. They perhaps thought that he would finish second, but the general assumption was that like other American participants, he would not be the first one to finish the race.

The assumption had not changed even when he ousted the other runners and was only behind Robert Cheruiyot from Kenya. Cheruiyot is a four time winner of the Boston Marathon. It was only when the two had reached Central Park and Meb had diminished the distance between themselves, that things began to change. Soon he ran past Robert and crossed the line, emerging the winner and kissing the ground.