For even the casual fan of running, Meb needs no introduction, but it’s still worth the time to list some of Meb’s credentials because they are so impressive. In college, Meb competed for UCLA and won 3 national championships on the track in the 5000m both indoors and outdoors and in the 10,000m. He also won the 1997 NCAA cross country championship against a stacked field that included future Olympians Kevin Sullivan, Adam Goucher, Bernard Lagat and and Abdi Abdirahman all of whom finished in the top 7 that year. Meb competed in 4 Olympics, beginning in the year 2000 when he competed in the 10,000m on the track. The following year, he set the American record for 10K on the track running 27:13, a record stood for almost 10 years. But Meb’s greatest success came when he made the transition from the track to the marathon. In 2004, he won the Sliver medal in the Olympic marathon, becoming the first American man to win a medal in the Olympic marathon since Frank Shorter in 1976. Continuing the theme of being the first American to do things in a very long time, Meb won the 2009 NYC Marathon, becoming the first American to win that race since Alberto Salazar in 1982. Then, in perhaps the most memorable performance of his career, Meb won the Boston Marathon in 2014 just two weeks shy of his 39^thbirthday. This made Meb the oldest winner of the Boston Marathon since 1930 and he was the first American to win the Boston Marathon since 1983. Making this victory even more special was the fact that it came one year after the bombing that occurred near the finish of the Boston Marathon and Meb had dedicated his race to those who lost their lives the year before by wearing their names on his bib. Meb had too many other victories and great performances over the course of his career to list, but since this is the masters milers podcast, I should point out that in 2015, when Meb turned 40, he set the masters records for the 15K, 20K, half marathon and marathon and he made his fourth Olympic team by qualifying for the Rio Olympic Marathon in 2016 after the age of 40.  Meb has a new book called 26 Marathons, which we discussed during this podcast. It’s already a NY Times bestseller and I highly recommend it. Meb’s life story is truly inspirational and there are a lot of great lessons in the book that transcend running. We had a fun conversation and I hope you enjoy it.

Meb’s website: https://marathonmeb.com

Meb’s books:

26 Marathons: https://tinyurl.com/y5wx8p6t

Meb for mortals: https://tinyurl.com/y38g6g3l

Run to Overcome: https://tinyurl.com/yyqs95hj

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