Meb returning to Bix
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By Sean Moeller | Friday, July 20, 2007 |
Leader Meb Keflezighi grabs some bix water at one of the Kirkwood water stations. (QUAD-CITY TIMES FILE PHOTO)
By now, it should come as no surprise that there's a soft spot for the Quad- City Times Bix 7 in the heart of Meb Keflezighi, the 2004 U.S. marathon silver medalist in the Athens Olympic Games and arguably America's best distance runner.
He's made the late July race a near-annual stop on his schedule since he made his first appearance in Davenport in 2002, when the Bix 7 hosted the U.S. Championship. He won that year and returned in 2003, hoping to defend his title. He returned in 2006, and race directors announced Wednesday that the American record holder in the 10K (27-minutes, 13.98 seconds) will be back for a fourth time July 28 - this time with company.
"We're definitely excited about the race and about the community and all of the people we've become friends with over the years," Keflezighi said Wednesday afternoon from his home in Mammoth Lakes, Calif. "(Assistant race director Dan Breidinger) and his wife, Mary, always have the door open for us. We have very close ties with them and we discuss coming out there to visit all the time, even without the race. It's just a perfect time for us to do this. We decided that we'll make a family trip out of it."
Keflezighi will be accompanied by his wife, Yordanos Asgedom, and his 16-month-old daughter Sara Russon, to Davenport for the first time and are likely to make a week of it, coming to town early and staying a few days after the race before Keflezighi heads east to race at Beach To Beacon 10K.
Keflezighi never has hidden his love for the Bix 7 and appreciation for the kindness shown to him by the Breidinger family through the years. When he originally came to the race five years ago, Breidinger offered his home and vehicle for accommodations and transportation, and he's done the same every year since. When Breidinger and his wife adopted a daughter almost three years ago, they named her Molly Elizabeth - whose initials spell out MEB. Keflezighi attended the Alcoa Junior Bix with the Breidingers last year and plans to let Sara scamper in it this year.
"He's the best runner in the United States right now," Bix 7 race director Ed Froehlich said. "He has a very special relationship with Dan and this race, and we love having him back."
Keflezighi finished fifth in last year's race, and he said that a similar performance won't do this year as he preps himself with 115-mile weeks, getting ready for the Nov. 3 Olympic Trials marathon in New York City.
"I was not happy with the way that it went last year," he said. "When I went out for a run on that Monday after the race, I had a 104-degree fever. I was coming down with something that weekend. My mind was saying, 'Go,' and my body was saying, 'Not really.'
"My big focus this year is on November, but I'm doing Beach to Beacon for the first time ever. I'm excited. I might do one track race in September. Bix is a tough course, and it's the way the Trials will be in Central Park. It will be good for me. I always race to win. It's fun for me to be there, but I also am trying to get on that team in November. It doesn't matter what I did in '04. I still have to be in the top three to get to Beijing."
The scheduling of the Trials marathon has caused many U.S. runners grief as it's being run the day before the New York Marathon, forcing them to choose between the two as well as altering many other potential major marathon plans.
There are no conflicts for Keflezighi, who hasn't ruled out that he might have to choose between running the 10K or the marathon at the Olympics, should he qualify for both. He believes his best shot at a medal is again in the marathon.
"To represent your country, you have to make some sacrifices," he said. "I wish New York and the Trials were two months apart, but with one day apart, it's different. I think it would be ideal if they made it a double-dip (combining the New York Marathon with the Trials). It would be a win-win situation, but it's a complicated issue."
Sean Moeller can be contacted at (563) 383-2288 or at smoeller@qctimes.com.
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