MEB!!!

The ageless wonder that is Meb Keflezighi has won the 2014 Boston Marathon! Meb ran a 2:08:37 and became the first American male since Greg Meyer way back in 1983. 1983! That’s before George Lucas unleashed Ewoks on the unsuspecting public.

At the risk of rolling out too much hyperbole, it’s tough to avoid saying things like ‘he’s the best ever’ and ‘that was the gutsiest race’, etc. Watching it unfold on TV and it was clear that he was going deep into the well, either not knowing or not caring about the consequences that might come with such an effort.

It will be interesting to hear the full account of the race, to hear from the other invited elites and find out exactly what happened. Meb broke away early and just had this confident air about him, seeming like he was in total control the whole time and never truly challenged. Initially the pace and time seemed a little slow, or at least too slow for Meb to have the big gap that he had. In looking at historical results though, Meb’s time this year is the fastest winning time since the current course record was set back in 2011 (Geoffrey Mutai, 2:03:02). We get spoiled with ultra fast, near world record  results from big races with staged pacers, but Meb’s 2:08 is right in line with past winners of the race, especially if you view the 2010 and 2011 results as the outliers that they are (don’t forget about the once in a lifetime tailwind of 2011).

On the other hand, the women’s field went out with guns blazing, led by the feisty, ferocious Shalane Flanagan. The end result there was a new course record for winner Rita Jeptoo (2:18:57) and a new American record for Shalane (2:22:02).

But that’s enough analysis for now. Time to bask in the glow of Meb’s victory. Meb won Boston!