From Meb Keflezighi:
This book was made possible by many people who saw my marathon career span fifteen years. Thank you, Mark Weinstein, for sparking the concept and putting together the resources to make this book a reality. Usually, the opportunity to write a book comes only once in a lifetime. I’m grateful to Mark for giving me a third opportunity, and the second with the same team.
I would also like to thank Scott Douglas for his genuine love for the sport of running and for working so hard to make this book and Meb for Mortals a hit in the running scene. None of this would have been possible without the skilled guidance of my literary agent, D. J. Snell. Thank you for your hard work and for seeing the potential in my projects.
My brother and manager, Hawi, has been there for almost all of my marathon journeys. I appreciate your honest feedback on this journey.
My day-to-day reflector is my wife, Yordanos, who sees me go through these lessons and actions most of the time. Thank you for supporting me unconditionally as I learned these life and running lessons. I hope I have lived the lessons I have learned and help others use them in their daily runs, in their workplaces, and in their family time. Nothing is easy, but we learn to adapt.
Thanks to all the coaches who saw the potential in me to be a miler, and eventually a marathoner, and then as I attempted that challenge twenty-six times. Thanks to Coach Dick Lord, who planted the seed of running, and Coach Ed Ramos, who nurtured the seed with good water and advice. Thanks to Mike Anderson, a friend of the family, who said, “You will be a beautiful marathoner,” before I knew the event was 26.2 miles long. Thanks to Ron Tabb, who saw the potential and who told me at age sixteen, “You have the potential to be a medalist,” and warned me not to get distracted at UCLA and to look at the big picture.
Gail and Steve Van Camp cared for me genuinely and helped me come up with the “run to win” philosophy, which is discussed in this book and which fellow runners now have tattooed on their bodies and signed on their bibs.
Coach Bob Larsen told me to “show no mercy” before every race. You taught me to push hard every time to be the best I can be on that day but to never lose sight of the bigger goals.
Rich and Pat Levy are like my athletic parents. You were there when I needed someone to pace me or allow me to stay at your place so I didn’t have to deal with traffic when I had a tempo run or long run scheduled. Also, thanks for being my cross-training partners. Both of you allowed me to put the miles on my ElliptiGO. Rich always told me, “You will know when it is not fun anymore. No one can tell you when to retire but yourself. The passion for competitiveness will die down.”
To all my bike pacers: Thanks for sharing your time with me. You were the sounding board of my goals. Suresh and Gary, thank you for allowing me to stay at your places toward the end of my marathon career.
Thanks to all the physical therapists, doctors, and chiropractors who allowed my body to keep digging deeper to the finish line.
Thank you to all of the race organizers who helped me build my marathon career, especially the NYRR and the BAA.
Thank you to all my sponsors who have supported me so that I can be the best runner and ambassador possible. Special thanks to Skechers Performance and Dr. Lewis Maharam for allowing me to extend my marathon career when many thought it was over.
Thank you for this village that has raised me. Now I am part of the village that is raising our youth, our running community, and our elites.
From Scott Douglas:
Alyse Diamond, Meb Keflezighi, Hawi Keflezighi, and Stacey Cramp were paragons of patience while Meb and I wrote this book. Thanks to the book’s original editor, Mark Weinstein, for his key role in bringing it to life.