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Reflections on Meb Keflezighi, the NYC Marathon and Seinfeld

Posted November 10th, 2006 at 12:35 PM by Steven Schiff

Section: News & Results, Marathons

It turns out last weekend’s disappointing 22nd place finish for American marathoner Meb Keflezighi was not the result of a poor effort, insufficient training or shoddy planning. Alright, so even the marathon greenhorn knows to pack race-day shoes, gear and apparel in carry-on luggage when flying to a race – something you might expect an Olympic silver medalist to consider. But you’ll forgive poor Meb for eating a bad plate of chicken fettuccine several days prior to his arrival in New York that gave entirely new meaning to his pre-meet runs.

Chalk it up to bad luck if you like, but, all things considered, Meb doesn’t exactly have a whole lot to complain about. His pre-marathon calamities certainly pale in comparison to another well-known incidence of horrific marathon karma, the famous Trinidadian (or was it Tobagan?) runner Jean-Paul, one of Seinfeld’s most heroic – if not bumbling – athletic characters.

Poor Jean-Paul found out the hard way that anything can happen when you come to the Big Apple for the New York City Marathon, and the young Tobagan (or was it Trinidadian?) could have certainly advised poor Meb against angering the wake-up guy at the hotel desk, emulating the free-swearing style of George Costanza and his Texan buddies, the perils of the AM/PM switch and above all trusting your friend’s next door neighbor not to hit the snooze on his mental alarm.

Don’t forget the fact that after somehow arriving at the starting gate just in time and miraculously sprinting to the lead, Jean-Paul grabbed a cup of water from Kramer and poured it over his head expecting a refreshing blast of cool liquid relief only to learn in the most painful possible way that it was actually boiling hot tea. Let’s remember also that Jean-Paul had completely slept through his Olympic marathon start.

So poor Meb can wipe the tears from his eyes and be happy with what he’s got: An Olympic medal, a very respectable finish in the 2006 New York City Marathon and above all, better luck than a fictional television character. Hey, Meb, it could be a lot worse. It may not be so reassuring to know that you’ve got only slightly better luck than someone who doesn’t even exist in real life, but Americans – New Yorkers especially – put a lot of stock in things they learn on Seinfeld. The one common lesson: never come to The Big Apple unprepared, because you’ll be eaten alive. In Meb’s case, of course, New York would inevitably come down with a terrible case of indigestion.

Sources:

Pictures from: TFS’s coverage of the 2006 ING New York City Marathon press conferences and [A-Channel]

Ryan Hall sets new North American record for the Half-Marathon (59:43) | The Final Sprint (TFS) | Comprehensive Running, Nutrition, and Fitness Publication said:

[…] Hall, of Big Bear, CA, set the American 20km mentioned above at the IAAF World Road Running Championships last October in Debrecen, Hungary. Today’s victory earned him a cash prize of $21,000. The runner-up was Fasil Bizuneh (1:02:22) and Olympic silver medallist Meb Keflezigh, after a very strange and disappointing performance at last falls’ NYC Marathon, finished third with a time of 1:02:22. […]
January 14th, 2007 at 6:26 pm
Bowulf Network Admin Blog » Blog Archive » The running of the 2007 Drake Relays Half Marathon said:

[…] I had a fitful night of sleep pre-race waking every 15 minutes to prevent a Seinfeld-esque marathon oversleep. The first problem became readily apparent — where are the port-a-pots? Laura and I could only find 3 for everyone, and there was a huge line for nearly half hour before race time. 1500 runners for only 3 johns seem woefully inadequate. (This might have led to the Boston Marathon-like woman squatting to presumably urinate in the bushes in a park during the race.) Other than that inconvenience, the pre-race was amazingly cozy or “look who’s here” affair as I saw no fewer than 3 people from my church, a number of my runner friends, and other acquaintances. […]
April 28th, 2007 at 11:44 pm
Scott said:

laughed my a$$ off because this reminded me of my marathon trek.
August 7th, 2007 at 11:36 pm
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