BOSTON — One year after capturing the Boston Marathon, when he ran alone for nearly the entire race to become the first American to win since 1983, Meb Keflezighi has come to attract the kind of vocabulary less commonly applied to runners than to gods.
“When I won New York, I became famous, but when I won Boston, I became a celebrity,” Keflezighi said Sunday. “I heard someone call me a patron saint of running. I don’t know about that, but I run from my heart, and for everyone else out here.”
In the last year, as his fame has grown, Keflezighi has thrown out the first pitch at a game at Fenway Park, been feted by corporate executives, attended a state dinner at the White House and published a book, “Meb for Mortals.