Meb will be at the Vermont City Marathon — and other exciting news

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Disclaimer: I received free entry to the Vermont City Marathon as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review, find and write race reviews!

Since I wrote my last post about the People’s United Bank Vermont City Marathon, there have been four particularly exciting pieces of news about the race.

• It was announced in November that Meb Keflezighi will be at the race on Sunday, May 27, and the race expo on Saturday, May 26.
• The BibRave 100 was announced in late November and the Vermont City Marathon made the list as a Top 20 marathon. (See The BibRave 100 in full here.)
• I officially registered for the race.
• I have a discount code for you — use “BibRave10” at www.vermontcitymarathon.org to save $10.

I had already shared the news about Meb Keflezighi, commonly known as Meb, participating in this year’s Vermont City Marathon on social media, but I thought now was a perfect time to blog about it because he was the guest on latest edition of The BibRave Podcast, which came out Friday, Dec. 8.

I subscribe to the podcast and listen weekly, but it was definitely cool to hear from Meb! The recently-retired pro runner has scores of running-related accomplishments, including the win at the 2014 Boston Marathon — the year following the bombing. I’ve learned more about professional runners over the years, and I think that was around the time I started hearing about Meb.

He did win an Olympic medal in 2004, as well, but I was a young teen then and wasn’t really up on the latest running news at that time.

It’s crazy to me to comprehend entering a marathon with the goal of winning, but that’s what Meb did as a professional runner — and he was successful in that goal more than once.

Check out BibRave’s blog about the podcast here, or go directly to listen to it here. I subscribe via the Podcasts app on my iPhone, but you can also find the podcast on Spotify.

If you aren’t familiar with Meb, check out his website here — there are plenty more of his race accomplishments on there, too.

Four people with inspirational stories will get to run on his relay team at the Vermont City Marathon. If you think you may fit the bill, you have until Feb. 12, 2018, to share your story via email at [email protected]. (Get all the details here.)

Even though I am running the full marathon and not the relay, I’m so excited to (hopefully) meet Meb at the expo and then see him for the race as well. I wonder which leg of the relay he will have. I feel like I may be more likely to see him as I’m running if he has a later leg and not the first leg — because I don’t even think I can run one lap around the track at his marathon pace (at his latest marathon, the New York City Marathon, he ran a 5:11 pace… for 26.2 miles!). I have no idea what pace Meb plans to run for his relay leg, but I would guess his “easy” pace is still pretty fast.

“I am excited to visit Vermont for the first time and attend the People’s United Bank Vermont City Marathon festivities,” said Meb in a Vermont City Marathon news release. “I look forward to meeting all of my supporters and celebrating the race’s 30th anniversary.”

The race is clearly pumped to be welcoming the running icon, too.

“As we celebrate our 30th anniversary, the presence of one of the most recognizable and well-loved runners will only add to the excitement,” said Peter Delaney, executive director of RunVermont, in the news release. “And to run with Meb on the streets of Burlington, it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity.”

Read the full news release here. 

Here’s where you can find out more about the Vermont City Marathon:

Website: www.vermontcitymarathon.org  (use code “BibRave10” to save $10!)

Facebook: www.Facebook.com/runvcm | www.Facebook.com/RunVermont

Twitter: @RunVermont

Instagram: @runvermont

Stay tuned to my social media accounts, as well, where you can follow along with my training!

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