Houston Marathon 2012: Meb Keflezighi's Run to Third Olympic Games Is Remarkable

At 36 years old, Meb Keflezighi became the oldest man to win the U.S. Olympic Marathon trials on Saturday, and it's a remarkable accomplishment for an athlete that refuses to allow father time to get the best of him.

"To be on my third Olympic team is all I have dreamed about," Keflezighi said.

His time on the Houston course of 2:09:08 was a new personal record for him, and it was good enough to beat the favorite in the event, Ryan Hall, who finished second.

After finishing sixth in the New York marathon this year, Keflezighi battled a knee injury and an infection after the event, which did not allow him to train as much as he would have liked for Saturday's Olympic trials.

Keflezighi won the silver medal at the 2004 summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, but did not earn a trip to the 2008 Games in Beijing.

He followed his inability to qualify for the 2008 Summer Games by winning the 2009 New York City marathon, and Saturday, he became the only runner to ever win that event and the Olympic trials.

Keflezighi's endurance and never-give-up attitude is amazing. Battling injury and age, he has defied the odds to return to the Olympic level.

It's a wonderful story that we all should look at if we need motivation in our lives.

He is determined to make the most of this third, and likely final, Olympic Games appearance this summer in London, and there's no reason to think he won't find the medal stand in England.

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