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Saturday Is Meb Keflezighi Day In San Diego

San Diego runner Meb Keflezighi runs in the 2014 Boston Marathon, April 21, 2014.
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San Diego runner Meb Keflezighi runs in the 2014 Boston Marathon, April 21, 2014.

Meb Keflezighi, the San Diego runner who became the first American man to win the Boston Marathon in 31 years, will be honored Saturday at San Diego High School.

Those who attend "Meb Keflezighi Day" will get a chance to walk the track with the 2004 Olympic silver medalist, according to the San Diego Hall of Champions.

Mayor Kevin Faulconer and Councilman David Alvarez, a middle and high school classmate of Keflezighi, will present awards.

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The runner, who turned 39 on May 5, won the 118th Boston Marathon on April 21 with an official time of 2:08:37.

He was among nearly 36,000 runners in a race that was marred a year earlier by two homemade bombs that killed three people and injured 264 others.

As Keflezighi approached the finish line roughly 10 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Wilson Chebet of Kenya, he could be seen pumping his fist as the crowd cheered him on.

Keflezighi and his family immigrated to San Diego as refugees from Eritrea when he was 12 years old. He won both the 1,600-meter and 3,200-meter races at the CIF California State Championships in 1994 while at San Diego High School.