American Meb Keflezighi said Wednesday that a sore left knee will keep him from running in the New York Half-Marathon, what would have been his first race since winning the 2009 New York Marathon.
Keflezighi has not raced since last November, when he became the first US man to win at New York since Alberto Salazar in 1982, but he called off his New York Half-Marathon bid on March 21 to prepare for next month's Boston Marathon.
"Due to a setback in my training a few weeks ago, I will not be prepared to compete," Keflezighi said in a statement. "I was looking forward to being a top contender but I developed soreness on my left knee that required me to take several days off and cut back on mileage for a few weeks.
"Since I lost most of the build-up phase of my marathon training in February I will have to pass on a tune-up race and focus my time on preparing for the Boston Marathon."
Copyright 2010 AFP American Edition
