U.S. runner passes up Boston

American Meb Keflezighi, the silver medalist from the Athens Olympic Marathon, will bypass this year's Boston Marathon in favor of making his first appearance at London. Keflezighi had to withdraw from the London Marathon in 2005 after sustaining an Achilles injury in a freak encounter with a dog during a training run.

Bob Larsen, who's been Meb's coach since he enrolled at UCLA in 1994, sees London as a better prep race for the 2008 Olympics instead of the hilly Boston course. Keflezighi finished third in Boston last year.

"It is important to get him into a flat course," said Larsen. "Beijing is absolutely flat. He's never run on a flat course when he's tuned-up and ready to run well. It helps in our planning."