After a pair of back-to-back top-three finishes, Olympic silver medallist Meb Keflezighi wants to give November’s ING New York City Marathon another try, the runner announced today.

“In New York, it’s always about the competition,” the 31-year-old American said. “You saw how close the competition was last year.”

In the most dramatic marathon finish of 2005, World record holder Paul Tergat edged South African Hendrick Ramaala. Despite losing valuable training time prior to the race, Keflezighi finished third behind the pair in 2:09:56 on the challenging course that twists through each of the city’s five boroughs.

“Last year I just ran out of time,” he said, explaining that a serious quad injury left him with less than eight weeks to prepare for the race. “The main goal was to test myself.” This year, he said, “I’m hoping to do big things in New York. It means a lot to me, to my family, and to American distance running to win in New York.”

"'Third time is the charm' should be Meb's mantra this time out," said Race Director Mary Wittenberg. "I think this is Meb's year to win New York. He is fit, strong, healthy, and experienced. There's no time like the present for him."

70 days after running to Olympic silver in Athens in 2004, Keflezighi finished second behind Ramaala in 2:09:53. This year he’ll again face stiff competition. Tergat will be returning, while some key names are yet to be announced. After he won the European title last month, Wittenberg gave Stefano Baldini, the reigning Olympic champion, an open invitation.

November’s will be his eighth marathon; in the five he’s contested since the beginning of 2004, he hasn’t finished further back than third.

Keflezighi has raced sparingly this year, with a third place finish at the BAA Boston Marathon in April, a victory at the national 15Km championships, a runner-up performance in the 10,000 at the U.S. championships in June, and most recently, he notched a runner-up finish at the inaugural inaugural NYC Half-Marathon, clocking 1:01:28, six seconds behind winner Thomas Nyariki of Kenya. It was Keflezighi’s debut at the distance, a “last minute decision,” he said.

He had initially intended to compete in the 5000 in Zurich and the 10,000 in Brussels, but was forced to cancel when illness struck him in late July, one that had him fighting a fever of 104 (40 C.), causing him to lose several days of training.

Clearly setting his sights on his U.S. 10,000m record of 27:13.98, the lost preparation left the record out of the reach, he said, ultimately defeating the purpose of his planned European stint.

“My goal was the U.S. record,” he said. “I didn’t want to go there and run 13:20 or 27:20 or 27:30. So I did the New York half.”

Keflezighi said he may contest a half-marathon of 10Km prior to his New York race, but doesn’t consider it an absolute necessity.

“My training is going great,” he said, adding with a laugh, “better than last year.”

The 37th running of the New York race is scheduled for Sunday, 5 November, and is part of the five-race World Marathon Majors series with a US$1 million champion's prize. The series also includes the Boston Marathon, the Flora London Marathon, the real,- Berlin Marathon, and the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon.

Bob Ramsak for the IAAF