Bittersweet / Holley misses Boston cutoff, but wins Circular Logic Marathon

Andy Hunnicutt, left, paces Josh Holley as he approaches the finish line in the Circular Logic Marathon at Seymour High School in Seymour, Ind., Saturday, May, 8, 2021. Holley entered the marathon with the goal of qualifying for the Boston Marathon. He fell short of that goal, finishing just a couple minutes over the three-hour qualification time, but did win the marathon with a time of 3 hours, 2 minutes, 32.78 seconds. Mike Wolanin | The Republic

SEYMOUR — In the moments immediately following Saturday’s Circular Logic Marathon, Josh Holley felt disappointment that he had fallen a little short of his goal of becoming the third Special Olympics athlete to qualify for the Boston Marathon.

But as the 22-year-old Columbus North graduate began to catch his breath, he was told he had won the 26.2-mile race, and that raised his spirits a few notches.

“It’s really good,” Holley said. “I didn’t even know I won the race. I had no idea. I won the marathon, at least.”

Holley’s official finishing time was 3 hours, 2 minutes, 32.78 seconds. The provisional Boston Marathon qualifying standard is 3:00 for 18-to-34-year-old males.

Holley, who has Autism Level I high functioning, was on pace to break three hours past the midway point of the race. He had been between 6:45 and 6:55 for most of his first 14 miles before beginning to fall off the pace a little.

Bartholomew Brown Jennings (BBJ) Special Olympics coach Andy Hunnicutt rode a bike to pace Holley, who averaged about 6:58 per mile.

“It was fun,” Hunnicutt said. “I’m trying to keep him on pace, and he has an internal clock that just goes and goes, and he ran right at 7 minutes a mile or just under it for 26 miles. On the phone I have a little app that gives him the pace, so we know we’re running somewhere in that 6:55 to 7:00 pace. He’s not quite to his goal, but he’s within three minutes of it.”

After Holley led the first three of 26 one-mile loops around Seymour High School, Joey Zeinner took the lead and held it through about the 20th mile. But Zeinner fell off the pace, and Holley didn’t realize he was the leader when he passed him.

Joey Hibbett ended up finishing second in 3:06:23.69. Zeinner took third in 3:08:24.41.

“I could have done better,” Holley said. “I was totally wanting to stop at 25 miles, but I kept telling myself, ‘No.’ I wanted to stop so badly. My IT band hurt so much. I was running in complete pain.”

The marathon was Holley’s fourth in the past two years and the first that he was able to complete without stopping. He was on pace to break three hours and qualify for Boston at the 2019 Mill Race Marathon, but had an asthma attack around Mile 23, and after recovering, finished in about 4 1/2 hours.

In September, Holley ran at the Fair on the Square Marathon in Danville. He had an asthma attack around Mile 18, but still ran 3:23.

Last month, Holley attempted to qualify again at the Carmel Marathon. He dropped his inhaler around Mile 20, but still set another personal record with a 3:10 finish.

Saturday, he shattered his PR once again.

“Part of it with Josh’s disabilities, he has a hard time keeping food down, so we don’t do enough nutrition,” Hunnicutt said. “Now, he did better drinking today during the run than he’s ever done, and I was real impressed with that. We didn’t have to stop. He didn’t have an asthma attack. He just did great. I’m thrilled with him.”

Next up for Holley are the Special Olympics state games June 12 at Indiana State. Holley has been nominated as a potential competitor for the 2022 USA Special Olympics Games in Orlando, and Hunnicutt has been nominated as a potential coach. If Holley makes those games, he will try to qualify for the 2023 World Games in Berlin.

Holley and running buddy Randall Watts, who is coming off an injury, are planning to run the Urban Bourbon Half Marathon in October in Louisville. Circular Logic Marathon race director Tara Johnson told Holley after Saturday’s race that the gym she owns, Jordan’s Barbell Club, would sponsor him in next year’s event.

“I’m going to try to keep qualifying,” Holley said. “I’m going to run another marathon, maybe the Indianapolis Marathon. If we listed the goals, the first goal would be to qualify for the Boston Marathon. My second goal is getting on that USA team.”

But the main goal at the moment for Holley is graduating from college. He earned associate’s degrees in business management and business marketing with honors from Ivy Tech a year ago this week and has finished his first 10-week module with Purdue Global.

Holley recently began his second 10-week module with Purdue Global and could graduate as early as June 29. But after taking 24 credit hours the first 10 weeks, he is considering taking it a little easier this period and graduating in the fall.

When he does graduate, Holley hopes to be able to start a running store in Franklin. He has his eye on a building next to a bike shop near Franklin College that is for sale.

“His brother Kyle (Michaelis) maybe hopefully help him get the online store start going for us,” said their mother, Deana Holley. “With (Josh’s) disability, he can get certain types of loans. Hopefully, that will help him start his business.”