Kasey Coleman and Josh Holley are all smiles after finishing the Boston Marathon on Monday.
Submitted photo
BOSTON — Josh Holley’s goal going into Monday’s Boston Marathon was to finish, and he was able to do just that in the in the 126th running of the iconic race.
Holley completed the 26.2 miles in 3 hours, 25 minutes, 36 seconds, good for 7,230th place. He is one of only a handful of Special Olympics athletes ever to qualify and compete in the Boston Marathon.
“This was just a victory lap,” Holley said. “Kasey and I did set a goal to go under 3:30. We just wanted to have fun in the race. It was just a fun run until the 20th mile.”
Josh Holley and Kasey Coleman, right, make their way through Monday’s Boston Marathon.
Submitted photo
Holley and his support runner, Kasey Coleman, went through the 10K in just under 42 minutes, the half (13.1 miles) in 1:30 and 20 miles in 2:23.
Submitted photo
“It was definitely fun until the Heartbreak Hill,” Holley said. “I know why they call it Heartbreak Hill. We were having a great pace for 19 miles, and then my IT band just gave out. I never ended up stopping, but there were a couple places I had to stop and walk. I almost fell about 10 different times trying to get to the finish. But I am too stubborn to stop. It took me eight years to get this medal.”
Coleman was given an official finish time of 3:25:33.
Meanwhile, at least five other current or former Columbus residents competed on Monday. James Mann finished in 3:06:10.
Columbus firefighter Paul Chapple was about a minute behind Holley and Coleman, finishing in 3:26:36. Megan Bos ran 3:25:54.
Columbus native Laura Heckroth finished in 3:50.30. Alejandro Contreras also came in under the four-hour mark, clocking 3:59.08.
