Yesterday, Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia was the first man to cross the Boston Marathon finish line, doing so in just over two hours and nine minutes. Early this morning, in the driving rain and frigid temperatures some 20 hours after the start of the race, a Venezuelan man by the name of Maickel Melamed finished his Boston Marathon in what was nothing short of courageous fashion.
You see, Melamed’s story is unlike any of the world-class athletes beside which he started his pursuit of the grueling 26.2 miles yesterday. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. The Venezuelan native was born with an extremely rare muscular dystrophy condition, which renders the idea of running all but impossible. Even walking presents a grave challenge to the 39-year-old, but he didn’t let that deter him from chasing his dream to finish a marathon regardless – for the fifth time.
Here’s what it looked like as Maickel was the final official participant to cross the Boston Marathon finish line nearly 20 hours after the race got underway at 8:50AM Monday morning.
Maickel’s heart and perseverance is nothing short of extraordinary, that’s for sure. He’s said that Boston with be his last marathon due to the physical toll the 20-hour exertion takes on his body. If that proves to be the case, well, he’s walking away from the sport on top in my eyes.
A huge congratulations to Maickel and all of his supporters who aided him in staying on his feet to accomplish this amazing feat, once again proving, “Impossible is nothing.”
[h/t Bleacher Report]