Happy Thanksgiving, Purpose2Play readers. As we express gratitude for all we have in our lives, we thought we'd reach out to some of the athletes we did stories on this year to find out what they're most grateful for in 2017. Without further ado, we'll let them take it from here. John Young, the first person with dwarfism to finish [...]
Before Nov. 11, Camille Herron had never run a 100-mile race in her life. Now, after winning the Tunnel Hill 100-Miler in Vienna, Illinois with a time of 12 hours, 42 minutes and 40 seconds, she's the new women's world record holder for the distance. Not only did she average 7:38 per mile to shatter the old record by more [...]
Why worry about speaking when your running can do the talking for you? Identical twins Alex and Jamie Schneider, 27, have a severe form of autism that requires 24-hour per day care. They may not be able to cross the street by themselves, but out on the roads, they're distance runners who are turning heads and doing more than holding [...]
Simon Wheatcroft made history Sunday when he crossed the finish line of the 2017 New York City Marathon. That's because relying on the very technology he helped develop, he became the first blind person to run a marathon with 'touch' technology, meaning no one was leading him along the course. The 35-year-old British man ran the race in 5 hours, [...]
Shalane Flanagan crushed 26.2 miles in 2:26:53 to become the first able-bodied American woman to win the 47th New York City Marathon in 40 years. It was the first major marathon win of her career. Due to a lower back injury, she had not raced the distance since the 2016 Olympics in Rio, where she placed 6th. The last U.S. [...]
Come Sunday, more than 51,000 runners from across the globe will gather in New York for the 47th annual TCS New York City Marathon. The race has come a long way since 1970, when 55 people paid the $1 entry fee to run 26.2 miles through Central Park. In this race, a major highlight is the millions of spectators who [...]
Running 100 miles sounds like pure hell for most people. Not for Brian Boyle. That's because traveling that far on foot means his heart is pumping and his lungs are working -- functions we so easily take for granted. If you remember back to when we first covered the 31-year-old from Washington D.C., he told us about his life-altering car [...]
The best way to move on is to forgive. Just ask Dean Otto, who ran the Napa Half-Marathon with the driver who hit him while he was cycling. Otto, 52, who resides in Charlotte, N.C., was struck on his bike from behind by a truck driven by 27-year-old Will Huffman in September of 2016. Huffman slammed on his brakes to provide [...]
What if rather than looking back on our glory days, we look forward to them? Max Downham is showing that is possible. The 81-year-old just ran his first 26.2-mile race on Sunday at the Chicago Marathon, because why not wait until you're in your 80s to cross off a bucket list item most people half your age don't dare to [...]
Meet Gordon, a 2-year-old Miniature Doberman who is partially paralyzed, but will be covering miles in Sunday's Chicago Marathon. Dogs aren't allowed on the course, but race organizers have made an exception since his owner, Janet Turner, 55, will be carrying him in a backpack as she takes on her fifth marathon. This isn't some publicity stunt. It's a heartwarming [...]