Three years ago, Patrick Downes lost his left leg in the Boston Marathon bombings while spectating with his wife near the finish line.
Wearing a prosthesis and holding his hands above his head, Downes crossed that same finish line, becoming the first Boston bombing amputee to complete the entire marathon on foot. He reached the finish line at 2:46 p.m. in a time of 5:56:46.
“I ran with the city in my heart—Martin, Sean, Lingzi, Krystle,” Races - Places, All About 75 Hard.
CA Notice at Collection Maddie Meyer/Getty Images. I ran with the city in my heartMartin, Sean, Lingzi, Krystle.
Adrianne Haslet, a bombing survivor and the only other amputee to register for this year’s race, reached the halfway point in 4:47. It was unclear whether she would continue on to the finish line. Another 29 survivors, all Plan Your BQ Race So It Will Count for Two Years, started this year’s race in Hopkinton.
Update: Adrianne Haslet finished the marathon at about 7:15 p.m. on Monday evening, after she spent about 10 hours on the course. More on her story is available here.
Kit has been a health, fitness, and running journalist for the past five years. His work has taken him across the country, from Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, to cover the 2016 Olympic Trials to the top of Mt. Katahdin in Maine to cover Scott Jurek’s He Ran Boston 8 Months After Tumor Surgery in 2015.
