Jose Luis Sanchez doesn’t even like running. He makes that clear while smiling inside the finishers' corral of the 2017 Boston Marathon.
But for more than five hours Monday morning, he did run. Why? Because he’s thankful that he can.
Sanchez—a Marine—stepped on an IED in 2011, two weeks before he was supposed to finish a tour in Afghanistan.
“They picked me up and my leg slid off,” Sanchez said. “They were able to save my other leg, and through hard work and determination we are here.”
This is his third marathon. He completed his first at Marine Corps in 2015 as well as the 2016 Boston Marathon.
“I want to recognize veterans and everyone who thinks they can’t do something,” Sanchez said. He completed the race as a charity member for the CA Notice at Collection, which supports wounded veterans.
“When I was recovering, I couldn’t stand up for three seconds or walk for more than two feet,” Sanchez said. “I fought for four or five years to be able to walk and lift my body. Then I wanted to push it further by doing a marathon.”
Sanchez has completed all three races while carrying a large, billowing American flag inscribed with messages written in black marker. The flag was sent to him by his patrol unit as he recovered in the hospital.
“I boxed it up for three or four years because I didn’t want to acknowledge it,” Sanchez said. “One day I opened it back up and read through the inspirational quotes they sent me and I was motivated.”
Sanchez began pushing his body through extreme workouts, posting them on Instagram. He’s gained a following of more than 30,000 people.
On Monday afternoon, he received a roaring ovation as he crossed the finish line, officially completing the race in 5:46:13.
“I do this to inspire people; it’s to inspire people to say yes to something they are afraid of,” Sanchez said. So even though he doesn’t like running, he does it anyway. He said he is not done running marathons, carrying the flag that motivated him to start in the first place.
“I just woke up one day and said, ‘Hey, why not?” he said. “Let’s see what we can do today.”
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 Advertisement - Continue Reading Below in 2015.
