Eight years ago, Jason McElwain was the autistic student-manager who scored 20 points in just four minutes during his only high school basketball game and won the hearts of many.
Video of McElwain’s scoring spree for Greece Athena High School went viral, and now, he’s inspiring with his athletic feats once again — this time at the Boston Marathon.
After running two Rochester Marathons and finishing both in just over three hours, McElwain’s times qualified him for the Boston Marathon, but he had to wait to see if he’d be accepted into the 36,000-runner field.
“It was a nerve-wracking week,” McElwain told the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. “I came home from work and read the acceptance email, and tears just went through the keyboard.”
The 26-year-old finished his previous races in times of 3:01:41 and 3:00:46, and he hoped to stay around those marks in Boston.
“I’d like to go under 3:10,” the 26-year-old told the newspaper. “The biggest thing is to just finish and get that medal. I want to have fun with it, give it all I got. I’m going to eat a lot of pasta and just run. I can’t believe it’s here.”
McElwain did even better than that, though, finishing in an impressive 2:57.05 on Marathon Monday, according to FoxSports.com. It capped yet another amazing story for this incredible individual.
“Well, I’m not just representing Greece Athena and Rochester and my family,” Jason said before the race. “I’m representing the victims of the bombing just like all the runners are. It will make it feel bittersweet.”
Thumbnail photo via Twitter/@WordsFromMax
