PRS Athlete competes at Marine Corps Marathon
Personal Running Solutions athlete John McClellan competed in the Marin Corps Marathon today. His goal was to finish and finish he did. John reports running 5hours5mins. Great job John. His accomplishment is made even more miraculous when considering the obstacles he has over come. To find out more about his amazing story read the article below. PRS is proud of you John. GREAT JOB!!!
Brain Injury Doesn’t Stop Ex-Marine
Nomaan Merchant reports on the Marine Corps Marathon.
About 24,000 people will be at the starting line at this Sunday’s Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C. Organizers expect about 20,000 to finish, and former Marine Cpl. John McClellan plans to be one of them.
McClellan, now a college student in Florida, was just starting a tour in Iraq three years ago when he was hit by sniper fire. A bullet landed under his helmet, piercing his left eardrum, damaging his brain and flying out of the back of his neck.
The 23-year-old had been shot twice during an earlier tour in Afghanistan, but had escaped serious injury. This time, he nearly died. After surgery, he faced years of physical therapy.
To motivate himself, McClellan set a goal: If he could learn to walk again and work up to running, he’d sign up for a marathon.
He’s gone from a wheelchair to running a half-marathon two weeks ago with a time of 2:01, one minute over his goal pace for this Sunday. “Just means I’ve got to do it again,” McClellan said Friday.
Organizers did not have numbers on how many veterans are running on Sunday. McClellan will meet up with at least one other ex-Marine injured in Iraq, Joe Lopez, who will compete in his third marathon on a hand-bike.
Even before the starting gun, McClellan’s relatives are calling on him to do more. “Now people are pushing me to do the triathlon or Ironman,” he said. “I don’t want to get that crazy yet.”
