A U.S. Marine, running for three of his fallen comrades, refused to let his tired, exhausted body prevent him from completing the Boston Marathon on Monday, crawling on his hands and knees across the finish line.
Micah Herndon, a former Marine from Ohio, competed in the marathon to pay tribute to three men he fought alongside in Afghanistan. The men died in a 2010 attack.
“For some reason, I am still here,” Herndon told the Record-Courier.
Dealing with post-war demons, Herndon explained to the newspaper he used running as an outlet to help cope with post-traumatic stress disorder. He eventually began to training to run marathons, using his dead comrades as inspiration.
“I run in honour of them,” Herndon told the Record-Courier. “They are not here anymore. I am here, and I am able. I am lucky to still have all my limbs. I can still be active. I find fuel in the simple idea that I can run. Some cannot.”
WATCH: Inspirational runners who crossed the finish line
On Monday, Herndon’s legs gave out around the 22-mile marker, dropping the man to the pavement.
Powerful video shows the former Marine wincing in pain as he slowly crawls on his hands and knees towards the finish line.
“The pain that I was going through is nothing compared to the pain that they went through,” Herndon told CBS following the race.
Herndon completed the marathon with a time of three hours and 38 minutes, all doing so with the last names of his fallen comrades written on his hand, and printed on tags attached to his shoes.
“If I get a heat cramp while running or my feet hurt or I am getting exhausted, I just keep saying their names out loud to myself,” Herndon told the Record-Courier. “They went through much worse, so I run for them and their families.”
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