‘More than a race’: Adaptive athletes unite ahead of Boston Marathon to champion autism inclusion

Ahead of the 130th Boston Marathon, many athletes were up bright and early to prepare for the Adaptive Athlete Brunch and training session in Boston, which is all for a good cause.

The 20-mile training was through the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation for autism.

300 to 350 runners competed along the Boston Marathan route. Among them was runner Zachary Stanbaugh who explained how special this opportunity was.

“There are thousands of thousands of kids with autism who don’t do this normally,” said Stanbaugh.

Many of these runners flew in from across the country for this training run. An empowering opportunity for many according to Ethan Michaud with the Flutie Jr. Foundation for Autism.

“I think it’s two things. I think it’s the community that we were able to bring together with all the adaptive runners that we work with to get them all here to run together about a month out from the marathon,” explained Michaud.

“I think it’s also the opportunity to run on the Boston Marathan course. They’re going to get 20 miles in on the course that they’re going to run on in a month time and so I think it’s invaluable for them to be able to get out here and get on the course and kind of get the hills and the rest of the course under their belt before they do it for real on race day,”

Since the early 2000s, the Flutie Jr. Foundation has been involved with the Boston Marathon.

But the origin of this foundation dates to 1988 after former NFL quarterback Doug Flutie created the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation in honor of their son who was diagnosed with autism at the age of 3.

Since then, the foundation has donated more than 30 million dollars to schools that provide clinical therapies, recreational programs, social skills training and job support for students with autism.

Stanbaugh told Boston 25 that it’s not about winning the marathon it’s about inclusivity.

“There are tons of thousands of autistic kids out there around the world who would love to see their dreams comes true and I have to thank Doug Flutie because he got me here,” explained Stanbaugh.

This year the foundation is hoping to raise $500,000.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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