Oregon student with cerebral palsy runs in half marathon

Oregon student with cerebral palsy runs in half marathon

Caitlyn Holroyd
8 years ago
Chris Pietsch/Twitter

Justin Gallegos was born with cerebral palsy, but he didn't let that stop him from competing in the Eugene Half Marathon on Sunday.

Gallegos, a sophomore on the University of Oregon's track and field club team, completed the 13.1 miles in two hours, three minutes, and 49 seconds while wearing a prototype shoe designed by Nike for runners with disabilities.

"It opens around the back, with a zipper, for an easy entry point for people with disabilities," Gallegos' father, Brent Gallegos, told Brady Wakayama of KEZI 9 News.

This was the first half marathon Gallegos has ever competed in, and while he didn't meet his goal of finishing under two hours, he wrote on Instagram that he's "still very proud of (his) performance."

Today I ran and finished my very first half marathon in a time of 2:03:49! While I did not break two hours, I’m still very proud of my performance today especially for my first half marathon! I had a tremendous support team especially from my pacers who pushed me the entire way! This will be something that I will remember forever, not only setting a record, but showing everyone that it is possible to be limitless! It doesn’t matter what others say or do, your only limit is your mind! Thank you everyone for the continuous support! I hope that this race can show others regardless of if we have a disability or not, there are truly no limits! Very honored and humbled for this race to serve as #Breaking2 Flyease Edition! My work with @nikerunning has truly been more than I could ever ask for and I’m humbled thankful to have a once in a lifetime opportunity! Everyone watch social media because the brand new edition of the Nike series Unstoppable retitled Limitless will premiere next week on the one year anniversary of #Breaking2 with the premiere episode being my #Breaking2 story and journey with distance running!! These past few months have put me through the wringer emotionally and physically but I realized that pain and discomfort are only temporary and if we don’t give up, it will be worth it! As I look forward, I look to possibly end 2018 with another half marathon and of course come back for a dominating cross country season! But as the years pass, I will continue to set my goals higher and eventually run a full marathon and beyond! All glory to God! #NikeRunning #Flyease #NoSuchThingAsADisability #StrongEveryMile #RunTheDay #Breaking2 #HalfMarathon #Limitless 📸: @johnnywildhorse

A post shared by Justin "Magic" Gallegos (@zoommagic) on

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