Participants to the 119th Boston Marathon
IN PHOTO: Apr 20, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; Runners pass the orange banners marking the location where the first bomb went off two years ago, at the exact time it went off, near the finish line of this year's Boston Marathon. Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports

Forty-eight years old Randy Pierce from Nashua, New Hampshire, United States took the 119th Boston Marathon challenge on Monday despite being blind. He completed a 26.2-mile course beginning Hopkinton and ending at Copley Square in almost four hours — 10 minutes earlier than his goal — and ran with the couple Pete Houde and Christine Houde from Somersworth.

What made Pierce’s joining in the marathon special were his intention and circumstance. He was running to honour Quinn, his seeing-eye dog for seven years and which died in January last year. Pierce shared moments with Quinn in “33 road races.” He narrated that as soon as he reached the peak of Heartbreak Hill, he shouted “I love you Quinn!”

Pierce’s vision was lost when he was 22 years old and only two weeks after he was “diagnosed with a damaged cerebellum.” For almost two years, his life was restricted to a lonely wheelchair.

Although his doctors told him he would not be able to move or stand again for the rest of his life, Pierce was optimistic. After a few surgical operations, he could stand although with crutches. After his sixth surgery, his crutches were replaced by a stick — a hiking stick owing to the fact that he stands six feet and four inches tall.

Moving around with a hiking stick was no problem at all. In fact, it stimulated a desire in him to climb mountains, and which laid the first stone for his enthusiasm in marathon.

The 119th Boston Marathon was his fourth in his career and fourth “in the last 12 months.” Among blind marathoners, Pierce is “a national champion.” Although he was born in New England, Pierce said “there is nothing like Boston.”

Houde was his guide for “the first 12.5 miles” and was assisted by his wife throughout the rest of marathon’s course. Houde described Pierce to be strong and who ran like a beast.

“When I look back to what I’ve done since I lost my sight, I’ve accomplished more than I did before," said Pierce in an interview, adding that when people see obstacles as challenges to overcome, they set themselves up to thrive; and for him, his predicament taught him how to thrive. In the Boston Marathon, Pierce was “the official bib holder.”

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