Josh Holley hopes to eventually run all the World Marathon Majors. He ran the Boston Marathon in his April and entered the Chicago Marathon the following month.
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After winning the Boston Marathon in April, Josh Holly now has his sights set on running all of the Abbott World Marathon Majors.
A graduate of Columbus North and Purdue, the autistic 23-year-old became one of the few Special Olympics athletes to qualify for Boston. A Special Olympics athlete in Berlin, Boston, Chicago, London, Tokyo and New York he is believed to have completed all six of his marathons and Holly aims to be the first .
Holly plans to surpass the second World Major on her list when she runs the Chicago Marathon on Oct. 9.
“Chicago is a marathon so I’m looking forward to it,” Holly said.
The Chicago Marathon is a team effort of Holly and his crew. Casey Coleman, who ran with him in Boston, will accompany Holly for the first half of the race. Malachi Henry, who was scheduled to run with Holly in Boston before he was sidelined with a hip injury, will join Holly later in the race.
Coleman and Henry were scheduled to compete in an Ironman triathlon event around the time of the Chicago Marathon, but when plans fell through, they decided they could help Holly in Chicago. Meanwhile, Holly’s mother Deena contacted November Project for a support runner, and Nate Sink of Columbus, Ohio, an Upper Arlington suburb, promised to run with Josh.
The November Project is a free, public exercise group founded in Boston in 2011 with a nationwide reach. The name “November Project” comes from a Google document the founder shared with him in November 2011 to track progress.
Nate Sink of Upper Arlington, Ohio will run alongside Josh Holly in the Mill Race Half Marathon on September 24th and the Chicago Marathon on October 9th.
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Josh ran with friends on a November project in Indianapolis. The project takes place Wednesdays and Fridays at 6 a.m. at the War Memorial, with Sink participating in his November project in Columbus, Ohio.
“Nate had seen Josh’s name and had heard of him,” Deanna said. “We are thrilled to welcome Nate.
However, Sink and Holly have never met, so Sink wanted to do a long run with Holly before the Chicago Marathon. Holley said he plans to run his Mill Race half marathon on September 24th, so Sink decided to travel to Indiana and run with him at that event.
“This is kind of like both[Dina’s]idea and mine,” Sink said. Now that we know the race is on, we decide to do it together and make sure we have plans to move forward with Chicago.
Josh’s Special Olympics coach, Andy Hunicutt, has ridden with him at previous races. But with the Boston Marathon he’s projected to have 30,000 runners and Chicago he’s projected to have 50,000, so that’s not an option.
A member of the National Guard Marathon Team, Sink ran the Boston Marathon in 2019 and this year. He ran 2:35 this year, about 50 minutes faster than Holly’s time. However, Hawley qualified for Boston last year at the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon when he clocked 2:53:55.
“I think we’re aiming for the 2:50 mark in Chicago,” Sink said. “I’ve paced it with some friends so far and it’s very comfortable. I don’t want to ruin anything for him. I want him to have a good race.
“I’m really excited about this opportunity,” he added. “I thought it would be cool to help someone with something that has brought me so much joy. I’m so excited to be moving to Columbus, Indiana.”
Holley, who is recovering from a bout of strep throat, had planned a 13-mile run with Henry on Monday in preparation for next weekend’s Mill Race half marathon. We are looking forward to the Race.
“It’s my first time running with Nate,” said Holly. “He’s in the National Guard and is a very fast runner.”
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