DOWNTOWN — Eight miles into his first marathon Sunday in Chicago, Joshua Herrera stepped in a pothole and rolled both ankles.
He tried stretching and wound up pulling his left groin muscle.
"I screamed: 'Oh f---!' Excruciating pain," Herrera, 23, said. "But my personality is, once I start something, I'm going to finish."
Herrera was the very last Chicago Marathon finisher, crossing the finish line in 9 hours, 47 minutes and 56 seconds — in 40,468th place out of 40,468 runners. The next closest runner finished 36 minutes before him. The overall winner, Abel Kirui of Kenya, finished in 2:11:23.
"I am proud of all our finishers and send my congratulations to everyone for giving their all on Sunday," marathon race director Carey Pinkowski said.
After his injuries, Herrera went to the medical tent, and officials there taped his ankles. They asked him if he wanted to continue.
Herrera said yes, and then attempted to jog, walk and hobble his way the final 18.2 miles. When he neared Chinatown with a few miles to go, he broke down and cried, but still kept going. Officials were closing the course, but told him he could continue as long as he stayed off the streets and on the sidewalks.
"I just wanted to be done," he said. "It was so bad and such a long race. It never stopped."
But one second before 5:18 p.m. Sunday, Herrera finally made it, celebrating at the finish with his mother, Debra Houston, and girlfriend, Dana Walkowiak.
"It doesn't surprise me that he finished the marathon despite the timing," Walkowiak said. "Joshua doesn't know the meaning of quit. ... The time was going to pass whether he finished or not, so why bother quitting?"
Both Houston and Walkowiak had volunteered at the race passing out water, and Herrera had driven with them from his home in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He had been on or near the marathon course since 5:30 a.m. Sunday.
"It was a long day," he said.
Herrera is 5 feet, 5 inches and 250 pounds. He started running four years ago to lose weight. He's dropped 50 pounds since 2012 and had run as far as 13 miles during a race.
He had hoped to complete the marathon in 6 hours on Sunday. He plans to run another next year in Los Angeles, this time, hopefully, without injury.
He said the marathon was a "humbling experience," but it also taught him a life lesson.
"It kind of helped me look at life," he said. "Because life is like a marathon. You're not in a sprint with life. It's a long race."
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