HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR RUNS BOSTON MARATHON ON CRUTCHES

WCVB

NEWTON, Mass. — Newton North senior Nick Norwitz had his heart and mind set on running this year's Boston Marathon for nearly a year.

Wicked Local reported Thursday that he had qualified for an official number at the 2013 Providence Marathon with a time of three hours, 46 seconds, and dutifully trained through the coldest parts of winter to better that mark on the Boston course the 18-year-old Auburndale resident said he had wanted to run his entire life.

Then came the setback that ends that dream for so many runners.

He sustained a stress fracture near his right knee in February. He rested four weeks, but when he went back to training the pain persisted. He said he was told he needed at least another six weeks of rest.

The Marathon would have to wait until another year.

Norwitz said it was while he was watching the Boston Marathon Memorial Service on April 15 that he decided next year would not be good enough for him.

He wanted to run this year, based largely on what happened last year when two bombs exploded near the finish line.

He still had his official number.

The words spoken during the memorial moved him to pledge to do the seemingly impossible: run the entire 26.2 miles on crutches.

"It was definitely a physical challenge," he said. "But I think it would have been much more painful to sit and watch it at home."

Norwitz said he preserved through intense pain through parts of the race.

His underarms chaffed against the crutches early in the run, and his wrists throbbed so badly during it that he thought for a while one or both might be broken. But he said he was inspired by the race itself, and the crowd that was so positive toward him throughout the entire journey.

"I was in the first wave of starters (due to the qualifying time) but because I was on crutches I didn't want to get in their way and I fell to the back," he said. "So when I went through the first few miles the second wave hadn't caught up with me and I was completely on my own for a mile in either direction. The crowds were cheering for me just as loud as I heard them for the first wave of runners ahead of me. It just made me feel incredible. The whole race everyone was so encouraging and so nice. It felt like my 15 minutes of fame, only drawn out over a whole day."

When Norwitz finished his remarkable trek, Boston Marathon race director Dave McGillivray greeted him personally at the finish line.

"It speaks to the camaraderie of the event," Norwitz said, "that he would go out of his way to single out a single runner -- or crutcher, if you will -- and talk to him."

Norwitz has been involved with several charitable events since moving back to Newton from Connecticut two years ago, including a pushup-a-thon last year in which he did 427.

"Hopefully that upper-body strength was helpful with the crutches during my run," he said.

Despite the pain he suffered on Monday, the 5-foot-4, 125-pound Norwitz said he is not through with long-distance competitions.

Assuming his wrists and knee heal well enough, he said he intends to do a half-triathlon this summer and is aiming to qualify for next year's Boston Marathon by the fall.

He is also deciding on his plans for next year after having been accepted to Johns Hopkins and Dartmouth, with an eye toward a career in neuroscience.