‘Finish the job’: Boston Marathon runner who crawled to finish reflects on race
At his first Boston Marathon, Villanova University student Matthew Nawn wanted nothing more than to finish.
A grueling final 10 miles left in the Boston Marathon and Matthew Nawn finally had Copley Square in his sights. Merely a few feet away from the finish line and the Villanova University student’s legs cramped up.
“My body just locked up and I collapsed,” Nawn, 20, said.
Being at his first Boston Marathon, Nawn wanted nothing more than to finish. He turned over to his stomach and used his hands and knees to crawl over the line. He reflected on his experience and said he wanted to come back next year and hit a personal best.
Never give up – A Boston Marathon runner crawled across the finish line after collapsing on Boylston Street. https://t.co/d8Hx2f0vao pic.twitter.com/6K1z96aKDi
— WCVB-TV Boston (@WCVB) April 21, 2025
Nawn, from central Pennsylvania, started running marathons when he came to college after a successful high school cross country and track and field career.
“It’s definitely something that I do as a hobby, and I tell people running helps keep me sane,” Nawn said.
Nawn qualified for this year’s race during the Harrisburg Marathon in November 2023, his first official marathon. He said he felt prepared for the Boston race and was aiming for a personal best.
“Looking at the course map, I knew I could handle it,” Nawn said.
On race day, Nawn said he felt “really good” for the first 15 miles and credited the large pack of runners to a part of that success. Nawn said he threw up a total of eight times during the race and, at mile 22, he felt his legs starting to “tighten up.” He fell to the ground before the finish line and kept thinking “I’m so close.”
“My fear was that the medical staff were going to run out and take me off the course before I got the chance to cross the finish line,” Nawn said. “I was afraid I wasn’t going to be able to finish.”
After crawling over the line, Nawn finished the Boston Marathon with a time of 3:09:31.
“I’m not satisfied with the finish,” Nawn said. “I’m happy to finish … but for me, it’s still like, ‘we got to come back and we got to finish the job.’”
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