Josh Holley, left, points to New York on a world map. He is joined by Malachi Henry, center, and Kasey Coleman, who will be support runners for him in Sunday’s New York City Marathon.
Submitted photo
When Josh Holley was 14 months old, he received his first set of leg braces because of developmental problems.
At age 24, he has run seven marathons. He is set to run his eighth on Sunday when he competes in the New York City Marathon.
The New York Marathon will be the third in Holley’s quest to complete the six Abbott World Marathon Majors. No one under age 27, and no Special Olympics athlete has ever qualified for all six, which include the Boston, Chicago, New York, Berlin, London and Tokyo Marathons.
“Then, I will accomplish my mission to bring more awareness to all disabilities and to motivate, help others, keep moving, and stay fit,” Holley said. “Not doing this to get popular, and I have been told I’m not national-known by New York Marathon Association, but not stopping this mission when I believe my message is important to hear as a Special Olympics athlete.”
The back of Josh Holley’s racing shirt displays his motto, “Our Ability is STRONGER than our dis-Ability”
Submitted photo
A painful childhood
While Holley eventually no longer had the need for leg braces, he has a few other aliments that hindered his ability to play most sports growing up.
Besides being diagnosed on the Autism spectrum, Holley has had bouts with Restless Leg Syndrome and has battled asthma and severe allergies.
Holley has undergone 19 surgeries in his 24 years. At age 13, he had Pectus Carinatum Correction surgery and had a six-pound non-cancerous mass removed from his heart and lungs. Doctors removed two ribs and recommended that he not play contact sports.
A couple years later, Holley’s brother Kyle Michaelis helped start Columbus North’s Unified track and field program for his senior project. Although the longest race in high school Unified track is 400 meters, that’s where Holley’s running career took off. He helped lead the Bull Dogs to three state finals appearances and a third-place finish his senior year in 2018.
Josh Holley and Bartholomew Brown Jennings Special Olympics coach Andy Hunnicutt pose for a photo after Holley captured three firsts in track and field in the Special Olympics Indiana State Games in Terre Haute.
Submitted photo
When he was in high school, Holley also began competing in Special Olympics Indiana for the Bartholomew Brown Jennings (BBJ) team. He has won the 400, 800 and 1,500 meters at each of the past seven Special Olympics Indiana state track and field games and also has won the past seven Special Olympics Indiana Eunice Kennedy Shriver state cross-country titles. He was the 2021 BBJ and Special Olympics Indiana Area 2 Athlete of the Year.
Josh Holley makes his way to a victory in cross-country in the Special Olympics Indiana Eunice Kennedy Shriver State Games at Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School in Indianapolis.
Submitted photo
Increasing the distance
After graduating with academic honors from North and enrolling at Ivy Tech, Holley began running longer distances, mostly consisting of countless loops around his Harvest Meadows subdivision near Taylorsville.
Holley and his friend and fellow Special Olympics athlete Randall Watts began running half marathons and set a goal to run a half or full marathon in all 50 states. They developed the motto “Our Ability is STRONGER than our dis-Ability.”
In September 2019, Holley ran his first 26.2 mile event at the Mill Race Marathon. He won the Circular Logic Marathon in May 2021 in Seymour with a time of 3 hours, 2 minutes, 32.78 seconds, narrowly missing the 3:00 cutoff to qualify for the Boston Marathon.
Holley qualified for Boston in November 2021 at the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon and ran in the iconic Boston race in April 2022, his first World Marathon Major. The second came in the Chicago Marathon in October 2022, when he ran 2:53:17, which was at the time a world record for Special Olympics athletes.
Meawnhile, Holley excelled in the classroom, as well. He earned three associate degrees and several technical certificates from Ivy Tech and in 2021, graduated Magna cum Laude from Purdue’s School of Business with a Bachelor of Science degree. He works in human resources at Cummins.
Support system
Because of his autism, Holley needs “support runners” at large marathons such as the one he will be running on Sunday, where about 50,000 competitors are expected.
Josh Holley finishes the Mill Race half marathon. On the bike at left is his Special Olympics coach, Andy Hunnicutt, who served a support rider.
Submitted photo
Kasey Coleman ran the Boston Marathon with him. At Chicago, Coleman and Malachi Henry each ran half the race with Holley, while Nate Sink accompanied him for the full 26.2 miles. Andy Hunnicutt, the BBJ track and field coach, has ridden his bicycle alongside Holley at a few half marathons and marathons.
“Sometimes, Josh will take off from us, so we have to catch him and reel him in a little bit,” Henry said. “Later on in the race, it’s more just keeping everybody going. Sometimes, we try to block the wind, and it’s a struggle. We try to help each other out.”
“I know I can not do these marathons without my mom (Deana Holley), my coach Andy, and especially, I need Malachi and Kasey,” Holley added. “I look forward to seeing Nate once he gets back from being deployed, too. I bolt if it gets crowded, and Malachi catches up with me.”
Henry, a professional triathlete and local chiropractor, has been a mentor to Holley, helping him with things like hydration, nutrition and load management.
“With how many miles he puts on his tires, he needs to take care of his body a little bit,” Henry said. “So I kind of force him to slow down a little bit more than what he wants. He needs that voice in his head because he could run 20 miles a day.”
In addition to being a coach and support rider, Hunnicutt has been sort of a business manager, helping with transportation and securing lodging. Hunnicutt also has been in contact with Special Olympics organizations in England and Germany to try to get Holley entered in the London and Berlin Marathons.
“This is the last American one,” Hunnicutt said. “After this, we have to try to get him in some of the international ones, which is proving to be a little difficult. But I’m still working on it. He has the times to get in, but we’re finding that they’re not letting Americans in. London flat out told him they weren’t letting anyone outside of England in. So I’ve been seeing if we can get something worked out. We do not have a tie-in yet with Special Olympics Japan, so we’re still working on that one. We’re trying to pull some strings and seeing if he can get some more admissions.”
Preparing for New York
The build-up to the New York Marathon hasn’t been the smoothest for Holley. He had surgery Aug. 14 to remove polyps and blockages on both sides of his nose, and he has been bothered by an injury to the piriformis muscle, an external or lateral rotator of the hip.
Henry had a similar injury, a torn labrum, that sidelined him early last year and prevented him from running with Holley in Boston. Next week, Holley has an appointment with Dr. Eric Tanenbaum, who worked on Henry.
Henry and Coleman will accompany Holley as support runners on Sunday morning.
“Having Kasey on board for this is fun for all of us in case I have a bad day or Kasey has a bad day,” Henry said. “There’s a lot of things that happen with this race logistically. We’re running around all of New York, super busy, a lot of athletes. Kasey and I will help him soak in what he’s actually doing instead of just putting his head down and running.”
The New York Marathon hits all five boroughs, starting in Staten Island and finishing in Central Park. Holley wants to run a personal best and break the Special Olympics record, but Henry and Coleman are encouraging him to have a little more fun.
“We tell him, ‘Let’s do 3 hours and enjoy it a little bit,’ and that’s why we have a leash on him and we’ll slow him down,” Henry said. “But ultimately, Kasey and I’s job is to keep him going and hit his goals. Kasey is in great shape right now. He just did an Ironman.”
After Sunday, Holley expects to be halfway done with his quest to complete the World Marathon Majors.
“I hope I have inspired at least one person in this big quest of running in these Abbott World Marathon Majors,” Holley said. “I had a setback with sinus surgery and hip injury. And we’ll take care of the hip after this New York Marathon.”
