Rob Jones is a retired Marine Sergeant, paralympic medalist, marathon-runner, and double-amputee. And in the last 30 days, he's run 30 marathons. He finished his latest Friday morning in Baltimore.
Like the Marines motto, “The few, the proud,” very few would accept the challenge of running a marathon every day for a month. Rob jones made "a month of marathons" his goal.
“I started this challenge because I wanted to get a story out there about a veteran that had a traumatic experience in Afghanistan and was able to come back and find my new way. That I was going to contribute and find my way, that I was going to stay in the fight,” said Jones.
Jones lost both of his legs when he stepped on an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan.
His loss became wounded veterans gain. They gained another warrior and an icon.
“If they're struggling, if there's a fellow veteran that's struggling, hopefully they'll be able to see my story and they'll be able to get inspiration from it, or they'll be able to use it as an example for themselves to help them reintegrate,” Jones said.
Jones won a bronze medal in the Paralympics. He cycled more than 5,000 miles across the country. And now he's inching closer to his latest accomplishment. Friday’s race in Baltimore marked his 30th consecutive day running 26.2 miles.
“You're an inspiration not only to the police officer's, veterans who are out here running, but you're absolutely an inspiration to our police academy,” said Baltimore City Police Commissioner Kevin Davis who presented Jones with an espantoon and plaque.
Jones knows inspiration is contagious and aside from the people running beside him in each city, he wants to inspire wounded veterans to survive, recover, and live.
“I think everybody's life objective is to have a life that they enjoy, have a life that they can be proud of, and one that makes a difference in the world. So, just because I got injured doesn't mean that that changed, so all I really needed to do was find my path and you know, luckily I was able to do that,” Jones said.
Jones concludes his month of marathons, Saturday on Veterans Day in Washington D.C.
He's raised around $120,000 for wounded veterans. If you’d like to donate to his mission, click here.
