Canadian with dwarfism runs NYC marathon

John Young has never been one to back down from a challenge.

The high school math teacher has achondroplasia, a common form of dwarfism, and completed the New York City Marathon over the weekend.

Young, a Toronto native who lives with his family in Salem, Mass., has run three marathons and many more triathlons, but he was always told by doctors that running was something he should avoid because it could put too much pressure on his spine.

“When I was very young my mother used to say ‘If there’s something you want John to do, tell him that he can’t do it,'” says Young. That still seems to be the case.

“Everyone told me that I would be a great elementary school teacher because I was short statured. I said ‘No, I want to be a high school teacher.'”

He’s taught in Toronto, Hong Kong, and now Salem.

Young has been competing in triathlons for five years but admits he’s at a disadvantage because he has to take more steps and started at a later age than most, when he was 43. He was inspired in part by Dick and Rick Hoyt. Rick, Dick’s son, was born with cerebral palsy. Dick has been pushing his son through road races in a wheelchair since 1977.

“There’s a lot of times in your life when people will tell you that you can’t do something,” said Young. “That’s just their perception. You need to listen to your body and realize that there is a lot you can do.

“There’s two types of pains. The first is pain from injury, which you need to be careful with. The second is pain from difficulty, and if you’re going to do something difficult it might hurt. That’s a pain you need to get used to and that’s part of what it means to get out there and live.”

The 47-year-old ran the Boston Marathon in the spring, but wasn’t able to finish because of the bombings. He plans to go back and race in 2014, and hopefully run under his goal time of 6:09. He wanted to race for that in New York, but the weather didn’t go his way and he finished in 6:37.

Young also has an 11-year-old son with achondroplasia.

“My son would come home from school and tell me they ran races and he would finish last and ask ‘Dad, when am I going to win?’ I would tell him winning doesn’t necessarily mean coming in first place. In my mind winning means doing better than you did the day before. It was important for him to see me run a race, come in near the back of the pack, and be happy about it.”