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7-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson runs 3:09 at Boston

Not bad for a guy who drives professionally

Monday morning, seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson ran a 3:09:08 marathon in Boston. The race car driver said on Instagram post-race that it was the most challenging thing he’d ever done.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BwSPLGkAMyc/

This result really challenges those who say that race car drivers aren’t athletes. The NASCAR champion told The Boston pre-race that he was looking to run under three hours. While he missed that mark, a 3:09 is an extremely impressive marathon debut, especially for a new runner.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BpDXUtLgy5C/

Johnson said in an Gatorade [his sponsor’s] video that it takes a lot of mental strength to drive a race car, and it takes a similar level of mental strength to train for a marathon.

Each year before the Daytona 500, one of NASCAR’s premier events, some drivers run the Daytona Beach half-marathon and often do well, but all-star driver Jimmie Johnson has always been a standout. Johnson has previously competed in triathlons and half-marathons, but Boston was his first full.

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