Runner wins three marathons in eight days to help pay son's medical bills

Bryan Morseman, a runner from Western New York, won three marathons in a span of eight days and earned $5,750 to help pay his infant son's medical bills.

Bryan Morseman, a runner from Western New York, runs marathons for two reasons. A lifelong runner, he enjoys the sport, but he also uses the prize money to help pay his infant son's medical bills. Last month he ran three marathons in eight days—two of them back back-to-back—and won them all.

The Rochester Democrat & Chronicle has Morseman's full story. His son, Leeim, has spina bifida, a congenital spine defect that poses a variety of health problems and can leave a child unable to walk if left untreated. He has physical therapy three times a week but still might not be able to walk. 

"Every time I'm in a race I think of him and how my pain is nothing compared to what he has gone through," Morseman, told the Democrat & Chronicle. "He gives me the energy shot to pick me up and carry me through to the finish."

On March 14, Morseman went to Alabama and won the Montgomery Marathon. The next day, on the way back to New York, he stopped in Cary, N.C., and won the Tobacco Road Marathon. On March 22 he went to Virginia Beach and won the Yuengling Shamrock Marathon. He took home a total of $5,750 in prize money.

Morseman works full-time as a precious metals clerk but runs marathons on the weekends. He doesn't train with a coach but still hopes to qualify for the Olympic trials. Family comes first, though, he said. 

- Dan Gartland