About 36 hours after Jimmie Johnson raced 400 miles behind the wheel of his No. 48 Chevrolet, he went out and did 26.2 more — this time on foot in the Boston Marathon.
The 43-year-old NASCAR driver completed his first marathon Monday, finishing the grueling route in three hours, nine minutes and seven seconds and averaging a 7:13-minute mile. While most runners have to qualify for Boston, Johnson received a sponsor-exempt entry. However, his finishing time would have easily qualified him.
He finished 4,183rd overall, 3,765th among male runners and 646th in his division of 40- to 44-year-old men.
“Horrible — that is the toughest thing I’ve ever done,” Johnson told NBC Sports when asked how he felt afterward. “I wanted to race it and see how fast I could go, so I locked in on what I hoped I could hold onto for the duration. I couldn’t. But what an experience, and I love to suffer like that and really put myself through a challenge.”
Going into the iconic race, Johnson said his goal was to finish in three hours.
And while he missed that mark by about nine minutes, he still had an incredible performance, averaging seven-minute miles for much of it. Plus, when you factor in he finished 12th in a different event at Richmond Raceway on Saturday and suffered multiple injuries while training over the last few months, it’s even more impressive.
And his fellow NASCAR drivers were amazed at what Johnson was able to accomplish.
Here’s a look at a few other moments from Johnson’s first 26.2 miler.
