Doubly Paralyzed Runner Sabik Cohran Breaks Personal Record at Boston Marathon
When Sabik Cohran crossed the finish line at the Boston Marathon, the emotion was gone all at once.
Not so because he had finished one of the hottest races in the world. Not only did he survive 26.2 kilometers. It was because somewhere during that run, the timeline he envisioned for himself changed completely.
“It was crazy because I said, ‘We did it,'” Cohran said. “I didn’t really know how well I was doing until the last two to three miles. Then I was like, ‘Wait, we’re going to PR by 12 minutes. So I finally shot it, and when I crossed that finish line … I was like, ‘Oh my God, no.’
There were several emotions during the race. As the miles went by, so did the personal records. Cohran watched as his PR for the 10 and a half mile marathon was set. As it was life for him, he kept raising his head and kept pushing.
For Cohran, a double amputee from the Chicago area who was born without shins and ankles, the Boston Marathon was not just another race. It was proof that even the ceiling he imagined for himself might not exist at all.
Growth Without Borders
Cohran had both legs amputated at the age of two and received prosthetics at the age of four. Sympathy was not the tone in his house. The idea was that.
He says: “My mother and grandmother always insisted that you can’t change this. So I always had that mindset that, ‘No one is going to save you. You have to do this yourself.’
That mindset shaped the way he approached sports growing up. He was not interested in sitting on the sidelines or being treated differently. At Schaumburg High School, he played football, wrestled, played lacrosse, basketball, and stayed active anyway. There were no restrictions.
Ironically, however, running was not originally part of that identity. In fact, he spent most of his teenage years avoiding it whenever he could.
“I’ve never run outside of lacrosse,” Cohran said, laughing. I’d say, ‘Well, I don’t have legs, so I can’t do these tricks.’ I was just bailing myself out.”
That changed when he finally got running prosthetics in October of 2024 after years of searching. And this changed everything.
Running Was More Than Worth It
Like those who fall into endurance sports later in life, Cohran says the miles end up being more than exercise.
“Running healed my identity,” she says. “Not that I felt like I was missing out, but I always felt like I knew I could be fast. You see people with these prostheses and I knew I could be fast too.”
Once he had access to the running blades, there was no turning back. The running community quickly embraced him, especially after he finished the Chicago Marathon in under four hours on his first attempt.
Cohran had no idea how well he was doing and did it to the surprise of others that it was his first race. However, what surprised him most was not the attention. It was an impact.
He remembers getting a message from a physical therapist who brought a patient who had recently lost legs to one of his races. The man’s spirits were low, but he brightened when he saw and heard of Cohran’s achievements.
Such times changed his behavior.
He says: “You have to be in front of people all the time. “You never know who’s watching and you can’t be inspired by what you’re doing.”
Pain
Although Cohran’s story seems inspiring on the outside, the physical side of marathon training can be brutal at times.
Before the Chicago Marathon, he was training for prosthetics that weren’t designed for running the distance. The accumulation of sweat between the bindings caused constant pain and stiffness.
He says: “I had to clean my leg every two to three kilometers. “My legs are bleeding, I have to walk around the house.”
There were times when frustration overcame him because there had to be another way. Eventually, doctors adjusted the fit, installed the braces, and introduced an antiperspirant spray that changed everything.
“The Chicago Marathon was my first race that I didn’t have to stop at all,” he said. “First official run, honestly.”
Getting used to the running blades came with a learning curve. The first time he ran over them, he realized something quickly: he didn’t know how to stop.
He says: “I started screaming when I ran for the first time. “I was like, ‘I might just die on this road.’
Conditioning was another big change. Unlike the sports he participated in throughout high school, distance running required a continuous output without breaks, forcing him to learn to run almost entirely through trial and error. His longest run before the Chicago race was about four miles.
Now, as the mileage increases and marathon times decrease rapidly, Cohran’s goals have changed rapidly.
He hasn’t finished dreaming
At 27 years old, Cohran already has his eyes on big stages and big wins. One of them is to run in every major marathon in the world when he reaches his mid-30s.
But there is another goal that is pressing him more.
He says: “The double world record for the disabled. “I want that record. I’m bringing that record, definitely.”
The current world record sits at 2:40:25, and while Cohran knows how ambitious that sounds, he’s never lowered his expectations.
“A lot of people want to drive a 27-year-old,” he says. But LeBron was getting his first ring at the age of 27.
Beyond racing, he hopes running and content creation will eventually become his full-time focus. Currently, he balances training, social media, and his day job at Dick’s Sporting Goods, often stretching his weeks to about 70 hours.
The thought of putting more effort into his performance and creating content to continue to inspire others circles his mind a lot. He would also like to start a run club and do public speaking. Above all, he wants people to see the possibility when they see him.
“If they could look at me and say, ‘Well, you’re doing this. I can do that, too,’ that’s what I want,” Cohran said. “Running teaches you to be confident and believe in yourself. I believe and have 100 percent confidence in whatever I do now. And running helped me find that.”
Follow Sabik on Instagram Click Here!
