John Tartaglio on his way to completing the New York Marathon

On Sunday, November 1st, after starting at 6 AM (just before the sun rose over the Verazanno Bridge), twenty-two-year-old John Tartaglio became the first complete double leg amputee to finish a marathon. John completed the 26.2 miles in 15 hours and 59 minutes, running on a custom designed carbon fiber running prosthesis built by A Step Ahead Prosthetics. John started hours before the elite runners and thousands of others and finished at Tavern on the Green in Central Park just before 10 pm while the other 42,000 runners had finished and were home resting their sore muscles. John was supported during the long day through the streets of New York by his parents, his coach Dave Balsley, P.T. and Amy Palmiero-Winters, director of Team A Step Ahead.

http://site.mawebcenters.com/astepaheadllc/newsletter_november_2009.html

(Thanks to Steve McNeice for sending us this article)