You May Never Cheer So Hard for a Marathon Runner Fighting to Finish in Last Place

It took Maickel Melamed, of Caracas, Venezuela, a little longer than most of his fellow competitors to complete the Bank of America Chicago Marathon.

While the best runners were completing the 26.2-mile race in two to three hours Sunday, Melamed was still at it. When the rest of the runners finished and the roads were clear, Melamed was still at it. When the crowds went home for dinner, Melamed was still at it.

When most of the Windy City was fast asleep, Melamed was still at it.

Then finally, nearly 17 hours after he started the race, Melamed eclipsed the long-awaited finish line about 1:30 a.m. Monday.

Melamed was dead last among the 39,115 or so who also completed the marathon, but that didn't matter to the roughly 100 supporters who gathered around the 38-year-old after his race was over, WMAQ-TV reports.

Melamed has muscular dystrophy.

(Credit: YouTube raw clip)

"My message is: If you dream it, make it happen. Your life is the most beautiful thing that could happen to you," he tells WMAQ. "Make the best with that, and share the best of that.

"We come here to share. We come here to make a team. We come here to construct the best world that the children -- our children -- deserve."

And one note to add: Melamed may have come in last, but he stuck it out. More than 1,000 others who started the marathon didn't finish the grueling endurance run, WMAQ notes.

Here's a raw clip via the Chicago Sun-Times:

And a clip from WPTV:

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