A young man has reached the goal he set for himself before his 20th birthday.
Zach Bates was determined to run a 100-mile event, the Coldwater Rumble, which is something he told “Good Morning America” that he wanted to do “because there’s not much people who do it in their teens.”
Bates worked hard to reach his goal and after preparing and training for seven months, he finished the 100-mile Coldwater Rumble on Jan. 16 in 28 hours, 6 minutes and 36 seconds and came in 38th place. He accomplished what he set out to do just a few months before his 20th birthday.
“To complete 100 miles, it’s really exciting. It’s even more exciting to finish the finish line than even like, a marathon, because of how far you have to go and all you have to go through to the end,” Bates shared.
Running a marathon of this magnitude was also an achievement for Bates as he has autism and was the youngest person to finish the marathon, according to “Good Morning America.”
Bates’ mother supported her son’s dream, but wasn’t sure if there was enough time for him to finish his training.
“We had about eight months left before he turned 20. And so it’s like, ‘I don’t know. That’s a long race. I’m not sure we’re gonna have enough time to train for that. But let’s just see what shorter races we can do,'” she said.
Nonetheless, she bought him books on ultra-marathoning and also brought in a mentor by the name of John Mark Hendrix, then a coach named Nickademus de la Rosa, to help him achieve the goal.
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De la Rosa and Bates shared something special in common. De la Rosa was also 19 years old when he became the world’s youngest Badwater 135 mile foot-race finisher, according to Complete Human Performace Coaching.
Hendrix, 60, began running while he was in junior high school and according to him, he has run 40 marathons and crushed 50-milers, 100-milers and even a 200-miler.
Throughout the process, Hendrix said that he and Bates “really hit it off” and although “it took a little while” Bates opened up to him.
“We covered a lot of miles together and had some great conversations and the further we got into this, the more I was convinced that he really can do this, and I believe he has the wherewithal to pull this off,” Hendrix shared.
Hendrix was alongside Bates at the Coldwater Rumble. He ran with him from mile 60 to mile 80, from about 9 o’clock at night to 3 o’clock in the morning.
Speaking of Bates’ determination Hendrix said, “It’s a tough, tough thing to do, especially the first time you do it. And he was in a lot of pain but he never ever once in the 20 miles that I ran with him that night, complained or said, ‘I don’t know if I can do this.’ He just kept going.”
“I know for myself, and I know the people that meet him think, ‘You know, if Zach can do this really hard, big thing, I can too.’ And it might not be running 100 miles, it might just be anything that life throws at you,” Hendrix said.
Bates shared his love for running, telling “Good Morning America,” “Running makes me feel good. I enjoy it. I like the challenge of going really far.”
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Bates has plans to run more marathons like the 100-mile at the Javelina Jundred, and the 100K with the Canyons Endurance Run.
Matthew 5:16 tells us, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in Heaven.”
Bates’ mother said, “I’m just really grateful for the opportunity to be able to share him with people because I think he does shine this light that I think it’s obvious to people that he’s not doing it for the attention.”
“He’s not doing it for the praise. He’s just doing it because he loves running,” she continued.
She also shared a message to other parents whose children have autism, “We need to see them as an individual. We need to listen to them. We need to hear what their thoughts and what their dreams are, what they want their future to be.”
Bates’s Coldwater run will be the focal point of an upcoming documentary called “Break the Mold: The Zach Bates Story.”
