After 13 Boston Marathons, iconic race still tugs at Canadian Josh Cassidy's emotions

Josh Cassidy says it feels like receiving a pat on the back from thousands of people.

The wheelchair racer from Port Elgin, Ont., has been brought to tears two or three times during competition in his career. One of them was in 2006, the first of his 13 Boston Marathon appearances.

"I remember coming around the [final] corner onto Boylston Street and it was just packed with people," Cassidy said in a recent phone call from his home in Barrie, Ont., ahead of this year's race. "Everyone is going nuts, I'm on my own and I remember looking around thinking, 'Oh, no, is someone or one of the top guys overtaking me? Am I going so slow that the runners are coming up?'

"No, they were all just cheering for me coming through [to the finish line]. It was support from people that [understood] the marathon, the struggle. The whole Boston community and everyone there gets it, and it's so special, the energy around it."

A three-time Paralympian, Cassidy was in a struggle nearly from the outset of Monday's race on a cloudy and cool morning.

Not only did the 38-year-old feel heavy (slow) and tight during warmup, he started to cramp during the race and had issues gripping his racing chair.

"I was great off the start, in second," said Cassidy, who won the 2012 Boston Marathon for wheelchair athletes in a then-world record one hour 18 minutes 25 seconds. "I was in the top 10 for the first bit, then issues set in and [it was] downhill from there."

Cassidy finished 19th on Monday in 1:47:02 and called it "the worst" of his Boston Marathon competitions.

There was fog and mist pre-race, but no rain in the forecast, he said, for the 9:02 a.m. ET wheelchair start, prompting Cassidy to wear light rain gear. It began pouring rain for the second half of the 42.2-kilometre race.

At least Cassidy was able to forget about the brutal conditions and grip issues for a few minutes when he wheeled onto Boylston.

"Amazing," he told CBC Sports when asked to describe the scene. "Deafening, even in the wet, cold weather. Getting that support coming through [to the finish line] after such a brutal race, it's emotional. It's incredible.

"The history of a city also makes the marathon special, and for Boston it's their sports legacy. It is a sports city through and through. It's fun and definitely motivating when you have that support."

But there are stretches for miles along backcountry roads in the first half where there is nothing.

"In London [England] or Toronto, when you're in the core of the city so much, you have a lot more support consistently," said Cassidy, who completed the Toronto Waterfront Marathon in 1:39:54 last October as part of a test exercise.