BOSTON -- As the top athletes in the world competed for a first-place finish at the 113th Boston Marathon, thousands of other runners persevered to make it to the finish line on Monday, each striving to achieve a personal Marathon victory.

NewsCenter 5’s Kelley Tuthill reported that 26,000 runners took on the 26.2-mile marathon course this year.

One group of runners who battled to reach Copley Plaza was the Achilles team, which included 15 disabled Iraq War veterans. Competitor Brian Schar, a member of the Achilles team, lost both of his legs one year ago while serving overseas.

“I’m glad I could do it,” said Schar. “I didn’t think I’d be able to after I was injured, so I just keep doing it.”

Double amputee from birth Richard Whitehead, from Nottingham, England, said that he ran the marathon to show people what they can accomplish when they’re determined to overcome obstacles. Whitehead, who holds the world marathon record for double amputees, finished the course in 3 hours and 2 minutes.

“I was just showing the public that just because they’ve got an injury, they can actually get back on the course and perform at a high level,” said Whitehead.

The 2009 marathon was also a proving ground for former champion Bill Rodgers, who returned to the course for the first time in a decade after bowing out of the race on Heartbreak Hill in 1999.

“I had a hard day,” said Rodgers. “There’s so many fit people in America today. They’re all flying and I’m like, ‘What happened to me?’” said Rodgers. The four-time Boston champion completed the course in a 3 hours and 59 minutes.

Patrick Harten, who was the air-traffic controller for flight 1549 when it crash-landed in the Hudson River, donned bib number 1549 during the race.

“There was a lot of people that noticed the number,” said Harten, grinning at the finish line with his wife and baby. “I heard a couple of ‘Hudson Heroes’ and I actually had one guy who ran with me who was taking my picture, so it was kind of cool. It’s like celebrity for a day.”