Across the country today,
Thanksgiving Turkey trots filled
the streets with runners from
all different walks of life.
That was the case up in Cedar
Park has 15 year old Jonah
Papovich finishes first ever 5K.
Jonah did it with the help of a local
triathlete and his program called
the Ordinary Marathoner Foundation.
You can get into this translate state
after you've gone a certain distance.
Nothing else in the world really exists.
It's just viewing your thoughts.
You can learn a lot seeing
the world through the eyes
of a swimmer. You could learn even more.
Through the eyes of Scott for SAR suck it.
Scott sees things in a unique way.
What you see is what you get's,
expresses himself a bit differently.
Sometimes it's hard for me
to communicate. My thoughts
feels best understood through his
actions, actions that start in
the pool and continue on land. I
think I'm up to about 50
or 60 half marathons.
I've attempted eight half
Ironmans finished five and
I've done one full one attempt.
One completion of a full Ironman.
An Ironman triathlon is a
superhuman accomplishment.
There's nothing like the feeling
of crossing the finish line
2 1/2 miles in the pool,
100 plus miles on the bike.
A full marathon on foot to finish.
But for Scott, it wasn't enough.
My attention is always going somewhere else.
The way he sees the world is different,
so we wanted to make a difference.
Ordinary Marathoner Foundation,
a nonprofit that breaks down barriers.
We raise money and we put on
programs and it's really to help
give back to the community and
bring people who would feel.
I couldn't otherwise do this sort of stuff.
These endurance sports because
of maybe perceived abilities
or lack of access or resources.
It turns out resources were all one
Central Texas boy needed.
Jonah Popovitch is 15.
I just wanna like be happy at like certain
things that I think are interesting and
he also sees the world in a unique way.
Well, I'm autistic so.
And I have trouble with anxiety.
Jonah is training for his first 5K
with help from Scotts Foundation,
we found Jonah,
who is our first participant.
We set him up with shoes,
proper running shoes,
socks, running belt,
a coach to do training. We've
never done. You know, seeing
what he can do physically.
This is Jonas mom marine.
But right from the start.
He just seemed to kind of do it well.
He doesn't complain.
He seems happier. Joyous afterwards.
Jonah connects with his coach virtually.
She gives him the workouts.
He does the workouts most
of the time by himself,
all to prepare for race day.
Hello, but on this race day,
Jenna Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving Day,
Jonah isn't alone. He's
probably gonna beat me.
But absolutely, I'll be there.
He's right next to someone who knows what
it's like to run in his shoes, just.
Before the pandemic hit, I was
formally discovered as being autistic.
It answered so much it explains so
much of my life up until that point,
and I fully embrace it.
What gobble gobble? As the race begins,
we're now seeing the world through
the eyes of two runners, two friends.
There's that commonality of we're
both autistic. The commonality
of we're both runners now.
I think it's kind of neat how
he has autism, like I do.
It was a program that I came up
with to give back to this new
community that I've learned.
I'm a part of the autistic community.
People can get to know about about who I
am and like what sort of like certainly
challenges I might be facing out there.
Congratulations and finishing your first
5K and there is your finishers medal.
Wanna let everyone know that
we're just different or not less
in Austin. For Cvu news I'm Jake Garcia.
Jonah was flying today.
He ran those three miles in 26 minutes
and placed ninth in his age group.
Here's to many more races for Jonah
and to Scott and his foundation.
Many more lives touched
thanks to their great work.