Brothers to help push father with ALS along Boston Marathon finish line

    CRYSTAL, Minnesota (WCCO) -- A Crystal, Minnesota, man is preparing to run alongside top distance runners from around the world at the Boston Marathon in a few weeks. He'll be working hard, but he's not just pushing himself.

Jeff Birkel has had a need for speed for a long time. In his late 30s, he got hooked on running.

"I got fast enough I was placing in my age group and then you get fast enough where you actually like to run," Jeff Birkel said. "You feel like you could go on forever."

So, he decided to do just that.

"I became obsessed with running a marathon in under three hours and qualifying for Boston — which I did — and to do that, you have to run 6:42," Jeff Birkel said.

His passion was contagious and his sons started running competitively too.

Grandma's in Duluth was Mike Birkel's first marathon.

"I think about that first race, I got kinda addicted to it. You get done with the race and it's like, 'Man I just did something really stupid. Why the heck did I run 26 miles?' And then a couple weeks later, your legs don't hurt anymore and it's like, that's really cool." Mike Birkel said. "So that's kind of how it went for me. I've done six now."

They even ran the grueling length of the Grand Canyon together.

"We always wanted to do a Boston Marathon with Dad," Mike Birkel said.

But they were suddenly stopped in their tracks.

"I was running home from the gym after doing a weight workout, and I tripped and fell on the sidewalk in my neighborhood running. I thought, 'Oh, what did I trip over?' And I turned around and looked, and it was nothing. I thought, 'Well, that's odd.'" Jeff Birkel said.

Jeff Birkel had ALS, a disease that slowly causes the loss of muscle control. He was told that 20% of people survive three years.

"That was my first symptom and I never ran right after that," Jeff Birkel said. "You realize then that your life is gonna change and, of course, we had lots of tears — about three days — you just burst out crying. I am a positive person and I made a decision. You have to cry, you can't hold it in. It's not healthy, but I don't want to get stuck in this mode. I am not going to sweat the little stuff and I am going to have as much quality time as I can in the remaining days."

So he started traveling the world, taking family trips. He's leaned into life and — in a new way — continued to keep pace.

"It's kind of like running a marathon every day because it is getting harder the more it progresses, the more effort it takes to do just the normal things," Jeff Birkel said. "Marathon running has given me the fortitude to power through it, and I think that's why a year and two months after my diagnosis, I can still walk with a cane by myself. It's not easy but I am going to do it as long as I can."

That's not all he's doing — Mike Birkel's brother, Matt Birkel, had an idea to get their dad qualified as a handicapped athlete in the Boston Marathon.

"They mean the world to me, but the fact that they want to do something like that, you can't hardly describe what it means. It's like the ultimate gift," Jeff Birkel said.

The two brothers will be running the Boston Marathon together, with one of them pushing their dad in a racing wheelchair.

"Running has been such a part of our life, it's like, I don't want to give that up, and I don't think Dad wants to give that up either," Mike Birkel said.

For 26.1 miles, Mike Birkel will push the man who has always pushed him.

"Trying to show people — maybe people that have ALS — hey, you can still live a good life, you know, make the best of it," Jeff Birkel said.

You can follow the Birkels' journey and donate to help their cause by searching "Jeffrey Birkel" on the GivenGain Foundation website.