INDIANAPOLIS — At the OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon Saturday, all of the hard work and training pays off for the runners and walkers.
But for one Indianapolis man, it's taken years to get back into his running shoes.
Shawn Griffin has been a runner as long as he can remember.
"I ran cross country as a teen in high school. So, I wanted to get back to that because my wife ran, my brother-in-law ran and my sister-in-law ran as well," Griffin said. "I was the only one that didn't run anymore."
That's because life as he knew it changed forever one night in 2017. As he drove home from work, a Jeep slammed head-on into his car. He awoke from a coma six days later and would stay in the hospital for two months. Griffin had a severe brain injury. It caused mobility issues, personality changes and problems with his vision.
It took more than three years for Griffin to get to the point where he felt confident to get around on his own.
Once he could finally walk, he had to concentrate to not walk on his ankle, and he still suffers from a vocal injury from the tracheostomy during the coma.
"I first started riding a bike because it was a leg motion. I figured I better work to get better because that would be better than just laying around, eating and sleeping all day," Griffin said.
He fought hard to get his independence back and set a goal for himself to get back to running. This year, that includes the Mini-Marathon.
So if you see Griffin along the route, know how hard he has fought for this achievement.