ARLINGTON, VA (WUSA9) — Jamie Watts is a Virginia woman with Cerebral Palsy who's breaking barriers every single day.
She's about to take down her biggest one yet: running a full marathon.
WUSA9 Reporter Debra Alfarone: "Why is it so important that you do this marathon?"
Jamie Watts: "I think it's important to me because originally when I started running, I thought a marathon was something that was not on the table for me and I just had to take it off the table and accept that it wasn't going to be something that I could complete. But, when somebody presented the opportunity to me to run a marathon, I immediately jumped on it because if i'm ever gonna do it, this is my chance to do it and path forward to complete."
Watts has been running 5Ks and other races for a while, but to tackle a marathon, a lot of logistics have to be accommodated.
Roads have to be opened up hours early, security needs to be in place and her team needs to be ready to run with her.
The organizers of the New Jersey Marathon, coming up this weekend, said they'd be up for it.
Watts will start her run Saturday night at 10.
The rest of the runners begin Sunday morning.
JW: "It's difficult for anyone who attempts it but when you're attempting it with Cerebral Palsy, you just, in your daily life, have issues with balance and strength, so you really have to work on those things. It's just an extra layer of difficulty."
DA: "But not anything that would stop you?"
JW: "Oh, sure not, sure not."
DA: "Where do you get your tenacity from?"
JW: "I look at the people who've lifted me up in this process. When I cross this finish line, it'll be a team effort and a team accomplishment."
DA: "What are you going to do right after the race?"
JW: "Right after the race, I'm going to sleep!"
Be sure to keep in touch with Jamie's marathon effort this weekend on WUSA9.
