(CNN) — Micah Herndon proved that you never give up, no matter what, by crawling on his hands and knees to the finish line of the Boston Marathon on Monday. Herndon, of Tallmadge, Ohio, competed in the marathon as a tribute to the memories of three men he knew while he served as a Marine in Afghanistan. He told the Record-Courier in Portage County, Ohio, that whenever he feels like giving up he just repeats their names: Mark Juarez, Matthew Ballard and Rupert Hamer. Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe/Getty Images Herndon crossed the line at three hours and 38 minuets. “I run in honor of them,” Herndon told the Record-Courier. “They are not here anymore. I am here, and I am able. I am lucky to still have all my limbs. I can still be active. I find fuel in the simple idea that I can run. Some cannot.” Herndon crossed the finish line with a time of three hours and 38 minutes to complete the 26.2 miles. CNN affiliate WBZ said once he was over the yellow and blue line he was lifted into a wheelchair and given medical attention. He wore the last names of his comrades on tags on his running shoes. “I feel like if I am not running, then I am doing something wrong with my life,” Herndon told the Record-Courier. “If I get a heat cramp while running or my feet hurt or I am getting exhausted, I just keep saying their names out loud to myself. They went through much worse, so I run for them and their families.”<doc-sep>Two of his friends and a journalist died beside him in Afghanistan. The crowd was roaring in Boston on Monday as one man made his way to the marathon finish line, inch by painful inch. As other runners rushed past him, Micah Herndon of Tallmadge, Ohio, was on his hands and knees, dragging himself to the end of the race after his legs gave out. "I just resorted back to the training I had throughout the Marines," Herndon told ABC News. "Adapt and overcome. If I couldn't run, the next best thing is to crawl. I started crawling for a little bit, my right hamstring tightened up, I couldn't really crawl anymore. So the next best thing is to low crawl. So I started to low crawl, waited until my right hamstring loosened up a bit, and I was able to start crawling again." The pain began miles earlier as the humidity from the rainy day affected him, his legs starting to break down at mile 22 of the 26.2-mile race. "You just gotta push through it, you know? Once I realized I couldn't achieve and maintain my goal pace, I had one goal in mind, and that was just to finish that race on my own," he said. Herndon may have finished the race by himself physically, but he was carrying with him the memories of friends he lost in the Marines. Running, for me, is therapy. The 31-year-old was deployed to Iraq in 2008 and Afghanistan in 2009 as a lead machine-gunner in the "Lava Dogs" division -- the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines, based out of Hawaii – Ohio’s Record-Courier reported in a pre-race profile. When Herndon runs, his sneakers hold the tags of three men who died in Afghanistan: Marines Matthew Ballard and Mark Juarez, as well as Rupert Hamer, a British journalist who was embedded with the troops. After his tours, Herndon struggled to reintegrate into civilian life. But then he started running. "Running, for me, is therapy," he told ABC News. Herndon suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and survivor's guilt -- "my wounds that I wear, my battle scars that I have," he said. "One way of coping with that is running, and to honor them, because they're not here anymore and they can't run anymore. Just to honor their names and their family that's still here." This was Herndon’s third marathon, after qualifying for it with the Pro Football Hall of Fame Marathon, which he finished in 2 hours and 59 seconds last year. Herndon is shocked by the attention his story has received since he reached the finish line, but he hopes it can raise awareness for veterans and the fact that "transitioning back into civilian world is tough," especially for combat veterans like himself. You may fall down, get backtracked, make mistakes ... but it's how you rebound from those mistakes and how you cope with them. But he also hopes he can send a message to other veterans struggling. He said that the system for taking care of veterans didn't work for him, but he found his "own release." "I just hope other veterans can know that there is light at the end of the tunnel even if you have setbacks and whatnot," Herndon said. "You may fall down, get backtracked, make mistakes -- trust me, I've made my fair share of mistakes, especially after the Marine Corps, getting back home with my friends and family -- but it's how you rebound from those mistakes and how you cope with them." Herndon clearly practices what he preaches, as his determined crawl showed, and he's not derailed by this race. He had hoped to qualify for the New York Marathon with this race, but fell short despite pacing well in the first 20 miles, finishing at a (still impressive) 3 hours and 38 minutes. After he spends some time soaking in Epsom salt and sitting in the sauna, Herndon will get back to training to qualify for Boston again next year -- and then, hopefully, get to New York. "I will learn from this experience," he said. "Every race is a journey, and I feel like you learn from your mistakes and just better yourself for the next race."<doc-sep>
Running the Boston Marathon can be a punishing but uplifting experience. And now Micah Herndon can talk about that experience firsthand. Herndon, an Ohio native, ran the marathon on Monday, but his body began to give out as he approached the finish. With just a few feet left, he fell to the ground, unable to get up. But he didn’t give up. Herndon decided to crawl the final feet of the race, crossing the finish line on his hands and knees. Herndon knows a lot about not giving up. According to the Record-Courier, Herndon was injured during an improvised explosive device attack during his tour in Afghanistan in 2010. He was at his vehicle’s gun turret, and the impact of the device shoved him against the back wall of the car, knocking him unconscious. But that’s only part of Herndon’s story. He also told the Record-Courier that he runs to help deal with the post-traumatic stress disorder he has from his tour in Afghanistan, and to help him honor and remember three comrades that were killed in a related IED attack. Mark Juarez and Matthew Ballard, two of Herndon’s best friends and fellow Marines, and British journalist Rupert Hamer, all perished in the attack. Micah Herndon, of Tallmadge, Ohio, crawls to the finish line in the 123rd Boston Marathon on Monday, April 15, 2019, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa) After Herndon returned home, he struggled with adapting to a normal, non-combat life. He began running a few miles a day and gradually increased, enjoying the adrenaline rush. But he also used it as a way to process the deaths of Juarez, Ballard, and Hamer, and honor the sacrifice they all made. From the Record-Courier: “I run in honor of them,” Herndon said. “They are not here anymore. I am here, and I am able. I am lucky to still have all my limbs. I can still be active. I find fuel in the simple idea that I can run. Some cannot. “I feel like if I am not running, then I am doing something wrong with my life,” Herndon said. “If I get a heat cramp while running or my feet hurt or I am getting exhausted, I just keep saying their names out loud to myself. They went through much worse, so I run for them and their families.” Story continues Herndon repeats their last names as he runs, and he ignores the looks of other runners who hear him as he passes. The Boston Marathon was Herndon’s very first marathon. Even with his difficulties at the end, he finished with a time of 3:38. He showed tremendous strength in reaching the finish line, but he wasn’t doing it for himself. He was doing it for Juarez, Ballard, and Hamer, and he carried their spirit with him over the finish line. More from Yahoo Sports: