"They basically load everyone in buses, drive you out 25 and a half miles, and you run along the Superior shoreline," Reed said. "We're dropping you here and in 25 and a half miles, you'll be back in the city."

But even that didn't diminish his passion for running.

He stopped for a much more serious reason.

Reed served in the U.S. Army and spent two years in Afghanistan.

After returning from overseas he began losing his eyesight.

"It's service connected. So I came back from Afghanistan in 2007 and in 2011 I started to notice my left eye was getting fuzzy," he said. "I went out to the qualification range and couldn't qualify with my pistol anymore, which was strange."

Reed continued running and finished the Disney Marathon in 2012, but had lost sight in his left eye.

Six years later,

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