‘I can do anything if it’s for you:’ Las Vegas marathon duo cross countless finish lines, build deep bond

Logan Reever
·2 min read

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – Running brings out the strength and resilience in us all.

Nobody embodies that more than rider athlete Keaton Mabry and his runner Michele Maloney.

Keaton has cerebral palsy and has been non-verbal since birth. But that’s not stopping him from finishing the race.

“What’s your favorite part of running? Is it chasing the girls?” Maloney asked Keaton as the two set out on their training run.

<em>Rider athlete Keaton Mabry and his runner Michele Maloney race to the finish line. (Credit: Dawn Sabraw)</em>
Rider athlete Keaton Mabry and his runner Michele Maloney race to the finish line. (Credit: Dawn Sabraw)

Maloney and Keaton have been doing this for 11 years now.

She pushes, and he encourages.

“You are the reason I run, it’s all about you,” Maloney expressed. “When we’re going up a hill and I’m cursing and I’m having some words with the road beyond me. I can do anything if it’s for you.”

At nine months old, doctors informed Keaton’s parents he had cerebral palsy.

“Even though he cannot speak, he understands everything. I wasn’t going to take everything the doctors said and just say ‘Okay that’s who you are,” Keaton’s mother Dawn Sabraw said.

Keaton set out to not let anyone tell him what he could or could not do – so he got into running where he met Maloney.

<em>Maloney and Mabry have been participating in marathons, half marathons, and 5Ks for 11 years. (Dawn Sabraw) </em>
Maloney and Mabry have been participating in marathons, half marathons, and 5Ks for 11 years. (Dawn Sabraw)

“I may affect his life, but he has affected my life in ways that sometimes I can’t put into words,” says Maloney.

The duo have completed marathons, half marathons, and 5Ks.

Through the good days and the bad ones, through the loss of family members – their unbreakable bond is what keeps each of them going.

“It’s hard to describe. It fills my heart with so much joy to see him do something that he owns. There’s such victory in helping him find his victory,” Sabraw said.

<em>Rider athlete Keaton Mabry and his runner Michele Maloney race to the finish line. (Credit: Dawn Sabraw)</em>
Rider athlete Keaton Mabry and his runner Michele Maloney race to the finish line. (Credit: Dawn Sabraw)

“When you realize it’s at the end of the race and the smile comes across his face, it makes it all worthwhile,” Maloney said.

The two just finished the Rock N’ Roll Half Marathon last week and run a road race about every month.

Team Hoyt is looking for both runners and rider athletes to join them and continue stories like Keaton’s. The non-profit organization was inspired by the father and son duo Rick and Dick Hoyt and created for individuals who would not be able to experience the same endurance activity as able-bodied runners. Team Hoyt Las Vegas’s goal is to give individuals experience in triathlons, marathons, 10k, and 5k, according to its website. For more information on how you can help click HERE.

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