Kayleigh Williamson, 33, made history as the first woman with Down syndrome to finish the New York City Marathon. Thousands of spectators cheered for Kayleigh as she crossed the finish line after her 10 hour journey. Her mother, Sandy, ran alongside her daughter the entire time, describing the experience as “emotional.” “New York changed the way I saw my daughter,” Sandy said. “Every time she heard music she stopped to dance. It was very emotional for her at the end — the last two miles.” Despite the pain, Kayleigh was determined to finish the race.  “Her muscles were sore and they were bothering her. Things like that. But Kaylee didn’t stop. She didn’t want to give up.” As for Kayleigh, she said that she’s a “diva” and stopped to fix her hair throughout the race and before crossing the finish line.

Kayleigh’s running journey began in 2017. “It was at about the same time my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s,” Sandy says. “So I implemented some healthy lifestyle choices. We just started running and I was already running and Kayleigh wanted to do some races with me.” Sandy continued, “My mom used to tell us she escaped from the nursing home and had traveled to all these places like California and Colorado. So what we started doing was finding races in those states to turn her temporary memory into permanent ones. Kayleigh would take her medal back and show it to my mom.”

The New York City Marathon Instagram page posted a video of Kayleigh crossing the finish line, with the sweet moment going viral. “Kayleigh Williamson becomes one of the first women with Down syndrome to run a marathon at the #TCSNYCMarathon,” the caption reads. “Send some [love] to Kayleigh in the comments on this historic moment.”

 

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The post has over 2 million likes and thousands of comments congratulating her on such a special moment. This isn’t the first time Kayleigh has made history. Last year, she became the first person with Down syndrome to ever finish the Austin Marathon, with Texas honoring her by making February 20th “Kayleigh Williamson Day.” Kayleigh also was the second person in history with a cognitive disability to participate in the 2023 Boston Marathon. In an interview with People, Kayleigh said, “I like to run, because it makes me feel happy.”