Hi, I’m Mike. I’m an autistic adaptive runner, and this year I’m running the Tokyo Marathon the final major out of the original six—to complete my Six Star journey. I’m running for the Flutie Foundation, the organization that didn’t just support my running, it changed who I am.
Eight years ago, I joined the Flutie Foundation team not knowing it would change the entire course of my life. Before that, I was a runner who ran alone not just on the road, but in life. For a long time, being autistic meant keeping parts of myself hidden. I didn’t always trust that there was a place for me, even in a sport I loved. I crossed finish lines, but I never let anyone see what it cost me to get there.
Joining Flutie in 2018 changed that. For the first time, I wasn’t just training for a race I was training alongside people who saw me, all of me, and said: you belong here. That single shift gave me permission to stop hiding. I found my voice. I found people who became family. I found out that the things I thought made me different were actually the things worth sharing out loud.
Every mile since then has been about more than distance. It’s been about proving to myself first, and now to anyone watching thst autistic individuals don’t just deserve a seat at the table. We deserve the chance to lead, to compete, to stand on a podium of our own choosing and say I did this, and I am not alone.
Tokyo will close the loop on the original six majors and eight years with this team. But the real finish line isn’t the one in Tokyo it’s every kid, every family, every adaptive athlete who’s still waiting to feel what I felt when I first put on a Flutie singlet. Your donation makes that possible. It funds the programs, coaching, and community spaces that turn isolation into belonging—the same turn that saved me.
Here’s what your support actually does:
• $25 helps cover a training session for an adaptive athlete just starting out
• $50 supports family programming that builds community for autistic individuals and their loved ones
• $100+ helps fund advocacy and education work that changes how the world sees autism—and how autistic people see themselves
I wouldn’t be standing at this starting line, this version of myself, without Flutie. Every dollar you give doesn’t just support a marathon it tells someone else what was once told to me: you matter, you belong, and you are capable of more than you know.
Thank you for being part of my sixth star. Let’s make it count for someone besides me, too.