The Cowtown Marathon is this weekend in Fort Worth, and more than 26,000 runners are expected to participate in the area’s largest multi-event road race. One of those runners is Fort Worth mother Jean Johnson, who said the “why” that motivates her is rooted in a race she ran 15 years ago. Johnson said her first half-marathon came when she was eight weeks pregnant with her son, Marcus. She said she remembers thinking about what it would mean to run a marathon with him one day. “It was one of the first things that we did together, actually, Johnson said. “In my head I was thinking, ‘Wow, wouldn’t it be cool if I could run a marathon with him when he’s a teenager or something, and I could tell him, ‘We did our first one when you were in my belly.'” Marcus was born on July 5, and Johnson said he died the same day. With their baby on life support, the family had a chance to say goodbye. Keepsakes from Marcus’s short life fill a box, Johnson said — one she still opens. “I love to open it,” Johnson said. Johnson said memories of Marcus are present throughout the family’s home, but talking about him can be difficult in ways she doesn’t think others always understand. “With any other deaths, people are more open to talking about their loved ones, their grandma that died, like they want to tell you a story,” Johnson said. “And I want to tell a story about how I ran a marathon while pregnant with my son, who is now dead. It always is that little, like, ‘Oh that’s … what do I say now?'” Johnson said speaking about Marcus is one way she keeps moving forward. Running is another — and this weekend, she said she’s taking on the Cowtown Marathon with the belief that healing isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon. “I think about running that first race and being pregnant and wishing I could tell him that he was with me, but actually he is with me still,” said Johnson. “It will never be the normal, you know, but you can create a new normal and find meaning in things again.” The Cowtown kicks off Friday with a health expo. Races begin Saturday with a Kids 5k, 5k and 10k. The half-marathon, marathon and ultra-marathon are on Sunday. This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC DFW. AI tools helped convert the story into a digital article, and an NBC DFW journalist edited it again before publication. ...read more read less