Published November 1, 2023 03:58PM
Watch: This Six-Star Marathon Finisher Runs to Connect the Hearing and Deaf Community
The second installment of the documentary series on Outside Watch features Thomas Eller’s journey to make history
Thomas Eller World Marathon Majors (Photo: World Marathon Majors)
Thomas Eller is on a mission to become the world’s first deaf-born person to complete all six of the World Marathon Majors prestigious races: Berlin, Boston, Chicago, London, New York, and Tokyo. When someone runs all six, they become a Six-Star Finisher.
Eller was born deaf into a supportive hearing family in Essen, Germany. His mother was protective, especially because she knew how difficult it would be for a deaf child to live in a hearing world. But Eller was particularly resilient, and went on to take speech therapy three times a week and learn to speak and sign in three languages.
He was always an excellent runner, and in 2018, Eller’s friend Dr. Rafael Lochowslo convinced him to take on his first marathon, the Petra Desert Marathon in Petra, Jordan. Although he was hesitant to compete at first, Eller placed fourth overall, and hasn’t stopped running races since.
A teacher at David-Ludwig Bloch School in Essen, a popular school for deaf people, Eller was motivated to become a Six-Star Finisher to show his students that deaf-born people can go out into the world and follow their dreams without fear. To this day, he hopes to build a bridge, through running, to connect the hearing and deaf community.
The Six-Star Stories episode takes us through Eller’s final days of training for the final Six-Star Finisher, the Tokyo Marathon. He was coached by Olympian Petra Kurkova, who is also deaf. Eller notes that he was lucky to find a coach like her, because team sports are often more popular in the deaf community compared to individual sports like running.
The Six-Star Stories episode takes us through Eller’s final days of training for the final Six-Star Finisher, the Tokyo Marathon. He was coached by Olympian Petra Kurkova, who is also deaf. Eller notes that he was lucky to find a coach like her, because team sports are often more popular in the deaf community compared to individual sports like running.
“They feel separated, so they protect themselves and stay in this circle,” he says in the documentary. “I left the circle to run marathons all over the world. I want to show the deaf community that it’s possible to make connections with the hearing community.”
When he arrived in Tokyo days before the marathon, Eller had a reunion with all the runner friends he’d met over the years. He was especially excited to see Kevin Hii, who Eller met while running the Berlin Marathon in 2019. The two share a close bond and would run the race side-by-side, becoming Six-Star Finishers together. Eller says that the special thing about Hii is that he doesn’t care about his disability.
“I was first and foremost impressed by his ability as an athlete before anything else,” Hii says. “For somebody who ran his first marathon close to four hours, to then improve by almost an hour, I thought, This is an exceptional athlete.”
People approached him at the start line to offer words of support and thank him for being an inspiration. During the race, he thought of his family, his students, and the people who supported him—it all came to a head when he crossed the finish line and broke down, becoming emotional over the idea that he had just made history.
“Hellen Keller once said, ‘Blindness separates people from things, but deafness separates people from people.’ I don’t think I agree with Helen Keller. I’m living proof that Helen Keller may be wrong.”
Watch Six Star Stories with Thomas Eller on Outside Watch.
