Among the crowds running the Boston Marathon on Monday, one former Marine is hoping to send a message to other veterans injured in combat.

“I want to run the run Boston myself obviously, but be an inspiration to other wounded injured veterans,” said Matthew Kutilek, who served in the Marine Corps from 2001 to 2021. “To say you know, don’t let your injuries define you, and you can accomplish great things even if you’ve been dramatically injured like myself. I’m 44 years old and ran my fastest marathon five months ago.”

Kutilek will be on the starting line with over 29,000 runners Monday morning, about 14 years after he was shot in the leg by a sniper in Afghanistan. The veteran will be running as a community athlete to raise money for the Semper Fi & America’s Fund, a nonprofit supporting critically ill and injured service members and veterans.

The former Marine was a runner throughout his life, having run his first marathon in 2003 or 2004 and many more since. But in 2010, his running career was thrown to the wayside after he was deployed to southern Afghanistan and critically injured.

A shot by an enemy sniper caused extensive damage to Kutilek’s lower right leg, putting him in the hospital for months and on limited duty for two years.

“I went through 11 surgeries ultimately,” Kutilek said. “Have a rod the length of my tibia, in my leg l have only one artery, and my toes are fused straight so they don’t bend.”

Approaching the 10 year anniversary of the injury, Kutilek said, he was deployed again, this time in Iraq, and felt a calling.

“I had not really ran for 10 years, except for the Marine Corps physical fitness test,” Kutilek recounted. “It was very painful to run because of my injuries. But I decided I felt the Lord wanted me to run a half marathon on the 10 year anniversary. And so I started training in November of 2019 while I was in Baghdad, and then on March 5, 2020, I ran a half marathon in downtown Baghdad around the small base where we were stationed.”

That’s when a “renewed love for running” kicked back in, Kutilek said. In the next few years, several more marathons followed — in Cherry Point, North Carolina; then the Gettysburg North-South Marathon; then in Greenville, South Carolina; and the Marine Corps Marathon.

Kutilek had to relearn to run. He described, “limping like crazy” until his right leg got stronger and adjusted. Even still, he said, he’s “not as fluid as most people” and there’s pain as the lower leg, shin and toes on the injured side swell.

But Kutilek’s gotten even faster than his pre-injury races, reaching a personal best of 3 hours and 6 minutes in the Marine Corps Marathon.

The veteran is currently in Boston with his wife and four daughters, getting ready for race day. He noted he injured his toe in December and only started running again in the last four weeks, but is just looking to run as fast as he can and have fun.

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Kutilek first came across the Semper Fi & America’s Fund well before his injury in 2006. Much later, when he was wheeled into the hospital stateside in Bethesda, Kutilek said, the first people he met were representatives for the fund.

So many people were injured during their service and so many injuries remain, Kutilek said, leaving a critically important role for an organization that provides a “holistic approach to wellness” and hope.

“There’s a lot of amazing stories of injured veterans who are traumatically injure, but can do incredible things,” Kutilek said. “My injuries are significant, but they’re nothing in comparison to so many veterans’. But if I can do my part to serve as an inspiration and push through pain — try and be a sub-3:06 marathon runner at the age of 44 — then I’ll do the best I can.”

Matthew Kutilek returned to running ten years after he was shot through the leg by a sniper in Afghanistan. (Photo provided by Matthew Kutilek)
Crowds throng the Boston Marathon finish line Sunday ahead of the 128th running of the race. (Photo by Jim Michaud / Boston Herald)