article_snippet.sent: Venezuelan native Maickel Melamed, who is battling muscular dystrophy, completed the 26.2 miles just before 5 a.m. Tuesday.
article_snippet.sent: Friends who were waiting for Melamed to cross the finish line said the university professor and motivational speaker is dedicated and motivated.
article_snippet.sent: Melamed wants to show that life is great, no matter how many problems you can have," friend Perla Sananes said.
article_snippet.sent: Melamed was born with muscular dystrophy, which causes progressive weakness and loss of muscle mass throughout the body.
article_snippet.sent: As the disease progresses, people with the condition have difficulty doing physical activities like running and walking.
article_snippet.sent: Melamed has completed marathons in Chicago, New York, Berlin and Tokyo.
article_snippet.sent: Boston has a special place in Melamed heart because Melamed parents brought Melamed to the city as a baby, CNN affiliate WCVB-TV said.
article_snippet.sent: Melamed is one of about 30,000 participants who raced in this year's marathon, which comes less than two weeks after a jury found Dzhokhar Tsarnaev guilty of all 30 charges related to the 2013 Boston bombings.
highlights_snippet.sent: Maickel Melamed, who has muscular dystrophy, took part in the 2015 Boston Marathon .
  
highlights_snippet.sent: Maickel Melamed, who has muscular dystrophy completed the race 20 hours after the start .
  