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MORE THAN 30,000 RUNNERS COMPLETED THE 130TH BOSTON MARATHON TODAY. AMONG THE TOP 3% OF FINISHERS AND ASHLAND NEBRASKA NATIVE. BUT THIS RUNNER WASN’T ONLY RUNNING FOR BEST TIME, HE WAS RUNNING FOR A PURPOSE HERE AT HOME TO KETV NEWSWATCH 7, MADDIE AUGUSTINE TELLS US MORE IN THIS STORY. YOU’LL SEE ONLY ON SEVEN. WE’RE ABOUT NINE AND A HALF MILES IN RIGHT NOW. FEELING GOOD. THAT’S 21 YEAR OLD JACKSON HAM RACING IN THE 130TH BOSTON MARATHON. THE STREETS ARE LINED WITH FANS FOR 26 MILES STRAIGHT. EVERY TIME I WAS LIKE, OH, IT’S GETTING A LITTLE TOO QUIET. I’M THINKING A LITTLE TOO MUCH. IT WAS JUST THIS BIG TOWN WILL POP UP AND IT’S JUST CROWDS OF PEOPLE CROSSING THE FINISH LINE WITH A FINAL TIME OF TWO HOURS, 37 MINUTES AND 14 SECONDS, A LITTLE BIT FASTER THAN I WAS PLANNING. BUT IT CAME OUT TO JUST ABOUT SIX MINUTE PACE. FLAT. HAM ONLY RAN HIS FIRST MARATHON IN MAY 2025. I WOULD HAVE TOLD MYSELF THAT A YEAR AND A HALF AGO I WOULD HAVE SAID, YOU’RE INSANE. I THINK IT’S JUST KIND OF A TESTAMENT TO I THINK WE ARE WAY MORE CAPABLE THAN WHAT WE THINK. HAM SAYS HIS FAMILY WAS THERE EVERY STEP OF THE WAY TILL THE FINAL STEP. THE SUPPORT THAT THEY’VE GIVEN ME, I JUST REALLY CAN’T EXPLAIN IT. THEY’VE JUST BEEN THEY ARE ALWAYS IN MY CORNER, ALWAYS ROOTING FOR ME. THE ASHLAND NATIVE ALSO HAD SUPPORTERS BACK HERE IN NEBRASKA. WATCHING HIM ON MY PHONE THROUGHOUT THE DAY, CHECKING IN TO SEE WHERE HE’S AT. THAT’S JODY JURGENSEN WITH CALVIN’S LEGACY FOUNDATION, THE NONPROFIT THAT HELPS SPONSOR HIM IN HIS BOSTON MARATHON JOURNEY. IT COMES BACK TO THE HOMETOWN PROUD. THE FOUNDATION WAS CREATED IN HONOR OF JORGENSEN’S LATE SON, CALVIN, TO HELP FAMILIES AND INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES REPRESENTING CALVIN’S SPIRIT, HAM CARRIED HOBBS, THE STUFFED TIGER, WITH HIM THROUGH HIS JOURNEY. THERE’S A PIECE OF CALVIN IN BOSTON. THERE’S A PIECE OF ASHLAND IN BOSTON NOW, BUT THAT’S NOT THE ONLY ADDITIONAL PUSH BEHIND HAMZ RACING. HE ALSO RAISED MONEY FOR HETRA, A HORSE CENTER THERAPY ACADEMY IN GRETNA THEM ALSO DOING. DOING THERAPY AND CHARITY FOR KIDS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS. JUST TO ME IT WAS JUST THE PERFECT MATCH. HAM RAISED MORE THAN $7,500 FOR THE ORGANIZATION, WHICH WILL HELP FUND ROUGHLY 100 SESSIONS. WE HAVE TO RAISE ABOUT 86% OF EVERY SESSION COST THROUGH DONATIONS SUCH AS THIS. IN ORDER FOR OUR PARTICIPANTS TO COME, WE NEVER TURN SOMEBODY AWAY FOR THE INABILITY TO PAY, HELPING SET A FUTURE FOR OTHERS AND PREPPING FOR HIS NEXT CHALLENGE. I HAVE A FEE
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‘Capable of way more than what we think’: Nebraska native completes Boston Marathon while raising money for local nonprofits
More than 30,000 runners completed the 130th Boston Marathon Monday. Among the top 3% of finishers was an Ashland, Nebraska native, but he wasn’t only racing for the best time; he was running for a purpose here at home, too.
More than 30,000 runners completed the 130th Boston Marathon Monday. Among the top 3% of finishers was an Ashland, Nebraska native, but he wasn’t only racing for the best time; he was running for a purpose here at home, too. Gaining momentum from the energy of thousands of strangers and his own family lining the Boston Marathon route, 21-year-old Jaxson Hamm crossed the finish line 2:37:14. “A little bit faster than I was planning, but it came out to just about six minute pace flat through all 26,” Hamm said. “The streets are lined with fans for 26 miles straight. Every time it was like, oh, like it’s getting a little too quiet, I’m thinking a little too much. It was just this big town will pop up, and it’s crowds of people.”Hamm is a majoring in exercise science and on the pre-med track at Creighton University. He told KETV he only started seriously running his sophomore year. “My professor wrote me this, like, half-marathon plan,” Hamm said. “I train for a half-marathon. And I ran one in the summer. I’m like, yeah, maybe I think I can do a little bit longer than this. So then I ran my first marathon in May of 2025 in Lincoln. Then I decided that I wanted to try to qualify for Boston. I ran another marathon in September of 2025. I remember when I first started running, I’m like, man, like one day it’d be really cool to qualify for Boston. I, I didn’t even want to say it out loud because it just sounded so, you know, like, not possible.”However, Hamm proved to himself it was possible. He even ran eight minutes faster during the Boston Marathon than his last marathon in September. “If I would have told myself that a year and a half ago, I would have said, ‘You’re insane.’ But, I think it’s just kind of a testament to I think we are way more capable than what we think. Consistency pays off.”Hamm said his family was there every step of the way, until the final step. “Actually, right after I crossed the finish line, you have to walk like a mile to get to the family meeting area, which was absolutely insane,” Hamm said. “Once I got there, I saw my brother, and it was just it was so amazing. Just give him the biggest hug. It was, I was so happy. The support from them. Like, I couldn’t have done it without them. The support that they’ve given me. I just truly can’t explain it. They’ve just been; they’re always in my corner, always rooting for me.”Hamm’s support system stretched all the way from Massachusetts back to his hometown in Ashland, Nebraska. “Watching him on my phone throughout the day, checking in to see where he’s at,” Jodi Jurgensen said.Jurgensen helped create the nonprofit, Calvin’s Legacy Foundation. Also, Ashland locals, Jurgensen said, she knew they wanted to help sponsor Hamm in his Boston Marathon Journey. “It comes back to hometown proud,” Jurgensen said. “I knew it was not a small feat that Jackson had accomplished, on top of him going to med school, also. And so when I had seen it, I was like, way to go, kid. Like, you know, like, that’s a huge accomplishment. I sent a text message to Calvin’s dad, Brett, and I was like, we need to support this. However, we can like it. Just that small town proud comes. I’m like, someone from Ashland is running in the Boston, and such a good kid from a good family. And it was just one of those things where I just felt like we had to do something.”Calvin’s Legacy Foundation was created in honor of Jurgensen’s late son Calvin. “Calvin passed away at the age of six and a half due to complications of his 17th surgery,” Jurgensen said. “He had an undiagnosed genetic disorder, so we really never had that final piece or that answer, but it didn’t it didn’t matter to us.”Jurgensen said the community rallied around them, so they knew they wanted to give that support right back. For 13 years, the foundation has helped fund numerous additions in the community and scholarships and grants for families and individuals with disabilities. Representing Calvin’s spirit, Hamm carried Hobbs, the stuffed tiger, with him through his journey. “There’s a piece of Calvin in Boston. There’s a piece of Ashland in Boston now,” Jurgensen said.That’s not the only additional push behind Hamm’s racing; he was also working to raise money for Heartland Equine Therapeutic Riding Academy, or HETRA, a horse-centered therapy academy in Gretna.”We work for adults and children of all ages, partnering with horses as part of their therapy or therapeutic activity,” Edy Godden, CEO of HETRA said. “We offer, really, an alternative, therapeutic approach. So a lot of our participants may have a developmental diagnosis, may have been in therapy, you know, a good chunk of their life. So really offering something that’s different and unique is, really, a cool alternative, something that is therapy without being therapy.”Hamm said the partnership with both organizations was a perfect match. “Between them, being an organization in my hometown. And then also, I volunteered at the child life section at the Med Center in Omaha, since I was a freshman. And so to do something with kids and then, then being in my hometown, it just made so much sense,” Hamm said. “My family’s been surrounded by horses ever since I was born. My grandpa has trained racehorses longer than I’ve been alive. Them also doing, doing therapy and charity for kids with special needs. Just the two made, it was just the perfect match.”Hamm raised more than $7,500 for the organization, which HETRA said will help fund more than 100 sessions. “We have to raise about 86% of every session cost through donations such as this. In order for our participants to come, we never turn somebody away from the inability to pay,” Godden said. “This is huge. It was unexpected. So unplanned for so anything anytime that that happens, that’s just like, oh my gosh, that’s just so awesome.”Helping set a future for others, and prepping for his next challenge. “We’ll see what the future holds. I’d really like to go back to the Lincoln Marathon and see what we could do there. But yeah, I have a feeling this won’t be my last time in Boston,” Hamm said.HETRA said if you didn’t get a chance to donate, you can still donate through Hamm’s fund. You can do so by clicking here, or by attending their annual Blue Jeans & Dreams benefit this Saturday. To learn more about Calvin’s Legacy Foundation, click here.
More than 30,000 runners completed the 130th Boston Marathon Monday. Among the top 3% of finishers was an Ashland, Nebraska native, but he wasn’t only racing for the best time; he was running for a purpose here at home, too.
Gaining momentum from the energy of thousands of strangers and his own family lining the Boston Marathon route, 21-year-old Jaxson Hamm crossed the finish line 2:37:14.
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“A little bit faster than I was planning, but it came out to just about six minute pace flat through all 26,” Hamm said. “The streets are lined with fans for 26 miles straight. Every time it was like, oh, like it’s getting a little too quiet, I’m thinking a little too much. It was just this big town will pop up, and it’s crowds of people.”
Hamm is a majoring in exercise science and on the pre-med track at Creighton University. He told KETV he only started seriously running his sophomore year.
“My professor wrote me this, like, half-marathon plan,” Hamm said. “I train for a half-marathon. And I ran one in the summer. I’m like, yeah, maybe I think I can do a little bit longer than this. So then I ran my first marathon in May of 2025 in Lincoln. Then I decided that I wanted to try to qualify for Boston. I ran another marathon in September of 2025. I remember when I first started running, I’m like, man, like one day it’d be really cool to qualify for Boston. I, I didn’t even want to say it out loud because it just sounded so, you know, like, not possible.”
However, Hamm proved to himself it was possible. He even ran eight minutes faster during the Boston Marathon than his last marathon in September.
“If I would have told myself that a year and a half ago, I would have said, ‘You’re insane.’ But, I think it’s just kind of a testament to I think we are way more capable than what we think. Consistency pays off.”
Hamm said his family was there every step of the way, until the final step.
“Actually, right after I crossed the finish line, you have to walk like a mile to get to the family meeting area, which was absolutely insane,” Hamm said. “Once I got there, I saw my brother, and it was just it was so amazing. Just give him the biggest hug. It was, I was so happy. The support from them. Like, I couldn’t have done it without them. The support that they’ve given me. I just truly can’t explain it. They’ve just been; they’re always in my corner, always rooting for me.”
Hamm’s support system stretched all the way from Massachusetts back to his hometown in Ashland, Nebraska.
“Watching him on my phone throughout the day, checking in to see where he’s at,” Jodi Jurgensen said.
Jurgensen helped create the nonprofit, Calvin’s Legacy Foundation. Also, Ashland locals, Jurgensen said, she knew they wanted to help sponsor Hamm in his Boston Marathon Journey.
“It comes back to hometown proud,” Jurgensen said. “I knew it was not a small feat that Jackson had accomplished, on top of him going to med school, also. And so when I had seen it, I was like, way to go, kid. Like, you know, like, that’s a huge accomplishment. I sent a text message to Calvin’s dad, Brett, and I was like, we need to support this. However, we can like it. Just that small town proud comes. I’m like, someone from Ashland is running in the Boston, and such a good kid from a good family. And it was just one of those things where I just felt like we had to do something.”
Calvin’s Legacy Foundation was created in honor of Jurgensen’s late son Calvin.
“Calvin passed away at the age of six and a half due to complications of his 17th surgery,” Jurgensen said. “He had an undiagnosed genetic disorder, so we really never had that final piece or that answer, but it didn’t it didn’t matter to us.”
Jurgensen said the community rallied around them, so they knew they wanted to give that support right back. For 13 years, the foundation has helped fund numerous additions in the community and scholarships and grants for families and individuals with disabilities.
Representing Calvin’s spirit, Hamm carried Hobbs, the stuffed tiger, with him through his journey.
“There’s a piece of Calvin in Boston. There’s a piece of Ashland in Boston now,” Jurgensen said.
That’s not the only additional push behind Hamm’s racing; he was also working to raise money for Heartland Equine Therapeutic Riding Academy, or HETRA, a horse-centered therapy academy in Gretna.
“We work for adults and children of all ages, partnering with horses as part of their therapy or therapeutic activity,” Edy Godden, CEO of HETRA said. “We offer, really, an alternative, therapeutic approach. So a lot of our participants may have a developmental diagnosis, may have been in therapy, you know, a good chunk of their life. So really offering something that’s different and unique is, really, a cool alternative, something that is therapy without being therapy.”
Hamm said the partnership with both organizations was a perfect match.
“Between them, being an organization in my hometown. And then also, I volunteered at the child life section at the Med Center in Omaha, since I was a freshman. And so to do something with kids and then, then being in my hometown, it just made so much sense,” Hamm said. “My family’s been surrounded by horses ever since I was born. My grandpa has trained racehorses longer than I’ve been alive. Them also doing, doing therapy and charity for kids with special needs. Just the two made, it was just the perfect match.”
Hamm raised more than $7,500 for the organization, which HETRA said will help fund more than 100 sessions.
“We have to raise about 86% of every session cost through donations such as this. In order for our participants to come, we never turn somebody away from the inability to pay,” Godden said. “This is huge. It was unexpected. So unplanned for so anything anytime that that happens, that’s just like, oh my gosh, that’s just so awesome.”
Helping set a future for others, and prepping for his next challenge.
“We’ll see what the future holds. I’d really like to go back to the Lincoln Marathon and see what we could do there. But yeah, I have a feeling this won’t be my last time in Boston,” Hamm said.
HETRA said if you didn’t get a chance to donate, you can still donate through Hamm’s fund. You can do so by clicking here, or by attending their annual Blue Jeans & Dreams benefit this Saturday.
To learn more about Calvin’s Legacy Foundation, click here.
