Chris Koch has completed 23 marathons. Now he’s chasing his Boston Marathon dream.

Marathoner Chris Koch, who was born without arms or legs, dreams of competing in the Boston Marathon. 

Koch, 45, who is originally from Alberta, Canada, finished the 7-mile Falmouth Road Race on Sunday in just over an hour. 

“To compete in the Boston Marathon would be an absolute dream come true. So, I wanted to draw some attention to what I’m doing, a little closer to Boston,” he said on Facebook. If he maintained his Falmouth pace during a marathon, he’d finish around his personal best time of 3:54:13. 

Koch was born with a left leg that ends at his hip, a slightly longer right leg with a partially developed foot, and arms that extend to where his elbow would be.

He competes on a longboard with all-terrain wheels, using his right leg to push him along. The longboard allows him to cover more ground than prosthetic legs, which he finds uncomfortable. 

Koch first decided to compete in a race 11 years ago when his friends signed up for one in California. When he asked the race organizers if he could compete on his longboard—which he does before every race—the organizer, who consulted the New York, Chicago, and Boston marathon organizers, said the use of any type of skateboard was prohibited and would also be at the country’s other major races. 

To prove to himself he could compete in a marathon, he signed up for the Calgary Marathon later that year and was allowed to compete with his longboard. 

Marathons are a “great excuse to push myself … [and] to lead by example,” he said. “I never thought that a marathon or a race would be [something] that I could do.”

Since then, Koch has completed 23 marathons, including the New York and Chicago races. 

Of the marathons that initially said they wouldn’t allow a competitor on a longboard, Boston is the only one Koch has yet to compete in. 

Boston “is the Mecca of races,” Koch said. 

Koch has reached out to the Boston Athletic Association to see if they would allow him to race, but he hasn’t heard back. Boston.com reached out to the BAA for comment, but did not hear back in time for publication. 

“I’ll keep chipping away [at races] and eventually, my time [at the Boston Marathon] will come,” he said. 

Koch is also a motivational speaker who uses the tagline “If I Can” during his speeches at marathon expos and other conferences. He hopes everyone understands that “If I—the guy without arms and legs—can travel the world, work on farms, snowboard, surf, kayak or do marathons, [then] we’re all capable of doing some amazing things.”