Tracy Garbutt runs marathons with a guide runner. This past Monday he completed his 5th marathon. (Supplied)

Tracy Garbutt is a runner who has completed the Boston Marathon not once, but twice, but he's never actually seen the course.

Legally blind for the last 37 years, Garbutt, 46, has now completed five separate marathons using guide runners to help him along the course.

"It was probably one of the toughest ones I've ever done," shared Garbutt. "It was pouring rain, windy, cold... they're saying it was probably one of the toughest ones in Boston Marathon history now, for being one of the worst weathers."

Qualifying for Boston after completing the Ottawa Marathon in 2017, Garbutt had spent the last 18 months training for this past Monday's marathon in Boston.

"It was a long process," he said, revealing that since the start of his training he's covered approximately 1,600 miles.

No stranger to the difficult course, having also completed the Boston Marathon in 2015 in similar conditions, Garbutt is extremely grateful to the guides who have helped him over the years. One of these guides, Mike Malyk, is a fellow Winnipegger and close friend of Garbutt, who joined him or the final half of Monday's race.

"It's those kinds of things that really keep you going."

"Having a guide runner is really important because they're telling you your lefts and rights, and when you're dealing with Boston Marathon conditions you have a lot of people to get around and without that, it makes it pretty difficult," Garbutt explained. "It's a big job for people to guide me."

Though Garbutt says his disability does make it tricky sometimes to run, he's a longime lover of the sport, and ultimately chose it because it allows him to athletically compete despite his lack of sight.

"It's hard to play hockey when you're blind," chuckled Garbutt. "[Running] is a sport where you know you can do a lot of things on your own in preparation."

Garbutt's favourite part of racing? "I love the cheering," he revealed. "Boston, on a nice sunny day, you can have 1.2 million people cheering... it's those kinds of things that really keep you going."

He hopes that for this year's Manitoba Marathon, Manitobans will come out to cheer for those participating.

"The fan support is really amazing."

The cheering coming from his wife and kids is what especially heartens Garbutt. This year, they even travelled with him to Boston to watch him race, something that Garbutt says meant a lot.

Garbutt sees his running as a positive lifestyle choice.

"It's just getting out and just doing something different, being active and having fun."