BEAUMONT — If it wasn’t for a motivational speaker, David Jones might not have used marathon running as his way to come back from near tragedy.

“I was an accident in 2011 and went through seven surgeries,” the 47-year-old Orange resident said. “I almost had my right hand amputated, and I had someone challenge me at a conference, a motivational speaker, to run a marathon as my comeback goal. I did, and now I’m trying to turn it into a positive from something negative.”

The Boston Marathon qualifier kept in shape Saturday by running the half-marathon portion of the seventh annual Gusher Marathon, which started and finished near the Montagne Center. He came in 13^th overall and second in the male 45-49 age group, finishing with a chip time of 1 hour, 38 minutes, 25.1 seconds.

Jones opted for the half-marathon to conserve energy for the April 18 crown jewel of distance running.

“To qualify for Boston, it pretty much takes everything you have,” said Jones, who achieved that feat through the Houston Chevron Marathon. “I just wanted to relax a little bit, have a little fun, not take my training so serious, but keep a good base and come out and have a good time and not make it work.”

Jones needed a time of 3 hours, 25 minutes, or better for his age group to qualify for Boston. Standard times are as fast as 3:05:00 for men and 3:35:00 for women in the 18-34 group and are slower for each older group.

Making it to Boston is a goal for Lisa Chambers, 52, of Beaumont.

“I don’t care how many years it takes,” said Chambers, principal of Tyrrell Elementary School in Port Arthur, who would need to complete the 26.2 miles in 4 hours. “That’s my goal.”

She finished the first of back-to-back days of half-marathons, coming in 100^th overall (35^th among females) in 2:07:00.1. She’s headed to an event in New Orleans today.

“I will do a few exercises tonight to kind of help myself,” Chambers said. “We’ll eat a nice meal and rest.”

Jones was involved in a rollover vehicle accident that injured his right hand so badly, it was internally amputated (but still attached externally). His arm went out of the sunroof when the vehicle came to rest.

“So, you went through the surgery and therapy and the medicine and all that,” he said. “It’s pretty difficult, you know, to get up and come back from something like that.”

But Jones considers his injury as something small in comparison to lower-body or head injuries from such accidents, motivating him more to make a comeback.

Now, he runs for more than just himself. He uses running to spread awareness of pediatric brain cancer and is a supporter of The Cure Starts Now, a nonprofit organization that raises money for research of the cancer. The Redfish Elite Series 5K, benefiting The Cure Starts Now, will be held April 9 in Orange in memory of Corbin Burnett and Indy Parkhurst, with the start and finish near the city’s boat ramp.

“A lot of runners, when you stop and listen, they all have a story,” Jones said. “They’ve been through something, they want to overcome something or they’re trying to help somebody else real tight with family.”

The same can be said about Damon West of Port Neches.

West, who recently shared his story of serving prison time for drug abuse with local high school students, won the overall Gusher Marathon 5K title with a time of 19:29.7. Morgan Moore of Beaumont was the top female at 21:50.0.

Chambers’ path to running simply progressed from walking to stay in shape. She often trains with Jones and runs on several teams with one of her teachers, Morgan Jones (no relation to David).

Chambers’ students have taken notice of her endeavors and followed in her footsteps, so to speak.

“I’ve had students in middle school and the ninth grade and some elementary students run this year,” Chambers said. “We had 150 participants in one of the runs this past year in Port Neches.”

She didn’t set a personal best Saturday, but “I felt much stronger,” she said.

“I was stronger but slower. But that’s the accomplishment because I now have endurance because I have the strength.”

D.J. Bean of Beaumont won the half-marathon in 1:24:11.6. Ryan Kelly of Woodville was second, almost 2 minutes behind, with third-place Kirby Shepherd of Bridge City just 30 seconds behind Kelly. Beaumonter Kimberly Palacios (1:32:28.5) won the women’s division and came in sixth overall.

Brian Clark of Beaumont won the marathon in 2:49:44.1, almost 11 seconds ahead of runner-up Olli Haavikko of Houston. Amy Kelly of Houston won the women’s title in 3:50:00.1, placing 11^th overall.