Alex and Jamie Schneider - Severely Autistic twin runners

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Gradually, almost imperceptibly, his Saucony running shoes gliding across the ground, Alex “Alie” Schneider pulled abreast of his guide runner, Sal Nastasi.

Indeed, at 5 feet, 10 inches tall and a lean 125 pounds, Schneider, 28, seems born to run — rapidly. He completed the New York City Marathon in November in an impressive time of 2:50:3. In April, braving some of the worst weather conditions in the 122-year history of the event, he completed the Boston Marathon in a (for him) disappointing time of 2:56. A few weeks later, at the Long Island Half Marathon on May 6, Schneider rebounded, finishing seventh overall out of 2,100 participants. In that race, accompanied by his other guide runner and coach, Boyd Carrington, Schneider covered the 13.1-mile distance in a time of 1:16:30 (nearly an hour faster than the average time of all those who completed the race).

This summer, Schneider continues to tear up the local road racing circuit. Now training and racing with Nastasi and Carrington, he is in the company of two of the fastest runners in Nassau and Suffolk counties.

They guide him for a reason: Schneider is profoundly autistic.

Despite all that, Schneider is eminently coachable. “He does whatever you ask, he doesn’t complain, he doesn’t have attitude,” said Carrington, 45, of Amityville, a certified coach who has worked one-on-one with many runners. “His attitude is to run.”

Nastasi is convinced Schneider understands a lot more than his slightly quizzical expression would lead one to believe. He’ll often talk to him while they log the miles together. “I’ll say, ‘It’s a nice day today,’ and I’ll tell him about what my kids are doing, or whatever errands I have to do after our run,” Nastasi said. “Sometimes I get the sense that he’s listening.”

For Schneider, running isn’t his entire world. He also plays piano, swims and spends part of every weekday at the adult program at the Genesis School, an East Meadow facility for autistic individuals that Alie has attended since he was a child.

Running has also helped his twin brother, Jamie. Although not as fast as Alie, Jamie runs regularly. And he, too, is severely autistic.

Such single-mindedness is a hallmark of Schneider’s condition. “A number of us do have great focus,” said Stephen Shore, PhD, a professor of special education at Adelphi University in Garden City who has Asperger’s Syndrome. “When we focus on something, that becomes the entire world.”

Athletic prowess is not typically associated with those on the spectrum, and, according to Shore, this could be a bit of stereotyping. “We always hear about these super geeks in IT and that’s all well and good,” he said. “My question is, ‘What about everybody else?’ And the everybody elses are those who have skills in the arts or athletics, like this young man.”

Schneider, who has completed 18 marathons, is just reaching his peak as a distance runner, many of whom have their best performances in their late 20s and early 30s. Carrington said he thinks Schneider has the talent to run faster than 2:30 for the marathon, a strong time for any runner, much less one who cannot speak in complete sentences or write his own name.

Instead, in planning out his charge’s training program, Carrington has taken on a task for which there is no rulebook and few precedents. Consider the issue of injury: Schneider cannot tell Nastasi and Carrington he is in pain, so they are always on the lookout for slight changes in Schneider’s gait or running mechanics that would suggest a problem.