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ALKING
from one lamp post to the next is already excruciating for most of them,
yet they can complete a marathon. Some of them can hardly see, yet they
can navigate a 26-mile course. Some weren't supposed to walk or to engage
in any strenuous activity at all, yet they found joy in long-distance
running.
These are people with disabilities - amputees, paraplegics, visually impaired, victims of stroke, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, cancer and those recovering from surgeries and traumatic injuries. They run on wheelchairs, with crutches or prostheses, although some of them could run unaided. They have become a fixture in the New York City Marathon since 1976, proving that the race is not always to the swift nor only to the able-bodied.
In a city where people are known for taking the extra mile when it comes to pampering and prettifying their figures, these athletes struggle just to gain and regain full control over their bodies.
"Their real disability is not being blind or whatever, but being out of shape," said Dick Traum, 62, president of the Achilles Track Club, which encourages disabled persons to run with the general public. Running, said Traum, is a sport which allows people with a wide range of disabilities to compete. It is not only good for their health, but also a great morale booster. "They get reinforcement and a sense of self-esteem from their physical accomplishments," he said.
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Dick Traum (right), president of the Achilles Track Club, with former President Bill Clinton in an early morning jog in Washington, D.C., in August 1993. PHOTO: Courtesy of Dick Traum |
People who had trouble going from one light pole to the next often wind up finishing a marathon after they join the club, Traum said. "A disability does not have to be a handicap."
raum
himself is a classic example. He lost his right leg when a car struck
him while standing behind his car in a gas station in 1965. His leg was
amputated above the knee. But 11 years later, Traum blazed a trail by
becoming the first amputee to participate in -- and finish -- the New
York City Marathon.
In 1983, he founded the Achilles Track Club. That year, six disabled runners from the club ran in the annual city marathon. Since then, no New York City Marathon has been held without disabled runners. In 2002, there were over a hundred wheelchair-users, about a hundred others on crutches and prostheses, and several blind runners.
Achilles has now grown into an international organization, with over 10,000 members and more than a hundred chapters in 63 countries including Brazil, Bulgaria, Burma, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Lebanon, Mongolia, Norway, Poland, the Philippines, Russia, South Africa, Trinidad and Vietnam.
or
some of the Achilles members who train twice a week in Central Park, running
is a balm that soothes their battered souls. "It gives me freedom,"
said Juan Alcaraz, 34, from Colombia, who was paralyzed from the waist
down when he was shot in the spine by a robber in Bogota 12 years ago.
Alcaraz has been joining marathons for the past three years.
Nano Chlimon, 40, a soldier from war-torn Lebanon, said he loves running so much that he never thought of giving it up. Not even when a bullet pierced his stomach in 1989 paralyzed him from the waist down. He has run marathons on his wheelchair since 1993.
For Frank Joyce, 33, running in marathons is his form of exercise. A car accident in his native Ireland in 1993 consigned him to the wheelchair. Since then, however, he has finished three New York Marathons. "Once I took up running on wheelchair, I could not stop," he said.
In the marathon, the disabled are always given a headstart. They start much earlier than the rest, to allow them to finish with the thousands of runners in the middle and the backof-thepack, and not alone in the dark. The wheelchair-users usually finish with the main crowd?. Still, there are those who cross the line some 12 hours after the race began, way behind the last non-disabled athletes. For them, the goal is completing the race.
New Yorkers usually show appreciation for disabled runners, cheering wildly for them along the marathon's course, offering them flowers and water. Some onlookers run with these marathoners for stretches, even up to the finish line.
"You should see their faces when they cross the finish line," Traum said of the disabled athletes. "Their faces light up when they see friends, supporters and even strangers cheering for them.
"It's a personal triumph for them."
The Achilles Track Club founder
hopes this success on the road will translate into
the
athletes' attitude in life. "A
disabled who is trained to run can go a longer distance
than an able-bodied who is not trained,"
said Traum. "It's like a metaphor for life."
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