Persons with Disabilities Shine at NYC Marathon

World champion wheelchair racer Amanda McGrory of Champaign, Illinois, and Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, added to her impressive list of 2006 accomplishments by beating Great Britain's Shelly Woods to win the women's wheelchair division of the ING New York City Marathon November 5.

McGrory crossed the finish line in 1:54:17, two seconds ahead of Woods, who had been neck-and-neck with her for most of the race. The victory for McGrory, which came in her first appearance at the event, comes on the heels of a two-medal performance (gold - 800m, silver - 400m in the women's T53 division) in September at the 2006 IPC Athletics World Championships in Assen, The Netherlands.

When McGrory was five, she contracted transverse myelitis, a condition caused by inflammation of the spinal cord, noted New York Times writer Frank Litsky November 6. Her appearance at the Marathon was a last-minute decision because she had raced in Japan the previous weekend and returned home only a few days before the race, Litsky said. "I thought it would be too much to race here," she said. "I'm glad I decided to do it."

Paralympian Christina Ripp, Dane, Wisconsin, finished sixth in the race with a time of 1:57:14, the second-fastest US finish in the women's race.

Australian Kurt Fearnley easily won the men's wheelchair race, whose time of 1:29:22 was more than six minutes better than the second-place finisher. Paralympian Jacob Heilveil, Longmont, Colorado, had the best finish among the US men, earning sixth place with a time of 1:40:49.

Fearnley won despite encountering an unexpected obstacle, noted Litksy in The New York Times article. Halfway through the wheelchair race, Fearnley was leading by a wide margin. "He was going downhill, his head down," the article said, continuing, "When he lifted his head, he saw a New York nightmare: three potholes. 'The first one, I went through,' Fearnley said. 'The second one threw me on my side, and the chair went over. I thought I was in deep trouble, but I was still attached to my chair and I was back in the race in three seconds. I kept going. I didn't have anything to lose.'"

He won by almost two miles in 1 hour 29 minutes 22 secondsa course record.

Fearnley was born with lumbar sacral agenesis, the article noted. "Three inches of my spine were missing, so now I'm as tall as I am wide," he said.

Ali Bergstrom of New York finished first among the handcyclists, in 1:21:57.

Disabled Veterans Participate

About 70 veterans with disabilities who were part of the Achilles Freedom Team of Wounded War Veterans, sponsored by the nonprofit Achilles Track Club (www.achillestrackclub.org), completed the Marathon, noted the Army News Service November 6 in an article by Sgt. Joseph Morris.

Sgt. Neil Duncan, a first-time marathon participant from the 173rd Airborne Brigade, finished in first place this year for the Freedom Team. Duncan lost both his legs from an improvised explosive device last year while serving in Iraq. Duncan said he got involved with Achilles while going through rehabilitation at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, as part of an athletic program for disabled war veterans.

"Being a part of Freedom Team and being in this marathon has been an awesome experience," said retired Cpl. Alex Leonard, who lost his right leg during a land mine explosion in Iraq last year. "I am fortunate that other people cared enough about me and kept me going like this. This was the second time I did this marathon, and I plan on doing it again."

The majority of the veterans are amputees who use specially designed hand-crank wheelchairs that are operated solely by competitors' upper body strength, explained. Mary Bryant, vice president and director of the Freedom Team. Every member of Freedom Team finished the race, she added.

New York Times writer Juliet Macur interviewed other wounded military men. She described the challenge overcome by Sgt. John Keith: "From the seat of his bright orange handcycle, Sgt. John Keith stared at the road ahead as he crossed the Queensboro Bridge, sure he could not go on.

"Each time he pumped the crank with his thick arms, his biceps burned, his chest muscles tightened, and his elbows ached. But just as he considered quitting the New York City Marathon after about 15 miles yesterday, a vivid memory popped into his head. He remembered two friends who died in Iraq, men who were fellow Army medics in his First Cavalry Division unit. One died in a roadside bombing, the other in a vehicular accident.

"I reminded myself that I'm not doing this for me; I'm doing this in memory of the friends I lost," said Keith, 38, whose left leg was amputated above the knee after a rocket-propelled grenade hit his Humvee in Iraq almost a year ago. "So I told myself that I just couldn't stop, no matter how much it hurt, or if I bleed or even if I crash."

"Then his eyes became teary. 'I told myself, 'You will finish this because your friends won't ever be able to.'"

The article also described other veterans in the race: One Navy corpsman, Jose Ramos, 25, had his left arm torn offby a rocket in July 2004 near Falluja. He ran the marathon in 4 hours 57 minutes 35 seconds. Petty Officer Second Class Derrick Wallace, 22, lost his left leg in a motorcycle accident before his Navy unit deployed for Iraq. Using a handcycle, he finished in 3:28:31.

Also in the handcycle race was Sgt. Andrew Butterworth, who had been Keith's roommate at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. Butterworth, 26, lost his right leg after rocket-propelled grenades tore through his Bradley fighting vehicle last November in Tuz. "It's so cool to be here with John, after we were lying next to each other in the hospital for so long," said Butterworth, quoted in the article, who finished in 2:44:47. "It's kind of wild, actually."

"To all of those soldiers, the marathon showed how far they had come since their injuries, and how far they could go," Macur added.

Celebrities Join Race

Sunday, seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong accomplished his goal of finishing the New York City Marathon in less than three hours. He called the Marathon "the hardest physical thing I have ever done," according to various news reports. Armstrong's completed the course in 2 hours 59 minutes 36 seconds.

Armstrong was 856th, and several other celebrities also finished, including mountain climber Ed Viesturs (3:15:25), former Olympic gold-medal gymnast Shannon Miller (4:17:47), and model Kim Alexis (4:39:49), reported the Japan Times online.

Marilson Gomes dos Santos of Brazil ended the African men's decade-long hold on the New York City Marathon title with a stunning debut, and Jelena Prokopcuka of Latvia successfully defended her title in her second straight win.

For full results of the ING New York City Marathon, visit www.nycmarathon.org/results/index.php

Persons with Disabilities Shine at NYC Marathon

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