In 1991, I entered my first road race; it was the Harvard Health 5K in Providence. Before this I had never raced a distance longer than 800 meters, but with my good friend John Gallo helping me train I decided to attempt this 3.1-mile race. After a month of training and lifting weights the day finally arrived.

It was a cool October morning and Gallo and I took our positions in the back of the pack of about 1,500 runners and joggers. We wanted to be in the rear of the pack because we knew I’d be slower than most, if not all of the participants. Back in those days I raced in an old heavy metal wheelchair which made this task that much harder.

Although I struggled and it took me a little over three hours I managed to be the only wheelchair athlete to complete the 3.1-mile course. My actions attracted so much attention I received a major police escort for the last half-mile. When I finish, exhausted but fulfilled, I was interviewed by television and newspaper reporters. It was simply amazing. Most just wanted to know what drove me to attempt such a monumental task. My answer was simple to test my limits.
Now to 2006, 15 years later, I’m proud to say both this race and myself have grown and widened our horizons. Last Sunday I competed in the 2006 CVS Pharmacy Downtown 5K. Back in 1991, I was the only disabled participant in any of the festivities. Last year the race organizers came up with the idea to have races, not only for able-bodied children, but also for disabled children as well. This was a big success but most of the disabled athletes came from Special Olympic Programs from around the state. This year the race organizers took this program to a whole new level inviting all children with disabilities to compete in this very successful event.

This year along with many Special Olympic athletes there were over 50 youth competitors from the National Disability Sports Alliance of Rhode Island (NDSA-RI). They called this part of the program “CVS All Kids Can”. It felt great to see so many kids enjoying the sport that has played such an important part in my life and my growth as an athlete.

Following the children’s event came the main event of the day, the United States Track and Field Association’s 5K National Championship. Unlike a decade-and-a- half ago, I wasn’t the only wheelchair racer in this event. There were three of us. Although we all had different levels of disabilities I felt it was important for all the people on hand to see athletics and exercise are important to all people whether you are able-bodied or disabled. As far as my own race, I was very satisfied with my performance. This race was the last competition I will be in before I attempt back-to-back marathons at the end of October. This being the case I really wanted to go out and push it to the limit. I had a very good race but I didn’t beat my personal best on this course. I finished in the time of 42:24. I was very pleased and will be thrilled if I can keep this pace throughout my marathon weekend.

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