On this blog, Community and Policy Studies will be entering course articles, not published elsewhere, on the theme of disability and community. The entries are for use in teaching and for the development of community services and supports in local communities in the US and elsewhere (i.e., US-centric).
The first entry today is from 2002 and represents the sport of racing and running, and its worldwide 15K road races. The full report describes related areas, such as the Health and Fitness Expo held on the grounds of the Masonic Care Community and the Youth Runs and Celebrity Disability Leadership.
Boilermaker Road Race:
An Examination of the Wheelchair Division
and Road Racing in the US
February 2002, 2014 Release
Julie Ann Racino, Principal Investigator
Community and Policy Studies
The Utica Boilermaker Road Race, approaching its 25th Anniversary in 2002, has attracted US attention for its reputation as the largest 15K (9.3 miles) Road Race in the US. It is a well-run signatore event of the Mohawk Valley of Central New York State. Described as one of the top ten US Road Races (Kowalchik, 1999), the race was founded by the recently deceased F. X. Matt of Matt's Brewery and Earle Reed of the Utica Boilers.
While the Wheelchair Division Race Event was reported in its first half decade (See, also, Sangiacomo, 1980), the race has attracted Paralympian racers dominated in 2002 by the world record holder Saul Mendoza of Mexico who trains (and now lives) in the US and has held three (3) consecutive Boilermaker championships. The Wheelchair Racers compete on the same course and the same day as the 9,000 runners with a fifteen minute starting time differential. World class runners won the top running awards in the men's (John Korir, 2001) and women's (Catherine Ndereba, 2001, defending champion) open divisions.
The Wheelchair Division Race, as a sporting event, is exciting in its competitions:
* leading young women competitors vying for prizes in the women's competitions (defending champion Laurie Stephens of Massachusetts, Paralympian Jessical Galli of New Jersey, and second place finisher, April Coughlin of New York);
* world class an veterans in the men's and master's competitions (e.g., Vern Achenbach of Georgia, Thomas Gorman of Pennsylvania, and Kurt Fearnley of Australia);
* new and long-term race competitors (e.g., Hillaryn Beehner, now deceased Ed Bradley, Michael Geiss, and Craig Post of New York); and
* its Wheelchair Challenge to instill local interest and competition in the sport (e.g., Hector Onofre, Melissa Keiser, Michele Simmen, and Andrew Parasino).
The article is written primarily to highlight themes from the research report prepared for use by the Boilermaker and Wheelchair Division Committees and of interest to the worlds of sports, disability and community recreation. In academia, these fields include adaptive recreation, special education, rehabilitation and rehabilitation medicine, physical and occupational therapy, recreation and tourism, community psychology, sensory impairments (e.g., visual, hearing, olfactory), community and economic development, among others.
First, the major themes highlighted by the wheelchair racers themselves and common to sports and disability worlds were:
1. Wheelchair Racers as Sports' Athletes Wheelchair racers are athletes,and maintain physical and mental fitness, training and racing schedules. While some racers may be recreational wheelers, professional athletes in the world of sport are competitive and may rely on the sport for their primary livelihood and race for many of the same reasons that runners do.
2. Road Races and Wheelchair Races Wheelchair racers, in this research study, generally support divisional participation in road races structured similar to award categories of the sport of running (e.g., by age and by gender). However, not all local road races are prepared for this entry of wheelchair racers, and the courses may not be suitably designed. Major road races, such as the Boilermaker and Peachtree Road Races, are seen as well run and receptive to the wheelchair racers.
3. Race Safety, Etiquette, and Standards Safety remains an issue in the race course, with the possibility of physical contact between racers and runners, especially during dense packs or high racing speeds. Etiquette and racing standards between runners and racers are also central, and play a role in emerging concerns such as the New York City Marathon legal case.
Second, the Wheelchair Division and Road Race Committees have also shared their philosophy regarding wheelchair racing:
1. Paralympics and the Special Olympics The Boilermaker Wheelchair Division emanates the tradition of the Paralympics in its design, and differentiates between Paralympics (primarily for athletes with physical disabilities), and the Special Olympics (celebrating over 30 years internationally) for athletes with intellectual disabilities. This year's guest, who ran the 5K and hosted the Youth Run, was Shea Cowart of Georgia who placed first in both the 200 and 100 meters in the 2000 Sydney, Australia Paralympics.
2. Road Race Integration The 2001 Committees tend to see the Wheelchair Race as a separate race event from the 15K Road Race. The design of the race, the marketing and reporting of results are a mixture of integration of the racers and runners, and separate events and standards. The integrated road race "model", similar to the Peachtree in Georgia, is distinct from races solely for wheelchair racers, such as the Wiles Barre, Pennsylvania Riverside Ramble.
From the viewpoint of a spectator mid-course, the international wheelchair racers lead off the Boilermaker Road Race, followed by the leading pack of international runners. Other wheelchair racers are mixed with runners on the race course, finishing up the 2 hour maximum for the hilly, and challenging race course.
3. Media Coverage and Integration The local coverage of the race is excellent in the Utica area with major cosponsorship of News Channel 2 and award winning announcing of the news. All wheelchair race times are included in the Utica Observer-Dispatch with front page, top and side bars, and direct sports racing results of the wheelchair race (e.g., "Mendoza wins wheelchair race"). The Rome Daily Sentinel, for the past two years, had excellent human interest coverage of a local, new racer Craig Post (then to college at State of New York-Cobleskill, marriage and family) finishing in third place in the open men's division this year (2001).
Third, in relationship to the research study questions, major themes and findings were:
1. Elite and International Runners and Racers The integration of elite racers and elite runners at the race could be further explored and developed, as well as the interactions and exchanges between the international racers (e.g., "the Kenyans", South African and Romanian runners), and the wheelchair racers (in this race, primarily from the US; second place men's division finisher, Kurt Fearnley of Carcoar, Australia).
2. Local Racers and Youth Racing For those who support the combination of elite and local runners and racers in the same race (an exciting approach to possible egalitarianism in running and racing), support of the Wheelchair Challenge, and the growth of local wheelchair racers (e.g., youth and racing) are primary concerns for the future. In this race, the youth racing background of several of the young men and women (over 10 years of youth racing) should be commended.
3. Alcohol and Tobacco Sponsorships This race has as a founder a major alcohol brewing company and no relationship with the tobacco industry. Given the growing trend of sponsorship of these two groups of health and recreational activities in the US (Crompton, 1999), caution is advised in the development of sponsorships linking health and fitness, especially to the tobacco industry.
4. Merchandising, Contracting and the Disability Industry Major merchandising for the Boilermaker was contracted to Graphtex, an affirmative business in the field of mental health. Most prominent are the sweatshirts and t-shirts with the year's designed, screen printed logo, and their use by the thousands of participants of the youth runs, to the 5 and 15 K, and the new 8K, non-competitive walk. (See, the Boilermaker website, http://www.boilermaker.com for merchandise and the photo gallery from the 2000 and 2001 races).
5. Economic and Community Development The Boilermaker Road Race is a major tourism and recreation event for the local communities. It brings together diverse organizations and groups through major and minor sponsorships, volunteer contributions, community participation, and support of visitors and the tourism industry (e.g., hotels and restaurants). As an area seeking to attract and maintain its young people in local communities, the Road Race contributes to an image of vitality and community support.
The report is one in a series of research reports on sports, recreation and disabilty, and can be ordered on Square Market/Community and Policy Studies or from Community and Policy Studies, 208 Henry Street, Rome, New York 13440-6505 USA. Boilermaker registration information can be found on their website though the above link.
References
Asayama, K.,Nakamura, Y., Ogata, H., Htada, K., Okuma, H., & Deguli, Y. (1985). Physical fitness of paraplegics in wheelchair racing marathons. Paraplegia, 23, 277-287.
Crompton, J.L. (1999). Financing and acquiring parks and recreation resources. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
Kowalchik, C. (1999). The complete book of running for women. NY, NY: Pocket Books, Division of Simon & Schuster.
Pitaressi, J. (2002). Utica Boilermaker: America's Premier Road Race. Utica, NY: North Country Books.
Racino, J. (2002). The Boilermaker 15K Road Race: An examination of road racing and wheelchair racing in the United States. Rome, NY: Community and Policy Studies.
Sangiacomo, A. (1980, July 10). Wheelchair racers positive: Four entrants in New Division can't wait for starting gun. Utica Observer-Dispatch.
Sardina, N. (2001, July 9). Mendoza wheels his way to Boilermaker repeat. Utica Observer- Dispatch.
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