It seems like the pool of athletes would be a lot smaller, so it would be easier to be near the front. I am not trying to diminish the wheelchair athletes, but what is to stop an able bodied athlete (maybe a rower or swimmer) from training in a wheel chair and winning the wheelchair division of a marathon?
I don't know about Boston, but you certainly can at the (new) Brighton Marathon in the UK.
See the link below.
potato wrote:
It seems like the pool of athletes would be a lot smaller, so it would be easier to be near the front.
The same argument can be made for competing in most Winter Olympic events
Any able-bodied person who dares to compete in the wheelchair division is basically inviting bad karma, that they will someday be paralyzed somehow, too. I wouldn't mess with that kind of karma. Although, I have played with wheelchairs while waiting in airports before. But, that's different than actually competing in a wheelchair race, or so I tell myself.
It would be discrimination if you were not allowed to compete.
There was an article in RW back in the late 90s maybe by a reporter who rode a racing chair in a local 10k or something. Interviewed a local racer, who put him into a good chair. He said it was hard as hell, and he went slower than he can run. Granted he didn't really "train" for it, but still, it's not just something you can easily pick up I think.
Besides, if you were doing it to try to win, or for something other than reporting, or charity or something like that link above, I'd say most people would think you're a pretty big douche.
Ask George Costanza
Pretty soon you won't need to bother with getting a wheelchair. You can just get a doctor's note saying you are "physically challenged" and compete for prize money against your own pool of "athletes".
No joke, this is about to happen in the Pacific Association (with USATF grant money, i.e., your dues). In the same vein as "I'm dyslexic so I need twice the time and my own test room to take my test".
Wheelchair racers are the biggest jackasses on the planet. Blocking the road, acting pissed that you are even there with them. Had one yell at me when I was lining up at the front of the line, said I was blocking him. Not even close jackass. We get it, life sucks for you. You could at least act nicer to others.