Park includes a 7.5-mile linear green- way, featuring four great trails: East Shore, Shoreline Walking Trail, Lakeland Nature Trail, and the West Shore. The trails are bustling year- round with social interaction, special events, waterfront picnics, and the region’s premier skate and dog parks. The pavement is great, and the park restrooms are always clean and accessi- ble. My attitude changed. As my pushing began, I was really worried. It was very, very hard to push in the folding chair. I weighed 230 pounds. My biceps were getting bruised on the wheelchair arms. But as I improved my workout, and achieved longer distances along the trails, my depression started to subside. I steadily reduced my time doing a
mile from 16 minutes to 10 minutes. Weight started coming down. On the morning of the Boilermaker, I raced at 188. I went down a size in my clothes. I lost 4 inches in my waist. I felt great. On the eve of the Boilermaker, I slept maybe three hours. You should see the athletes that do this. Arms as big as thighs. Professional pushrim athletes from many countries. They all left me in their dust. It was a little dis- concerting, the speed they could achieve.
But support from the fans and fel-
low runners was UNBELIEVABLE. They yell. They clap. They call you out by your helmet number. They yell “Way to go wheels!” “You inspire us!” Every push is a grind but I was smil- ing. It was emotional. Once at the top I went from fully engaged in pushing down on the rims to braking. Coming down the hill was extremely scary. My front wheels were the same size as those found on skate- boards. You hold on like your life depends on it, yelling “chair, chair, chair” and hoping that other runners will give you a clear path. Collisions happen. I crossed the line in one hour and 47 minutes, completed one of the hardest things I had ever done.
From there I did a lot of 5Ks, 10Ks, and 15Ks, making 2017 a bigger drive— a decision to take on the Marine Corps Marathon (MCM). In the run-up, now in my racing chair, my training moved to the next level on the Onondaga Lake Park Trail. I did a half- marathon on that trail that was super- fast (92 minutes) and the MCM was finished in a little more than 4 hours. Crazy.
They yell “Way to go wheels!” “You inspire us!” Every push is a grind but I was smiling. It was emotional.
And you know what? I still have the pain. The spasms. Hell it’s as bad or worse than when I started pushrim two years ago. The depression rears its ugly head often, like the shadow demons in the movie Ghost. But push- ing suppresses those feelings. I hope to do a triathlon this year— a challenge due to the amount of train- ing required, but I have great coaches now. And I’ll crush the MCM 2018 because now I KNOW I can crush it. What a journey during the past two years, eh? But I did not do it alone. From an intuitive rec therapist and dedicated adaptive sports leaders, to fellow athletes and encouraging trail enthusiasts, there have been many partners along the way. Most impor- tantly, my wife and daughter have been my biggest cheerleaders. The summer of 2016 was huge for
me, truly life changing. But I couldn’t have started the journey without the availability, accessibility and welcom- ing environment of the Onondaga Lake Park Trail.
Mike Smithson at the 2016 Boilermaker race 13
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