Woodbury runner with cerebral palsy gifted customized running chair
How a 5k in St. Paul gives runners of all abilities the chance to compete
How a 5k in St. Paul gives runners of all abilities the chance to compete
How a 5k in St. Paul gives runners of all abilities the chance to compete
A special road race around Lake Phelan in St. Paul, Minnesota gave runners of all abilities the chance to compete.
In one case, the inaugural Unified 5K race gave a duo the opportunity to start their running journey to qualify for the Boston Marathon.
Mark Hulsey from St. Paul and Moses Cooper from Woodbury have a bond that runs deep.
"It's my favorite way of running. There's nothing better than this," said Hulsey. "We just have a wonderful time together, and I check on [Cooper] to make sure he's good and he just inspires the heck out of me to run hard."
They won first place as a duo in Sunday's race.
The Unified 5k is a race series being held around the country in an effort to bring athletes of all abilities together.
For Hulsey and Cooper, this race day was special because they were gifted a customized running chair for Moses, who has cerebral palsy, to use.
"It's very generous. This is a fantastic racing chair and we just want to make sure Mo feels good in it, and I think it worked out pretty good, yeah?" said Hulsey.
"Yeah!" responded Cooper.
Cooper's chair costs around $5,000, but Hoyt Running Chairs and race organizers, AdaptX, gave it to Cooper for free.
"This personally means a lot to me," said Brendan Aylward, executive director of AdaptX. "I run as a duo as well up in Massachusetts with Team Hoyt, so the Hoyt Running Chairs is what helped us make the donation."
These races will continue to fundraise money to give more athletes the equipment they need to compete.
"It shows people there can be a lot more meaning behind the miles that you run," said Aylward.
Hoyt customized Cooper's chair to look like The Flash from DC Comics.
"We're all about The Flash, and so that's where [Cooper] gets his energy from and you pass it on to me?" said Hulsey.
"Yeah!" responded Cooper.
Hulsey and Cooper plan to accomplish big goals with their new running chair.
"We're going to try and the Boston [Marathon] qualifying race in Grandma's Marathon," said Hulsey.
Hulsey hopes more competitors stop looking at running as an individual sport, and compete as a team.
"The moment you get to work with adaptive athletes and bring this opportunity to them, the rewards, you can't even put words to it," said Hulsey. "It's just so spectacular."
Eight other adaptive running duos competed in the Unified 5K on Sunday.
Hulsey and Cooper compete in Grandma's Marathon in Duluth in two weeks.
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