Amputee Shatters Records at Chicago Marathon
On a chilly, windy day at the Chicago Marathon on Sunday, October 22, Amy Palmerio-Winters of Meadville, Pennsylvania, shattered another marathon record for female amputee runners.
Despite running on two broken toes that were not yet completely healed on her sound leg, and spending Thursday and Friday in the hospital due to anaphylactic shock, Palmerio-Winters finished the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon in 3:04:16, which beats her best marathon time of 3:16 at the Boston Marathon, which she achieved before her limb loss.
She placed 34th in her age group and 148th in the entire field of able-bodied female marathoners.
Palmerio-Winters' previous best marathon time with her new running prosthesis was 3:26 at the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon this past May. Before that, the best marathon time for a female amputee was 3:52.
Palmerio-Winters, a 34-year-old welder and mother of two, suffered a motorcycle accident in 1994. Three years and 25 surgeries later, her left leg was amputated below the knee. Following the amputation, it took three years before Palmerio-Winters could even try to run again. "I was told in 1994 I wouldn't run again," Palmerio-Winters said.
She received her customized running prosthesis in February 2006 from Erik Schaffer CP, president of A Step Ahead Prosthetics & Orthotics, Hicksville, New York.
Persons with Disabilities Shine at NYC Marathon
World champion wheelchair racer Amanda McGrory of Champaign, Illinois, and Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, added to her impressive list of 2006 accomplishments by beating Great Britain's Shelly Woods to win the women's wheelchair division of the ING New York City Marathon November 5.
McGrory crossed the finish line in 1:54:17, two seconds ahead of Woods, who had been neck-and-neck with her for most of the race. The victory for McGrory comes on the heels of a two-medal performance (gold, 800m; silver, 400m in the women's T53 division) in September at the 2006 IPC Athletics World Championships in Assen, The Netherlands.
Paralympian Christina Ripp, Dane, Wisconsin, finished sixth in the race with a time of 1:57:14, the second-fastest US finish in the women's race.
Australian Kurt Fearnley easily won the men's wheelchair race. His time of 1:29:22 was more than six minutes better than the second-place finisher. Paralympian Jacob Heilveil, Longmont, Colorado, had the best finish among the US men, earning sixth place with a time of 1:40:49.
Ali Bergstrom of New York finished first among the handcyclists, in 1:21:57.
About 70 veterans with disabilities also completed the Marathon as members of the Achilles Freedom Team of Wounded War Veterans, sponsored by the nonprofit Achilles Track Club (
www.achillestrackclub.org
).
For full results of the ING New York City Marathon, visit
www.nycmarathon.org/results/index.php
