Overcoming Disabilties Team Room

[brotherjim]

Robin Smithtro

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robin Smithtro of Louisville, Colo., didn't let vision loss keep her from enjoying a full, active lifestyle. She's done it all with her German Shepherd guides Courtney and Kava from Guide Dogs for the Blind.

"I grew up in a family that didn't do a lot of outdoor activities," Robin said. "My active outdoor lifestyle came about after I moved to Oregon and got my first Guide Dog, Courtney. We got into hiking, backpacking and camping. I was such an avid hiker that my hiking club friends called me 'Radar Feet' because with Courtney I hardly ever missed a step or stumbled.

"Then I read about an organization called Ski for Light that offers guided cross-country skiing. I'd never been on skis before, but I was feeling good about my successes in hiking and my other outdoor ventures. I decided to give it a try and I've been hooked ever since.

"Guided cross-country skiing has given me an even greater love for the outdoors. I've met so many positive, fun people who like being fit. They're active with their Guide Dogs and always on the move. It's great to be around others for whom blindness is 'normal,' and it gives me a healthy outlet for my pent-up energy.

"I recently placed third in a 26-mile race; I was the only one who was blind among 400 classic cross-country skiers. It's great to help break down stereotypes and reshape the image of blind athletes. I want to keep racing, and I'm considering trying out for the national team.

"Many of my skiing friends have Guide Dogs—they're people who are active and on the move. Kava is my current Guide Dog and I love the fact that she's so fast! She helps me keep in shape to do the things I love. There's nothing like being stretched and supported in a positive way to help build confidence. I really encourage anyone to give it a try. It's worth it."

[brotherjim]

Before i post this next article, I read a very disturbing fact on the Special Olympics website/blog. Did you know that 92%, yes 92% of pregnant woman diagnosed with a Down's child, terminate their pregnancy. That is awful!!!!!


«» .By MARC LAROCQUE
Taunton Gazette Photo By Mike Gay
Posted Jan 31, 2011 @ 12:23 AM


Taunton — Taunton’s Kevin Cosgrove has been bowling for 10 years, but his skills continue to improve with every week of practice.

“I’ve been taught how to curve,” said Cosgrove, 26, who comes from a family of bowlers. “I just find my spots. Sometimes I bowl way out. Sometimes I bowl in. But then I make changes depending on where my ball is going.”

Cosgrove was one of about 300 Special Olympics bowlers and non-disabled partners filling the lanes at the AMF bowling alley on Route 44 in Taunton Sunday morning.The bowlers — who hailed from parts of southeastern Massachusetts and the Cape — were competing in the South Section 10-Pin Bowling Assessment Round, a tournament that precedes the two-day Special Olympics Massachusetts (SOMA) Winter Games starting on March 12 in Worcester. The assessment round is one of two major Special Olympics bowling events in Massachusetts this year.

Although the teams competed against each other on Sunday, their participation was the only prerequisite for going on to bowl in the Winter Games.According to SOMA, Sunday’s event was the largest Special Olympics bowling tournament ever held in southeastern Massachusetts.

“Bowling is one of our 27 sports,” said Megan Hoffman, south section director for SOMA. “It’s one of our largest sports. It’s a great low-impact sport that provides competitive and physical opportunities for many of our athletes, some of whom cannot run up and down the court. And it’s a lifelong sport.”

Cosgrove said his participation in the Special Olympics got him into bowling.

Now he is in a Sunday night league at the Taunton bowling alley and watches bowling on television. His favorite bowler is Chris Barnes, who competes in the Professional Bowlers Association.

His advice for newcomers to the bowling scene:

“Keep on going at it,” he said. “Do your best. Get better at it.”

Just five frames in on Sunday, Cosgrove had already thrown two strikes. He was bowling along with participant Donald Wood, 23, of Lakeville, who was there with his father, Barry, and his mother, Leona.

Wood and his father are part of a Thursday night bowling league at the Taunton alley and play together on a team called “The Bowling Stones."

"His score is going up,” Barry Wood said of his son. “Donald got into it a few years ago with his first Special Olympics. He’s very consistent.”

A few lanes down was participant Kaitlyn Griffin and her father Ted, both of Taunton. Ted Griffin organizes a network of families that bring their disabled loved ones to New York Mets games, hold cookouts and go on other field trips.

Griffin said the Special Olympics bowling event was “wonderful” and that the organization was irreplaceable.

“It’s like being in the Girls Scouts or Boy Scouts or something like that,” Griffin said. “It gives them confidence, self-esteem, socialization and something to look forward to. This is the best and that’s from a parent. It’s wonderful for the people and the families.”

Elizabeth Curt, a 16-year-old who attends Taunton High School, said she wishes there were more events that brought the community at large and people with intellectual disabilities together.

“I like the smiles on everyone’s faces here,” said Curt, taking her turn after Kaitlyn. “You get to know a lot of people and you get to become closer with them by spending time with them. I think we should do things like this more often, and not just sporting events.”

Before the event, Hoffman asked the participants to observe a moment of silence for Robert Sargent Shriver, who served a two-decade span as chairman of the Special Olympics International, in addition to founding the Peace Corps. Shriver, whose wife, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, founded the Special Olympics, died on Jan. 18.

“Although he will be missed in our movement, his legacy will live on,” Hoffman said. “We are forever grateful for the work that he did. It’s safe to say that without Sargent Shriver that we wouldn’t be here today.”

Just before bowling got under way, the “Athlete’s Oath” was recited by participant Justin Deveau, of Taunton.

“Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt,” Deveau said before the audience broke out into cheering.

[brotherjim]

Stats for the day

Gene----------------3550
Benny---------------2850
Ronnie--------------15000
Zander--------------8600
Sam-----------------30000
Rosita---------------11600
Jim------------------28900

Hope everyone is doing well Meters flying off those ergs! Take care, have fun, be safe.
jim

[brotherjim]

"I Myself" the basis for McFadden's strong will
Alan Abrahamson January 28, 2011



When Tatyana McFadden arrived in the United States, she was 6. Until then, she had spent her life in Russia, and most of that in an orphanage, a place so poor they didn't even have crayons for the children to color with, much less a wheelchair for Tatyana to get around in.


Tatyana was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, with a hole in her spine, a condition known as spina bifida. The operation that should have been done immediately on her wasn't done for three weeks. It is a miracle, a genuine miracle, that she even lived.


Tatyana spent her first six years using her arms as legs, her hands as feet. When she was six, Deborah McFadden, then an American government official, visited the orphanage. The American woman felt a connection with this little Russian girl. To make a long story short, she brought the little girl to the United States.


When the little girl got to America, of course she spoke only Russian.


"Ya sama," she said in that language, her first and most memorable words as an American, the words that describe Tatyana McFadden's extraordinary will, strength and spirit then, and now, so especially apt on a day like Saturday in New Zealand, capping a week in which she won five medals, four gold, at the International Paralympic Committee's track and field world championships.


"I myself," is what 6-year-old Tatyana literally said.


Here was destiny, and she had every intention of fulfilling it. Because what she meant in her 6-year-old way, what she and Deborah and everyone who would from then on come to meet Tatyana would now understand, was profoundly clear: "I can and will do anything and everything."






If you don't think these kinds of things happen in our world, you don't know Tatyana and Deborah McFadden. Or Tatyana's two younger sisters, Hannah, 15, and Ruthi, 11, the younger two adopted from Albania.


Deborah McFadden, now 54, spent four and a half years in a wheelchair, from ages 23 to 27. A freak virus shut her system down. Intensive therapy helped her to walk again.


"I remember being introduced -- when people said, 'This is my handicapped friend, Debbie.'


"No," she said. " 'I'm Debbie.' "


After leaving government service, Deborah ran a highly respected adoption agency. She helped longtime friends of mine, Steve and Jackie Woodward, adopt their beautiful daughter, Layne -- who is now 14, who rides horses and hits golf balls 180 yards off the tee and who is the light of her parents' life -- from Russia.


"She sees beauty in every single human being on the planet," Jackie Woodward said Friday of Deborah McFadden.


Hannah McFadden is an above-the-knee amputee and a budding track and field and swim star.


Ruthi McFadden is the artistic one in the house -- a singer and dancer.


Tatyana has been making headlines since she was a teenager.


She has been an activist arguing for equal access to school athletics for young people with disabilities; her work resulted in landmark legislation in Maryland.


At 15, the youngest member of the U.S. track and field team, she won silver in the category T54 100-meters and bronze in the 200 at the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens.


At the 2006 world championships, she won the 100 in world-record time; she also won silver in the 200 and 400.


In 2008, at the Beijing Paralympics, she won three silvers and a bronze.


As if all that wasn't remarkable enough, she won the 2009 Chicago Marathon's women's wheelchair race. Last November: the New York Marathon women's wheelchair division in a time that was six minutes faster than what she had done the year before.


Let's pause here for a moment. She is both sprint and marathon champion.


Let that sink in.


This week in New Zealand, she won gold in the 200, 400, 800 and 1500, and bronze in the 100.


Her last race, Saturday, was the 400, after which she thanked her coach, and her teammates at the University of Illinois, some of whom are in New Zealand with her, and "my family, who has been supporting me since Day One."


She said, "It is an honor to win five medals, four golds and a bronze, and represent my country."


She said, "It has been an amazing journey. I am just very blessed."


Tatyana McFadden is only 21 years old. So much of her destiny doubtlessly still awaits. Amazing, indeed.

[brotherjim]

This is more than amazing!!!!!!!!!!!

BARCELONA, Spain -- Belgian runner Stefaan Engels has set a Guinness World Record after crossing the finish line of his 365th consecutive marathon.

Dubbed the "Marathon Man," Engels began the challenge a year ago in Barcelona. He competed in seven countries, and finished his last race Saturday in the same city.

His goal was to promote physical activity. In total, the 49-year-old Engels covered 9,569 miles.

The previous record was held by Japanese runner Akinori Kusuda. He completed 52 consecutive marathons at age 65 in 2009.

This is Engels' second entry into the Guinness Book of World Records. He finished a record 20 Iron Man triathlons in 2008.

[brotherjim]

Just feel overwhelmed today to share one of my favorite poems with you. Kind of a pre Nike "Just do it"
For Ray-
The call of the wild
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Robert Service

Have you gazed on naked grandeur
where there’s nothing else to gaze on,
Set pieces and drop-curtain scenes galore,
Big mountains heaved to heaven, which the blinding sunsets blazon,
Black canyons where the rapids rip and roar?
Have you swept the visioned valley
with the green stream streaking through it,
Searched the Vastness for a something you have lost?
Have you strung your soul to silence?
Then for God’s sake go and do it;
Hear the challenge, learn the lesson, pay the cost.
Have you wandered in the wilderness, the sagebrush desolation,
The bunch-grass levels where the cattle graze?
Have you whistled bits of rag-time at the end of all creation,
And learned to know the desert’s little ways?
Have you camped upon the foothills,
have you galloped o'er the ranges,
Have you roamed the arid sun-lands through and through?
Have you chummed up with the mesa?
Do you know its moods and changes?
Then listen to the Wild -- it’s calling you.
Have you known the Great White Silence,
not a snow-gemmed twig aquiver?
(Eternal truths that shame our soothing lies).
Have you broken trail on snowshoes? mushed your huskies up the river,
Dared the unknown, led the way, and clutched the prize?
Have you marked the map’s void spaces, mingled with the mongrel races,
Felt the savage strength of brute in every thew?
And though grim as hell the worst is,
can you round it off with curses?
Then hearken to the Wild -- it’s wanting you.
Have you suffered, starved and triumphed,
groveled down, yet grasped at glory,
Grown bigger in the bigness of the whole?
"Done things" just for the doing, letting babblers tell the story,
Seeing through the nice veneer the naked soul?
Have you seen God in His splendors,
heard the text that nature renders?
(You'll never hear it in the family pew).
The simple things, the true things, the silent men who do things --
Then listen to the Wild -- it’s calling you.
They have cradled you in custom,
they have primed you with their preaching,
They have soaked you in convention through and through;
They have put you in a showcase; you're a credit to their teaching --
But can't you hear the Wild? -- it’s calling you.
Let us probe the silent places, let us seek what luck betide us;
Let us journey to a lonely land I know.
There’s a whisper on the night-wind,
there’s a star agleam to guide us,
And the Wild is calling, calling. . .let us go.

[rosita]

Jim, I see why you posted the poem. Very nice , very nice.
Rosita

[brotherjim]

My Inspriation is Kolan McConiughey
| February 7, 2011 at 1:30 pm | Tim Shriver |


It's important for us to find a little inspiration each day to help us achieve our goals and to remind us that somewhere, someone is counting on us to strive not just toward those goals, but beyond. Within Special Olympics we've been asking coaches all over the world to set goals of placing greater emphasis on conditioning and year-around training with our athletes. We need these leaders to stop at nothing to create a culture of high expectations. And for this campaign, I think Kolan McConiughey is our role model and that's why today, he is my inspiration.

For many years, Kolan has demonstrated to us how excellence in training and skill development has translated into tremendous individual accomplishments. Last week, he bowled an 857 series (299, 258, and 300). This is no fluke. Kolan practices nearly every day and has been doing so for years. Over the course of his bowling career, Kolan has bowled eight perfect games. Last summer, I saw Kolan at the Special Olympics National Games in Nebraska where he won three gold medals. When he shows up to compete, there isn't anything he hasn't done to make sure he will perform at his highest level.

[brotherjim]

Here are the stats for the past few days. I think it is 3 days worth , sorry team.

Gene----------------------------9950
Benny---------------------------12800
Ronnie--------------------------44300
Andy-----------------------------9985
Anita----------------------------37800
Zander--------------------------17005
Rosita---------------------------23925
Jim------------------------------44587

Great rowing!!!
I know most of you have specific sports or activities you train for, and use the erg as a training tool. Ronnie wrote and said Zander is having to work on weights more and I know Rosita has upped her running. So do what you have to do. I am walking in the idita-walk, so using time spent on the erg, walking. My son Jay and I did do a 1 hour row test against each other and I lost, but am 9th in my age group overall and first in the adaptive class. I HATE to write about me. Jay is 2nd in his age group. I think that is pretty great for someone just rowing a few months now.
Take care of yourselves, PLEASE!
jim

[brotherjim]

Stats for the day

Gene------------------------3000
Benny-----------------------3200
Christa----------------------14500
Michelle---------------------18600
Ronnie-----------------------15500
Anita-------------------------23000
Zander-----------------------6700
Rosita------------------------7000
Jim----------------------------5747

Awesome!!!!! Be safe.
jim

[brotherjim]

I believe bad weather is delaying this trip but as of yesterday , they were back on the road again.
My computer is about as slow as it can be today also.

Trans American Quads 2011

January 15, 2011 Aaron Roux will attempt to handcycle coast to coast across the United States from San Diego, California, to St Augustine, Florida, as possibly the first quadriplegics to attempt such a journey under their own power. Both experiencing C6/7 complete spinal cord injuries, Rick as a result of a diving accident in 1976 and Aaron an automobile accident in 2005.



En route they will conduct community outreach and raise awareness and visibility across the Nation in an effort to promote the positive physical and psychological effects of a lifetime of integrated exercise and competition for quadriplegics. They will look to educate the public regarding the varying degrees of quadraplegia, and the sport and recreation opportunities available to the different abilities level.

As part of the ride the duo will be raising funds for a variety of charities (see Supporters).

[brotherjim]

This next article is a tad different. Just goes to show you that anyone can do sports and not to JUDGE someone who looks different.

410-pound man to try L.A. MarathonEmail Print Comments11 ESPNLosAngeles.com

Marathon records are made to be broken. Runners set their sights on trimming a few seconds off personal bests and elite runners look to break course and world records.

It won't be much different in the L.A. Marathon on March 20, with one different kind of record looking to be eclipsed. One very big record.

Kelly Gneiting, of Ft. Defiance, Ariz., will attempt to break the Guinness World Record for "Heaviest Person to Complete a Marathon." A former U.S. Sumo champion, Gneiting currently weighs 410 pounds.

Gneiting, who says he trains daily, jogs six miles on Saturdays and walks to work, completed the race in 2008 -- when he weighed 430 pounds -- in 11 hours, 52 minutes and 11 seconds. He did not apply for the Guinness record for that race, so the current record of 275 pounds stands.

Guinness stipulates that Gneiting, who is 6 feet tall, has to be filmed the entire 26.2 miles and must be weighed before and after the race for the feat to be recorded.

[rosita]

I asked Jim if I could do stats for today , so here goes.
We had 3 rowers do the Valentines challenge already for their sweetie Mine was for the dashing Jay of the Luna-Tics team

Jim---------------------------2575
Rosita------------------------22000
Zander-----------------------7205
Anita-------------------------15000
Ronnie------------------------16285
Benny-------------------------3200

Keep rowing!
Rosita

[brotherjim]

The Top End/Paralyzed Veterans of America EuroAmerican Handcycling Championship Feb. 6 at the Melbourne (FL) Beaches & Music Marathon was decided in less time than it takes to say “one Mississippi.”

“We had a very tight finish,” said Jody Shiflett, Paralyzed Veterans’ Adaptive Cycling Program coordinator. “There was less than a meter between first and second place.”

Paralyzed Veterans’ member Oscar Sanchez, Le Mesa, CA, finished third in the race.

The event was a US Handcycling Federation–sanctioned event. Said team coach Rick Babington, “For an early-season competition treated like a training race, I feel he did very well.”

Sanchez, a Marine Corps veteran, was injured in 2003, shortly before he was to begin SEAL training. He has been on U.S. national handcycling teams since 2005. He took gold and silver medals in the 2008 Beijing Paralympics. At the 2010 Para-cycling Road World Championships in Baie-Comeau, Quebec, Sanchez earned two gold medals, one in time trials, the other in road racing.

“We roll up those hills like they’re not even there,” Sanchez said. “On flat surfaces, we’re going 23 to 25 (mph), so going down the hill, we hit about 45 (mph).”

Fellow Paralyzed Veterans' member David Randall, with a time of 1:17:08, took third wheel-to-wheel with Colorado rider Matt Updike. Randall earned his place on the national handcycling team at the end of 2009.

Paralyzed Veterans Racing Team members performed well. Davis Celestine, of Tampa finished in the top 10, with a time of 1:35:05; Joe Beimfohr finished in the top 20 with a time of 1:39:12; and Anthony Radetic, a Paralyzed Veterans’ member, drafting Beimfohr, clocked in at 1:39:18.

Team member Thomas Martineau rounded out the top 20 with a time of 2:00:53. He started handcycling a mere six months ago.

“I put up a pretty good time yesterday,” Martineau said. “I did pretty well. My goal was two hours. That’s been my goal for awhile.”

The Air Force veteran was hurt in a 2008 motorcycle accident when a vehicle pulled in front of him. Today the 25-year-old is a junior in college working toward a degree in architecture. He’s also the father of two, a 6- and a 3-year-old.

He got his start in the sport at a clinic at the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital and “really enjoyed it,” he said.

After getting a handcycle, Martineau signed up for a marathon in October of last year. After the initial euphoria of signing up faded, he questioned his decision.

“I couldn’t back out, so I trained and trained and trained, and here I am today,” he said.

He’s now participated in five marathons and has set his sights on “Iron Man” Hawaii. In Iron Man competitions, participants with disabilities swim, complete its marathon portion in racing wheelchairs, and handcycle 112 miles.

Martineau said the Paralyzed Veterans’ handcycling program and its clinics have worked miracles in many people’s lives, including his.

“I think it’s a crucial part of rehab and getting back into the world,” he said. “Guys after they get hurt get in dark places, and PVA gets them out and gets them on these bikes. I think it makes a big difference in the quality of life.”

Changing lives through adaptive sports, Paralyzed Veterans plans four handcycling clinics this year, in Seattle, San Francisco, Boston and Tampa.

Story by By Patrick McCalister

[brotherjim]

Terrific rowing day for us again, thanks Rosita for doing yesterday's stats. I didn't know you had a hidden agenda in mind.

Stats

Benny----------------3300
Andy-----------------6205
Zander---------------7015
Anita-----------------12000
Rosita----------------12123
Ronnie----------------20000
Jim--------------------31400

Be safe, row strong, take care.
jim