How Do You Handicap a Winner Like This? : Wheelchair Champ Stands Up to the Challenge

When more than a dozen disabled youngsters left the start line among 2,207 other runners in Sunday’s “Run For Kids Who Can’t” in Costa Mesa, there was hardly a dry eye in the crowd.

But the winner of the five-kilometer handicapped run, sandy-haired J.D. Caligori, 9, surprised everyone when he rose from his wheelchair, walked 20 feet to the platform and accepted his trophy to thunderous applause.

“J.D. ran our race for the first time three years ago and he took everybody’s heart with him,” event spokesman John Francis recalled, his voice choking with emotion.

“He’d been operated on for the 23rd time just seven weeks earlier. When his name was called today (Sunday) and he was able to get out of his wheelchair, he brought the house down. . . .

“It reaffirmed the reason we were there,” said Francis, co-chairman of the seventh annual benefit run for Childrens Hospital of Orange County (CHOC).

Sunday’s 5- and 10-kilometer races around the South Coast Plaza Hotel and the towering Orange County Performing Arts Center drew a record number competing in cool, clear weather.

That was expected to translate into record proceeds for the annual fund-raiser of at least $25,000 after expenses, said Mike Harrison, president of the Padrinos, the men’s volunteer support group for CHOC.

Last year, the 630-member group raised a total of $189,000 in six fund-raisers--$23,000 of it from the 1984 CHOC South Coast Classic 5K-10K run, organizers said.

The more than 3,000 people who watched Sunday’s event were also treated to some world-class performances.

First-place winner in the men’s 10-kilometer race was 1984 San Francisco Marathon winner Simeon Kigen of Kenya, who was barred by his country from competing in the 1984 Olympics because he trained in the United States. Finishing second was last year’s winner, former UCLA All-American runner Steve Ortiz of Barstow. Kigen finished in 29 minutes, 29 seconds; Ortiz’ time was 29 minutes, 39 seconds.

First-place winner in the women’s 10K was Sue Brenda, with a time of 34 minutes, 21 seconds. She was followed 33 seconds later by the 1984 winner, Ruth Wysocki of El Toro, who competed in the 1984 Olympics in the 800 and 1,500 meters. Wysocki, a former national champion at 800 meters, had just returned from the grueling European racing circuit last week.

In the 5K handicapped race, Caligori finished first in his wheelchair with a time of 26 minutes, 33 seconds.

The first 1,000 finishers earned commemorative pins with the date and the Childrens Hospital insignia, Choco the Bear.