Los Angeles Marathon

The Los Angeles Marathon was a very exciting event and one that we watched with feelings of pride and admiration. All the news broadcasts and newspaper articles focused on the athletes that worked so hard getting in condition for this run, but little was said about those who did this grueling race in their wheelchairs.

Those of us who have only run 5 or 10Ks can hardly imagine going more than 26 miles pushing in a chair, but watching the race from the 15-mile mark, we saw something that caused a lump in our throats and brought tears to our eyes. A woman whose courage must be stronger than any we would imagine was doing the marathon pushing herself with only the ball of one bare foot. Unable to negotiate up the incline at Hollywood Boulevard and Fairfax, she turned her wheelchair around and backed herself up the street. The crowd cheered her, but we’re not certain she knew what an impact she had on those watching.

As for us, we haven’t stopped talking about this wonderful woman, her determination and her courage. We hope she reads this letter for we’d like her to know what an inspiration she was to us and what strong emotion she caused us to feel.

SANDY and ILEENE MORRIS

Los Angeles