The Rising New York Road Runners Wheelchair Training Program is a free, seasonal program for youth ages 6–21 with physical disabilities including those who use wheelchairs, crutches, walkers, and lower limb prosthetics, offering weekly training, in-school resources, and competitive road and track events regardless of experience.
This program:
- Measures the child for a racing chair to determine the optimal size and seating position to provide the best fit.
- Helps athletes, coaches, teachers, and parents learn the components of the racing chair and how to get the most out of the child’s push.
- Determines the best way for the child to push their chair (including body mechanics) and evaluates the best type of gloves to use for training.
- Teaches children to push on the track and road. Each child learns the "rules of the track," which are intended to keep them and other participants safe.
Rising New York Road Runners provides youth wheelchair athletes entry to our free youth races, allowing participants to put the skills learned in training sessions to the test in a competitive atmosphere.
This program is for children with physical disabilities who benefit from using a wheelchair to race. This includes, but is not limited to children with hypertonia, ataxia and/or athetosis, difference in muscle power, difference in passive muscle range of motion, and/or limb difference and those who do not wish to run with prosthetics.