The Atlanta 4th of July 10K Belongs to Everyone, Including Power Push Athletes

Erika and Buckley teamed up in Peachtree’s push-assist division, in which able-bodied runners push teammates with physical or intellectual disabilities in wheelchairs around the 10K course of the race. The event has been part of the Peachtree program since 2013. Her brother Logan, 14, also competed in the race.

Discovering the world of assisted push sports about two years ago — and the community of the Atlanta-based Kyle Pease Foundation, which seeks to support the athletic endeavors of people with disabilities — opened Erika’s world.

Credit: Photo by Ken Sugiura/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Credit: Photo by Ken Sugiura/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

And being able to share that experience – lamenting the heat, comparing times and inspecting finishers’ T-shirts – probably meant a little more to Erika and her Kyle Pease Foundation teammates than it does to most.

Erika said: “It’s a fun race.”

It wasn’t all Hallmark-worthy sweet moments. The fastest team in the men’s division was wheelchair athlete Ricardo Aranda of Mableton and pusher Nick Fragnito of Brookhaven. Speeding along in a custom-built wheelchair that cost about $9,000 (paid for through a fundraiser), Aranda won his third Peachtree, his first with Fragnito.

Aranda, 33, has cerebral palsy and is legally blind. He used to play handball. A little perplexed, I asked him how he did it. He replied that he needed the help of a guide who would show him where to go. He did not fail to answer my question lightly.

“You’re like, ‘Wait a second, this kid is blind. How did he play?’” Aranda asked, his voice animated. “Is that true?”

Yes, I said, that was exactly it.

“Hey, are you see “What do I mean now?” he asked, adding, “Hey, Ken, you see this?”

Aranda is a competitor who takes the sport seriously and even considers himself a professional. Even blind, he tried to coach Fragnito during class on Thursday. It’s his way of getting into the sport. He even has topics of discussion in mind.

“It’s not necessarily about wins, losses or world records,” said Aranda, clearly not a first-time interviewer. “At the end of the day, when you walk out those gates and off the race track, it’s the relationships that you’ve built that matter.”

Brent Pease, who founded the foundation with his brother Kyle, was nearby, heard the interview and loved it. Pease compared Aranda’s media style to the famous scene in the baseball movie “Bull Durham,” where minor leaguer Crash Davis (played by Kevin Costner) teaches phenom Nuke LaLoosh (Tim Robbins) how to spout meaningless platitudes to sportswriters.

“But that’s the appeal of the Peachtree for us,” Brent Pease said. “It’s supposed to be a day of competition, and Ricardo has an incredible spirit. He’s a wonderful human being. And to him, (the Peachtree) is the Kentucky Derby. He’s part of that elite event.”

The foundation, which coordinates the push-assist teams and provides equipment, awarded $1,000 to each winner, especially the wheelchair athlete. At an awards ceremony after the race, when the push-assist winners were introduced, a volunteer first tried to hand the first-place prize, a glass peach, to Fragnito, who redirected it to Aranda.

While the sport satisfies his competitive spirit, Aranda also sees push-assisted racing as a way to advocate for people with disabilities and break down stereotypes.

“I want to be seen not only as an athlete, but also as an activist for the rights of people with disabilities,” he said.

Credits: Jason Getz / AJC

Credits: Jason Getz / AJC

Darden Glass, 19, and her sister Anna, 17, of Sandy Springs, had a simpler but equally meaningful ambition. The sisters, both students at Riverwood High, saw wheelchair racing as a way to spend time together. At last year’s Peachtree, their father, David, pushed Darden, who has Down syndrome, to become the first father-daughter duo to compete in the division.

After that, “I thought, ‘Hmm, maybe I want to try this,'” said Anna, a senior and member of the Raiders’ track and cross country teams.

The sisters get along well, but not always. They sometimes argue about clothes or food. And when Anna sees Darden at school, the latter likes to keep her distance from her little sister.

“But it’s really nice to have something to do with her when it’s just the two of us,” Anna said.

Sometimes, Anna said, Darden asks her to do a training run together on a trail along the Chattahoochee River.

Anna replied: “I said, ‘Yes, of course.’”

On Thursday, as they drove from Buckhead to Midtown, Anna provided the muscles and Darden, decked out in star-spangled glasses, waved to fans and gave them a thumbs-up as they sped by. Their father ran alongside, pushing a neighbor.

They passed the time listening to Taylor Swift. Anna even ran up the difficult Cardiac Hill without stopping.

“Here’s the thing,” Anna said. “You have to take a little jerky step, it’s not like a full stride. But my calves were dying after that.”

Darden’s assessment of his sister as a trafficker: “She’s doing well.”

They reached the finish line first in their division (they were also the only participants in the female wheelchair athlete/female pusher group).

Community, inclusion, brotherhood.

On Thursday, there were prizes far more valuable than the finalist’s T-shirt.

To learn more about the Kyle Pease Foundation, please visit its website.