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Tuesday, July 27, 2004
Inspiring athletes heading for Cape
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He's no road racer, or so he says. And in the last six years, for some reason or another, Carl Burnett has missed the Peoples Beach to Beacon 10K - despite the fact that the course stretches out near the edge of his childhood front lawn. He's not missing it this year. Burnett, a 2002 U.S. Paralympic skier from Cape Elizabeth, will get in his handcycle Sunday and compete in the race with a contingent of elite athletes with disabilities. They're called Team Able - a mix of road racers and skiers from around the country - and they will crank up the competition level of the wheelchair division considerably this year. Two premier athletes are ex- pected on Sunday: Chris Waddell, who has 14 Paralympic medals, and Cheri Blauwet, a New York and Los Angeles marathon winner and Paralympic medalist. "For me, this is just for fun," Burnett said. "But some of my teammates will try and turn it up a notch. Chris is sort of a mentor for me, when I was first starting out. He's a contender for any race he's in skiing, and probably any race he's wheelchair racing in as well." Burnett answered the call of Mari White, the founder of Integra Sports and the woman behind Team Able. In addition to Burnett, White has commitments for the Beach to Beacon from U.S. Disabled Ski Team members Laurie Ste- phens, Lacey Heward, Chris Devlin-Young and Waddell, as well as from Kelly Bruno, an am- putee sprinter from Boca Raton, Fla. The group is hoping to raise awareness for athletes with disabilities and Riding to the Top - this year's race beneficiary. Riding to the Top has horseback riding centers for the disabled in New Gloucester and Windham. Stephens can't wait for more competition. A soft-spoken teen from Massachusetts, she has won the women's wheelchair division of the Beach to Beacon four times. She has had spina bifida since birth. "I think it'll be great for the women's side anyway," said Stephens, now 20 and in college. "We've only had a few people every year. It'll be awesome to have some more." Each member of Team Able has an inspiring story as an athlete. Waddell was well on his way to becoming a standout able-bodied skier at Middlebury College when he broke his back in a racing accident. Less than a year later, he started using a monoski. Waddell quickly became the premier U.S. monoskier. In 1994 he swept all four skiing events at the Paralympics in Lillehammer, Norway; in 1998 he won a gold and two silvers in Nagano, Japan. He has 13 Paralympic medals in total: 12 winter, one summer and nine medals from the world championships (six winter, three summer). Next month at the Paralympics in Athens, Waddell will compete in the 100-, 200-, 400- and 800-meter races. The Beach to Beacon will be one of his last races before heading to Greece. "Hopefully I'll be up there (in the field). Any time I get into a race, I'm trying to win," Waddell said. "I started racing because it was good training for skiing, and suddenly it became a sport." Waddell has chosen the race founded by Joan Benoit Samuel- son to support Team Able and continue to bring attention to athletes with disabilities. "I think there's a great opportunity in disabled sports. It's a tough sport to be in, to convince people," said Waddell. "But this sounded like a great race for me to help support what (White) is trying to do." Heward was injured at age 16 months when a 100-pound barbell fell from a weight bench and crushed her back. Now an accomplished member of the U.S. Disabled Ski Team, she is a World Cup super-G champion. Sunday, she will be a favorite in the women's division of the wheelchair race. Said Burnett: "I don't think she's been in a racing chair, but she's gung-ho about everything she does." Devlin-Young, a 10-year natio- nal team member, was paralyzed from the knees down and partially paralyzed below the waist in a 1982 plane crash in Alaska while in the Coast Guard. Last winter, Devlin-Young won 14 World Cup medals, including 11 golds, in the slalom, giant slalom, downhill and super-G. Burnett can't compete for prize money on Sunday. Qualified wheelchair racers propel themselves by pushing on the chair's wheels. Burnett will be on a handcycle - which has pedals like a bicycle that he pushes with his hands. But the race will be a worthy experience, he said. After being paralyzed from the waist down after a car accident at age 5, Burnett, who had skied prior to that, continued with a monoski. He started attending a camp run by Waddell, which inspired him to train harder, and he started racing at age 12. "He decided back when he was in the eighth grade he was going to make the U.S. Disabled Ski Team," said Carl's father, Nick. "He's come a long way. He's laid back, but he's determined. Quiet and determined." Now a student at Dartmouth, Burnett usually takes winters off from school to train and compete. In 2002 he skied at the Paralympics in Salt Lake City. He was disappointed with his performance and left the team for a year to return to his studies. He skied independently last winter with a team in Winter Park, Colo., earning a spot back on the U.S. team. "It made me want to stay in the sport and become more consistent for 2006 in Turino, Italy," said Burnett, who is in summer session at Dartmouth. "I'd really like to see what I can do when I perform at the level I'm capable of." On Sunday, the Beach to Beacon will be a bit of cross-training run for him. "I'm just about to go out for a ride," said Burnett, two weeks ago. "I'll get on my hand cycle go for a ride around the back roads for an hour. "It's a great way to see the countryside and feel the wind in your hair. And try to stay in shape."
Staff Writer Jenn Menendez can be contacted at 791-6426 or at: jmenendez@pressherald.com
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