Grace For Good

Several weeks ago, I sat on the edge of a rim high above Moab and cheered on friends running the Red Hot, a 31-mile trail race west of town.  Snow blanketed the landscape in all directions; the slickrock was coated with mud, snow, and ice.

About two thirds of the way through the pack, we watched a runner come striding by.  His gait was different than the others: he had a prosthesis from the knee down.  In Breckenridge, thanks to the vision of our local adaptive sports organization, we see disabled athletes every day on the ski slopes.  In 30 years of long distance trail running, I’d never yet encountered a runner with a prosthesis on the trails.

As he ran by us, he stopped, looked out over the miles of canyons and mesas to the west, and smiled vibrantly. “Wow. Now that’s an amazing view!” he offered.  In reply, a friend and I, who’d just run up along the edgy Portal Trail, said “It is!  But you should check out the other side as well.”  He took our words to heart, and scrambled up the slickrock behind us to the cliff edge. He peered over it to the expansive view of Arches, the La Sal Mountains, and the Colorado River to the east.  “Holy Crap! “ he said,  awed by the exposure and beauty.  “You weren’t kidding!”

As the guy with the prosthesis took off down the trail, we marveled at his speed and dexterity on the icy slickrock. He ran beautifully. But what was also beautiful was the way he immediately embraced the suggestion to check out a different, potentially beautiful new view. Watching him reminded me that though the challenges we experience while competing in the sports we love might shift because we’ve lost a limb– the beauty and joy, adrenaline rush, and sense of accomplishment we experience remain.

With a bow of respect to that unknown Moab runner -and all the other athletes who have adapted so courageously to new lives- Amazing Grace is dedicating our spring “Good at the Grace” donation day to the Breckenridge Outdoor Education Center (BOEC).  In conjunction with the BOEC’s upcoming March 19th Banff Film Festival fundraising event at the Riverwalk, we’ll be dedicating all of Amazing Grace’s net profits, tips and salaries from Tuesday, March 23rd to this local organization, whose mission is to expand the potential of people with disabilities and special needs through meaningful, educational and inspiring outdoor experiences.

On Tuesday, we’ll also be celebrating the launch of our new website- www.amazinggracebreck.com- crafted for us by our wonderful partners, Wilson Lass. The site will feature a growing collection of stories on other inspiring locals and organizations this summer, so we hope you’ll check us out online!

You can learn more about the BOEC’s work at www.boec.org. In addition, you can find thoughtful and inspiring photographs capturing the talent, courage and grace of current Paralympians, elite athletes with physical disabilities,  on the galleries of photographer and longtime BOEC staff Joe Kusumoto at www.kusumotophoto.com. Joe is currently in Vancouver, documenting the Paralympics.

Adaptive Sports (Costume Race Day), Durango. Kate Lapides, 2001

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