66-year-old helps people with disabilities complete marathons
Peter Kline founded Marathons with Meaning as a way to make marathon running more accessible.
The 66-year-old athlete began his personal running journey at 52. Kline was out of shape at the time, but by 53 he had completed his first 26.2-mile marathon. He spent the next two years trying and failing many times to qualify for the Boston Marathon. But at 55, he finally did it.
Kline understood the transformative power of the sport so he began running marathons with rider-athletes, or people who use racing chairs due to a disability. The 66-year-old pushes the rider-athletes during the races.
“I decided maybe I’d put my running to better use than just running for myself,” Kline told in The Know.
For his first meaningful marathon, Kline worked with Ainsley’s Angels of America to help a young girl named Taylor complete the Las Vegas marathon. Since then, Marathons with Meaning riders have ranged from 8 to 36 years old.
“One of the greatest joys that they get out of it is to participate and feel normal. And that makes it really special for them,” Kline told In The Know.
Kline has no plans on slowing down, as long as he can do it, he will.
“I would like to do this until 95,” Kline said. “I think I can. I’ll do it until I die.”
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