Free Press Marathon: Last year's Disabilities Division winners roll to repeat wins
Last year, Matt Tingley had to duel for the lead over many of the 26.2 marathon miles before winning the Disabilities Division on his handcycle.
Tingley ultimately topped the field of 16 male handcyclists, after a drama-filled race that entailed flat tires and mechanical mishaps for him and many others. This year, with his "mill runnin' fine" to quote an old pop song about drag racing, he not only topped the field again, Tingley, 34, of Rochester Hills beat his previous time by nearly 2½ minutes.
And retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Leigh Sumner also repeated as a winner, although Sumner had a rash of troubles.
Tingley said he had no mechanical snafus and that repaved roads were smooth on Sunday's largely new course, leading to his $600 prize in a time of 1 hour, 16 minutes and 15 seconds. Tingley had been an eager bike racer before suffering leg injuries in a motorcycle crash in 2017. Next week, he's headed to Montreal to enter a contest in rock climbing, another big test of his upper-body strength "because I sure can't use my legs," he said with a chuckle.
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Finishing second among the handcyclists was John Masson, 51, of Southern Pines, North Carolina, notching his third Free Press Marathon but first one in which he placed. Masson outraced five entrants whose past times had them seeded ahead of him.
Masson was one of the event's many athletes wearing the colors of the Achilles Freedom Team, which trains injured military members and veterans. A veteran of the U.S. Army's Special Forces, he was injured in Afghanistan in 2010, "You're gonna love this — 12 years ago today," he said. He praised his bicycle guides, two of the nearly 50 two-wheeled escorts, most from the Royal Oak-based Wolverine Sports Club of avid riders.
"The course was very technical — many turns — but the guides were just amazing. They give you fair warning," leading him to set a personal record, he said. His time was an easy-to-recall 1:23:45.
Third-place finisher Andrew Hairston, 29, hails from Camp Lejune, North Carolina, although he said he was racing for his birthplace — the Virgin Islands. Like all the racers, he praised his bicycle guides, and they gave it back.
"Great job!" said John Sammut of Washington Township, as he crouched with Hairston for photo alongside bike guide Tim Fargo of Commerce Township, who added: "Absolutely, it's a joy." Hairston finished in 1:31:50.
Despite repeating as the women's winner, Sumner was disappointed, which she conveyed with a Southern twang.
"We'd a'gotten the course record but it's a new bike and everything was falling off," she said, with a laugh, adding: "I can put that chain back on when I'm still moving."
Sumner, 63, of Newton Grove, North Carolina won $600 after finishing in 2:02:03. Men and women who place second and third among the handcyclists won $300 and $150, respectively.
Laura Stark, 32, of Canton, was the second-place woman handcyclist in 2:40:27; and Margaret Sprouse, 62, of Bowling Green, Kentucky was third in 2:47:24.
The Disabilities Division of Sunday's marathon carried on a long tradition of welcoming athletes who can't run but who are as tough and trained as any elite racer. After years of seeing two-wheeled wheelchair athletes compete, the field shifted dramatically about 20 years ago to three-wheeled handcycles, which are low-slung tricycles. The racing wheelchair's grueling demand to thrust its wheels forward with gloved hands, in endless spurts, gave way to continuous hand power using pedals mounted over a racer's lap.
The opportunity to train and race has been "life-saving" for many a handcyclist, said Jim Madison, 54 of San Antonio, Texas, who rolled through his second Free Press Marathon with the Achilles Freedom Team. After retiring from the Army, Madison was severely injured in a second career as a firefighter "when a roof fell on me," he said. Now, handcycling is a big part of his life.
"Detroit and General Motors have been good to us. General Motors takes care of everything," he said, referring to the automaker's major sponsorship of the Achilles athletes.
"These handcycles save a lot of lives. You burn off a lot of PTSD on these bikes," he said.
In addition to the event's 26 handcyclists who finished Sunday's race, there was one throwback to the days of wheelchair racing. Corey Petersen, 41, of Glendale, Arizona, raced on what old-timers call a "push-rim" wheelchair. She finished in 3:23:36.
Contact: blaitner@freepress.com
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Free Press Marathon: Repeat winners in Disabilities Division
